Our third Japanese pet friendly campervan roadtrip took us to Mie/Wakayama. We once again hired the Adria 520 Twin Sport as this was by far our favourite van. Now we have our own car it made picking up the camping car a lot easier as we drove direct to the pick up point. This was so much better as it meant we could be more prepared with not having to lug everything on the train. This time we packed up our duvet, pillows, lots of food condiments and sauces etc and threw it all in the back of the car. It also meant we could bring my stroller as well as my car seat to make it a lot safer for me also.
So let’s see what we got up to on our Pet Friendly Mie Wakayama Roadtrip Day 5
Day 1 | Pick Up
We set off from home around 9:30am and reached Kamakura around 11am. As we had already hired this van before we didn’t need any orientation. We simply put our stuff in off we drove. This trip we plan to cover Mie and Wakayama areas. We had 2 choices to get to Mie prefecture. First was to take the ferry from Irago to Toba or to drive around the land. We chose to go with the first option so we first headed towards Lake Hamana where we planned to spend the night in a nearby Michi no Eki before getting the ferry in the morning.
We saw there was a flower park around the lake so we set that as our destination. Unfortunately, after a stop at the roadside station for lunch, we only arrived at 16:30pm, just as they were closing. We thought we would try the nearby flower garden but that was also closing. So we ended up just heading to the michi no eki.
We first went to Shiomi Zaka michi no eki where we grabbed some fried chicken. However, we thought we would head a bit closer to the ferry terminal for the following morning. In the end, we didn’t go very far as we came across Toyohashi michi no eki, only about 15 minutes drive away. As it was already quite late we thought we would spend the night here instead.
Toyohashi was a much better choice. The toilets were much cleaner, there was a much bigger choice of food and drinks options. Overall it was just nicer. However, overnight it rained so bad it was quite hard to get a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 | Nabana no Sato Flower Park & Onsen
We didn’t get a good nights sleep because of the rain and it didn’t look like it was going to stop. So we took the decision not to take the ferry and instead drove around the coast. We came across Nabana no Sato flower park en route. We bookmarked it as it was en route and hoped the weather would clear by the time we arrived. Thankfully it did!
Nabana no Sato is a great flower park to visit. Unfortunately dogs aren’t allowed inside so the humans went in alone. It was ¥2,500 each to enter but you do get a ¥1,000 voucher to spend inside. This can be used for food & drinks from the many restaurants inside. Or you can use it for some of the optional extras. The humans chose to use ¥1,000 to go into the Begonia garden and the other ¥1,000 towards the onsen. It was definitely worth doing the Begonia garden. It does say it’s usually ¥1,000 per person but we also got a voucher with our entrance ticket for 50% discount. So in the end it was only ¥500 each.
The big attraction at Nabana no Sato is the illumination which is on from October until early June. As we visited during the day we didn’t see this but you could tell how impressive it would be just by the set up you could see. Next time we’ll have to come back after 7pm as it will for sure be amazing.
After the Begonia garden humans chose to go to the onsen. When travelling in a van you have to take every opportunity you can to take a shower and onsens are the best place. It was ¥1,200 each including free towel rental and we used our remaining ¥1,000 voucher towards it. So it only cost ¥700 each. There was 1 indoor pool and 4 outdoor pools in each side and they were all amazing. It was lovely to sit in each one in the beautiful scenery. After onsen it was time to come back for me.
Day 2 | Matsusaka Beef
As we headed south, we couldn’t miss a stop in Matsusaka for it’s famous beef. Known as one of the best types of wagyu beef, the humans had to try it. Not having had any lunch it was the perfect pit stop on the way south. A quick Google search brought up many options and they settled on Nozaki. A small restaurant run by an older local couple it was the perfect place. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed inside so again, I stayed in the van. Humans had a set course with 6 different types of Matsusaka beef including hormones (which they couldn’t eat) and they said it was a really good feast.
It cost them ¥8,000 each but there were cheaper options available. Given it’s one of the most expensive beefs in the world, it was very good value. Humans said they think after trying Matsusaka beef and Kobe beef, Wagyu isn’t really their preferred taste. However, the restaurant and experience was great and definitely worth a stop off at Nozaki.
With full bellies, we headed another hour or so south to the next michi no eki at Ise Shima. About 30 minutes south of the famous eIse Jingu shrine, it was a good spot to end the day. It was a pretty basic michi no eki with not much available. But the toilets were clean as always and it was a nice quiet spot to get a good nights sleep before the next big day.
