Tourist brochures are available here, and members of the "Ise Jingu Tourist Guide Association" are on standby to provide guided tours of Geku and Naiku between 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM (reservation required). Additionally, free Wi-Fi, bicycle rentals, and stroller rentals are available for visitors. (Source: Iseji Navi)

Oharai-machi or “purifying town” is a district replicating Edo era streets near the entrance to the Naiku shrine. There is a plethora of traditional sweet shops, restaurants serving local food and snacks, souvenir shops, etc. along the 800-meter-long street.In the middle is Okage-yokocho or “blessing alley”, a collection of around 60 stalls selling foods, crafts, and nostalgic souvenirs. Oharai-machi is one of the most visited tourist sites in the area, bustling with visitors year-round.

This is a museum at the entrance to Ise Jingu Geku where you can learn in detail about the full-size reproduction of the main sanctuary at Geku, the archive of the gods, images of the Shikinen Sengu rebuilding ceremony and other exhibits and technology.

Geku is the other major shrine dedicated to Toyo’uke-no-Omikami, the guardian deity of clothing, food and shelter. It is a short walk southwest from the Iseshi station through a shopping district, although not as pronounced as Oharai-machi, there is a diversity of shops and restaurants. Unlike Naiku there are two entrances to the grounds. Like Naiku the atmosphere is solemn with the shrine approach on gravel amongst a mature, old-growth forest. Buildings that offer similar functions to Naiku are scattered over the grounds. Near the main entrance is the Sengukan museum, which has exhibitions on the unique rebuilding ceremony that takes place every 20 years when all of the shrines in Ise are taking down and rebuilt from scratch.

Naiku’s shrine grounds are expansive and includes many buildings and subsidiary shrines with the formal access for worshipers being across the Uji-bashi bridge. The main sanctuary is near the rear of the
complex ~1 km from the entrance. The main pavilion housing Amaterasu and the divine mirror are in the innermost courtyard enclosed within four rows of wooden fences. Worshippers pay homage in front of the thirdrow gate. In this area it is strictly forbidden to take pictures or videos. Special ceremonies take place in the next level courtyard, but beyond that only the emperor and high-ranking priests are allowed.

Two kilometers west of Geku, the trail intersects with the sacred Miyagawa River, an historical site for purification before worshipping at Ise Jingu.

There was a ferry service here until the Miyagawa Railway Bridge and the wooden Watarai-bashi Bridge were built in 1897 and 1911 respectively.

Many teahouses lined the banks and because of the numerous willow trees, the crossing was known as Yanagi-noWatashi.

Further downstream was another crossing known as Sakura-noWatashi after its many cherry trees. There are currently about 700 cherry trees and it is one of Japan’s 100 famous cherry viewing sites.

The Miya-gawa is a large river flowing into Ise Bay, 91 km long with a watershed of 920 km².

Its source is the upper reaches of the Odaigahara mountain range, which straddles Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture and receives an enormous amount of rain, more than 4,800 mm a year.

Because of the high rainfall it is prone to flooding and many flood banks have been built since the Edo Period, including the Miyagawa Tsutsumi bank.

The stones used in the Oshiraishimochi white pebble carrying event during the Shikinen Sengu rebuilding ceremony are taken from the Miya-gawa river.