To Ise Shrine and Odai for a peaceful journey through nature

You start the second day by staying in bed a little longer than usual before finally getting up, lured by the breakfast box awaiting you. Fairfield by Marriott Mie Okuise Odai offers guests a two-tiered bento box. Packed with a variety of delicacies from the area—such as ayu, shrimp, and taro root—it’s one of the most substantial breakfasts you’ve ever had.

You could bring your breakfast up to your room, but you decide to take advantage of the Lobby Lounge to chat with the other guests while you eat. From the staff, you learn that each Fairfield by Marriott location has its own version of the breakfast box, featuring plenty of local ingredients to ensure it’s one of the highlights of your trip. It would be easy to linger here for hours, but you have an exciting itinerary to look forward to. With some reluctance, you go to check out.

You begin Day Two of your trip just across the street from the hotel at Michi-no-Eki Okuise Odai. It’s one of many roadside stations located across Japan that offer local food, produce, and crafts in addition to tourism information. They’ve become popular places to shop for souvenirs, but it’s best to go first thing in the morning. The early bird gets the worm here, because the specialty items brought in by the locals tend to sell out quickly.

You arrive early, but even so, the store is nearly out of their most popular item, the kitsune onigiri. This rice ball flavored with seasoned deep-fried tofu skin, dried shrimp, and green onions is packed with rich umami. You also buy two more treats made with local ingredients—batchanzu (rice cakes flavored with mugwort, filled with a fava bean paste, and wrapped in fragrant magnolia leaves) and Yuzukko (a beverage made with yuzu juice)—to enjoy later. Scouring the shelves feels almost like a treasure hunt. It’s no wonder you end up lingering here longer than you expected.

From the Miya River valley, you head back to Odai for the last stop on your itinerary: Ichifuji, a Chinese noodle shop. You order the five-topping noodles, a light yet deeply flavorful noodle soup with plenty of vegetables. The soy sauce broth is prepared for hours with the pure waters of Miya River and dried seafood from the Kishu region southwest of Ise. It’s the perfect refresher after all that walking, and you are happy to see that it comes with egg—this should give you the energy boost you need.

You are curious about the rest of the menu as well, especially the champon noodles—just as popular as the five-topping noodles, and also with plenty of toppings—and the curry soup noodles. As you dig into your meal, you quietly reflect on the past two days you spent in Ise and Odai.

As you drive towards Nagoya Station, watching the scenery transform from rural to urban, you hit on the perfect phrase for your trip to Ise Shrine and Okuise Odai: “a little adventure.” In your temporary home base of Odai, you were able to fully relax at the Fairfield by Marriott Mie Okuise Odai. The first-rate room was as relaxing as expected, and the Lobby Lounge was unforgettable.

Best of all, you woke up on the second day with more than enough energy to see sights that you had never seen before. It just occurs to you that the clear emerald-green waters of the Miya River flow in the direction of Ise Shrine. You feel that visiting the area near the source of the river has given you a deeper understanding of Ise as a whole.