Day 3 | Ise Jingu Shrine
Our first port of call of the day was to visit the Ise Jingu Shrine. This is what the Mie prefecture is most famous for so we had to visit it. It is where the Kumano Kodo pilgrimmage starts from. There are 2 parts to the shrine, the Naiku (inner sanctuary), which has the main shrine & the Geku (outer sanctuary). In total there are 125 shrines in the Jingu area. We drove first to the Naiku. The first car park we went to wouldn’t allow us in as it said our campervan was too large. So they sent us pretty far away down next to the river. Parking was ¥500 per hour. We then had to walk back up to the temple. However, it turned out well as we got to walk through the Okage Yokocho which is an old street full of great shops and places serving local foods.
Unfortunately dogs aren’t allowed inside the shrine so I stayed in the van. They do have an area at the entrance where you can leave your dog in a cage. But it was better for me to stay in the van with my home comforts. The humans took about 1 hour to look around the shrine which was very simple but calm and serene. They decided not to do the Geku as it was a short drive away and they always like to keep something for another time. So off we set to our next stop.
Day 3 | Ise Shima Skyline & Mikimoto Pearl Island
The Ise Shima Skyline is a toll road connecting Ise to Shima in Mie prefecture. Along the pass you get stunning views down to the ocean with a number of places to stop along the way. To access the Skyline it costs ¥1,270 and it is open until 7pm. The total pass is 18km and we stopped a few times to just sit and look at the view. There was also a temple site we stopped and took a walk around.
5 minutes from the end of the Ise Shima Skyline is Mikimoto pearl island. This part of Japan is very well known for it’s pearls and oysters and famously the Ama women divers. These are free divers that dive for the oysters in the ocean without oxygen tanks. They aren’t so common these days, however at Mikimoto island they do a demonstration every hour.
We paid ¥600 for parking and entrance was ¥1,650 each. There is a museum on the island which tells you all you need to know about catching oysters and farming the pearls. Dogs are allowed in all parts of the island apart from the restaurants as long as they are on a leash or in a carrier.
After an action packed day we headed to the coast to find a campsite. We came across Azuri Camp Space which was exactly what we were looking for. Located right next to the ocean there was a stunning beach for us to walk along with a beautiful sunset to match. Sometimes I don’t even believe I am in Japan, the beach could have been straight out of Thailand. With only 3 other campers at the site it was perfect. However, it was super windy which made a BBQ quite tough but we made it through! The campsite was great and the toilets and showers (free with hot water) were so clean. I certainly recommend this place. It was ¥4,400 for the site and ¥600 for some fire wood we bought.
Day 4 | Yokoyama Observatory
A 30 minute drive from the campsite we headed to Yokoyama observatory for a view over the Ago Bay. Parking was free and there was a great relatively easy hike around the mountain. Starting from the visitors centre there was a steep 15 minute walk to the top car park. From there it was quite a gentle walk to the first view point where there was a cafe serving snacks and drinks. The view was stunning over the bay where we had stayed last night. Humans foolishly forgot to bring my K9 Sports Sack on this trip so I had to walk the whole way! We got to see lots of viewpoints and it was really nice walking through the trees.
If we had my K9 we could have done a longer walk to the summit of Mount Yokoyama. However, my little legs couldn’t go that far. So we just did the more touristy leisurely loop which was more than enough. As we neared the bottom I slowed down a lot and in the end had to get carried for the final 10 minutes or so.
Our next stop is to test out some of the sections of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimmage trail. So we headed down towards the first one humans will try tomorrow, the Magose-Toge pass. En route we came across Ippukutei, a Japanese restaurant. A small restaurant with a small menu the food was fantastic. I wasn’t allowed in but humans had the sea bream sashimi set (caught fresh that morning) and a tonkatsu set. Both were utterly delicious.
With an early start due we headed to our rest stop. We stayed at the Miyama michi no eki. This was right next to the start of the trail for tomorrow so it was a perfect location.
Pet Friendly Mie Wakayama Roadtrip Day 5 | Magose-Toge Pass
After an early rise, humans headed to the Magose-Toge pass. This is part of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimmage route. The route is split up into 5 different sections and each section is further split into a number of different passes. This makes it possible for people to do sections at a time. The section we started on was the Iseji Route. The first we attempted was the Magose-Toge pass.
Just a short 10 minute walk from the michi no eki the trail began. It was listed as a rating 2 difficulty so they thought it would be easy but they were wrong. It was about 45 minutes of pure uphill, which certainly got the heart rate going! The guidance says it’s best for dogs not to be brought onto the trail, although we did see one couple with theirs. However, it was more of a sporty looking type of dog. For sure this wasn’t right for me so I stayed in the van.
