Mie Prefecture (三重県; Mie-ken) is part of the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. The capital is the city of Tsu.

History

Mie Prefecture was formed after the Meiji Restoration from the old province of Ise, as well as the smaller provinces of Shima and Iga.

Geography

Mie Prefecture forms the eastern part of the Kii Peninsula, and is bordered by Aichi, Gifu, Shiga, Kyoto, Nara, and Wakayama. It is considered part of the Kinki region, but it is close to Nagoya and has a number of suburbs of Nagoya. Most of the prefecture is mountainous, with a populous coastal plain along Ise Bay in the northeast, and high mountains along the southern coast, the Shima Peninsula , and the western border with the rest of Kinki, including a high plateau around Iga near Nara.

As of 2000 Mie Prefecture's 5,776.44 km² landmass is divided into 64.8% forest, 11.5% agriculture, 6% residential area, 3.8% roads, and 3.6% rivers. The remaining 10.3% are not classifed.

Cities

• Hisai
• Iga
• Inabe
• Ise
• Kameyama
• Kumano
• Kuwana
• Matsusaka
• Nabari
• Owase
• Suzuka
• Toba
• Tsu (capital)
• Yokkaichi

Districts

Economy

Mie's manufacturing industry specializes in transport machinery, such as ships and cars, and chemicals, particularly oil refining. Agricultural products include tea, beef, and pearls.

Demographics

Culture

Tourism

Some of Mie's better-known sights include:

• Ise Shrine
• Mikimoto Pearl Island, Toba
• Ueno castle , the birthplace of the ninja
• The wedded rocks of Futamigaura beach

Famous local products include lobster, known as "Ise shrimp" (伊勢えび ise-ebi) in Japanese after the prefecture, and Matsusaka beef.

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

External links

• Mie Prefecture official homepage