They started the hike at 09:20 and got to the end at 12:00 including a 30 minute side trip each way to the top of Mt Tengurasan. They had to walk a little further to the train station where they took a taxi (at ¥2,630) to get back to me at the michi no eki. As the route is a pilgrimmage route, most of the sections are only one way so you have to either get the bus/train or taxi back unless you want to do it all over again in reverse. But the buses and taxis are very infrequent, usually around one every 2 hours. So an expensive taxi it was.
Day 5 | Senmaida Autocamp
After their hike and a couple of busy days, we wanted some time to relax, so we headed for a campsite. We stocked up on groceries and headed to Senmaida Autocamp. They booked it the previous day and it’s a good job they did as the place was deserted. If they hadn’t booked we are pretty sure they would have been closed and had no-one there to accept us.
We really couldn’t understand why it was not busy. The location was perfect, right on the river. Lots of great camping spots and even better, they had dog sites! That meant that some sites were fenced off so you could put your tent up in the fenced section and the dogs can wander free. For us, with a campervan, it meant we could park alongside the site and BBQ inside the site. So I could run freely. To use the dog site it was an extra ¥1,000 per night which was so worth it!
There were 4 dog sites, but even if those were full there was a huge dog run. 2 of the dog sites had power and 2 didn’t. We didn’t need power as the weather was perfect so they put us in site D. Unfortunately this was in the shade and a strange shape so we asked if we could move to site A which was in the sun and a nice size. He agreed with no extra charge for the powered site as long as we didn’t use the power. We paid ¥4,500 for the first night and ¥3,500 for the second (we decided to stay 2 nights so we could have a day without driving).
We set up the BBQ, had some food and drinks before sitting watching the stars and being mesmerised with the fire!
Day 6 | Tori-Toge Pass
We had a nice leisurely relaxing breakfast of fruits, yoghurt and eggs and spent some time sorting out the van. Around 11:30 the humans headed off for their next hike, which included the Tori-Toge pass. This trail wasn’t part of the heritage trail but was still one of the passes on the pilgrimmage route. It was a good option for the humans as they could start from the campsite and end at the campsite without having to rely on public transport or taxi’s.
They first headed up to Maruyama Senmaida, which is one of the largest terraced rice paddies in the whole of Japan. The scenery was absolutely stunning. They got slightly delayed as there was a cycling race, Race to Kumano, which they had to let pass. So they really started walking about 12:30 ish. After a few wrong turns, they finally found the start of the trail head. Similar in nature to Magose-Toge, there was a lot of uphill. The stone paths are quite uneven so you definitely need sturdy shoes or hiking boots. They again did the side hike which was an extra 260m of pure uphill. But the view at the top was certainly worth it down towards all of the rice fields. From the top they could even see me in the van in the far distance.
They made their way over the rest of the pass and back down to me. They got back about 15:30 and got the BBQ started straight away. I was happy to have the grass to run around on but soon enough I was whining to go back in the van. So the humans sat in the dog pen having their BBQ while I sat in the van all night. Typical Westitude!
Day 7 | Matsumoto-Toge Pass & Onigajo
The third pass of the Kumano Kodo that the humans did was the Matsumoto-Toge. This was by far the easiest. Parking was closeby, only 5 minutes walk from the trailhead. A quick 20 minute (pure) uphill which was a breeze compared to the previous days. A quick stop at the top then a leisurely slow descent down to the other side. At the bottom you came out pretty much at the beach. You can then take a walk along the coast at Onigajo which was longer than the actual pass itself.
Walking along the coast, you are walking along caves that have been formed naturally from earthquakes and the waves and it was quite a spectacular sight. The whole walk including the pass and the cliffside only took about 1 hour and 20 minutes. A quick pit stop for ice cream before they came back to me. It’s always nice to do a hike that ends in a loop back to the start.
We headed down towards Nachi michi no eki which had a much needed onsen. At ¥600 each it was a bit expensive given it was very basic and only had one pool. But the main objective was to get a shower. As we arrived quite early we decided to move on to another michi no eki and headed towards Hongu where we could visit one of the 3 Kumano Sanzen shrines.
We stopped for some ramen on the way at Tori Soba which was delicious. After dinner we got to see the Oyunohara, which is the world’s largest tori gate! The rain was setting in so we headed to our home for the night, Oku Kumano Kodo Hongu michi no eki.
Day 8 | Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine
The day started as the previous day ended, raining. We had expected it so we had a lazy morning sorting out the van and just chilling out. However, the rain didn’t seem like it was going to stop like the forecast had suggested. In the end we decided to just make a move for it. Whilst we were next to Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine we decided to give it a miss and head to the Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine instead. This was about a 30 minute drive and we hoped the rain would ease up by the time we got there. Unfortunately it didn’t. So humans put on their waterproofs, grabbed their umbrellas and braved the rain.
As it was so wet I stayed in the van. I’m not getting out much this trip. It was a shame as dogs were allowed to the temple if they were carried. But it was too wet for me. Wet dog in a van isn’t very pleasant! As humans left me, they brought me back a gift from the shrine. A lucky charm designed to protect pets for good health.
Whilst the name is Grand Shrine, it isn’t actually that big. It’s easy to walk around it all within about 15 minutes (without prayers or offerings). As it was so wet humans didn’t hang around much so they were in and out pretty quickly.
Day 8 | Kumano Nachi Taisha Grand Shrine
Whilst the rain wasn’t stopping this wasn’t going to stop us from visiting this shrine. After a quick pitstop at KFC for lunch, we drove 30 minutes or so. We parked at the Daimon-Zaka parking area. As it was super wet I stayed in the van. Humans got on their hiking boots, waterproofs and umbrellas and off they set. They grabbed a walking stick from the start of the trail and up they went.
The Daimon-Zaka is a stone pathway through cedar trees which leads up to the Nachi Taisha. In the rain it was very slippy so humans had to take extra care and attention with their footing. It only took about 30 minutes until they were at the tori gate at the entrance to the shrine. The shrine itself was impressive and in the rain the red colours stood out more. They made some wishes at the shrine then continued towards the pagoda.
The pagoda is built overlooking the Nachi falls, which is Japan’s highest waterfall with a drop of 133m. There’s a famous picture with the waterfall in the background of the pagoda. It was so impressive to see it, and the rain just made it even better. They waited for some time as the mist kept passing by blocking the view of the falls until they got some good pictures.
They were then able to walk down to the falls. As it was so wet one of the observation platforms was closed but they still got some good pictures and the sound was so loud with the gushing water. They chose to walk down the main road as felt it would be safer than the slippy stone steps. The total trip took just over 2 hours until they were back to me in the van.
Day 8 | Onsen & Michi no eki
After a couple of days of hiking the humans needed a much needed shower and rest. So they popped into the Oedo Onsen Monogatari Nanki Kushimoto. This was a hotel but you could use the onsen as a day tripper if you paid the fee of ¥1,250 per person. That included towel rental. The onsen was great. There was an indoor pool and also an outdoor pool which looked over the ocean. It was also empty so the humans were the only ones (respectively) in the pool which is always good as a self conscious Brit who doesn’t like being naked in front of other people!
Our home for the evening was Kushimoto HashiGuiiWa michi no eki. It was right on the coast so we knew we’d have a good view in the morning when we woke up (weather permitting). For once there was a restaurant across the road from the michi no eki so humans grabbed some dinner and a couple of beers before passing out for the night.
Day 9 | Shionomisaki & Kii-Oshima
Thankfully in the morning the rain had stopped and we got a great view over the coast. As we were down the bottom of the prefecture we chose to drive around the coast of the islands just of Kushimoto. Our first stop was Shionomisaki lighthouse. There was a ¥300 entrance fee each but at the entrance it said no pets allowed 🙁 We quickly moved on and headed to the southernmost point of Honshu. Honshu is the main island of Japan that is home to most of Japan’s major cities. That means I’ve now been to the northernmost point of Japan and Honshu’s southernmost point!
A drive across the bridge we got to Kii-Oshima. On here we took a walk around the Umikongo. Here there is a cliffside you can walk around and view the amazing rock formations in the ocean. Dogs were allowed so I got to stretch my legs and enjoyed getting out into nature.
Day 9 | Shirarahama Beach
After a quick stop for lunch at Tsubaki Hano no Yu michi no eki we headed further up the coast to Shirarahama beach. Driving along the coastline is something that you simply can’t miss on a trip to Japan. It really is stunning. No matter how many times we do it, we can’t get enough of it. We parked up at Shirarahama Beach, and my goodness I couldn’t believe it. It was a beautiful white stunning beach. It could have been straight out of any picture postcard of Maldives.
Unfortunately dogs weren’t allowed on the beach (in order to keep it as pristine as it is). We took a walk along the outside of the beach instead to wear me out a bit and then I went back in the van whilst the humans took a walk along the sandy beach.
After a full day of adventures we headed to the michi no eki for the night at Shirasaki. We got there just before sunset so we walked to the observatory nearby and watched it. It was super beautiful. The observatory is located along some white cliffs so it was a stunning walk also. Enough to wear me out for a good night’s sleep!
Day 10 | Koyasan
Today’s destination was Koyasan (Mount Koya). Koyasan is home to numerous temples and it’s common for people to spend an overnight at one of those temples. Doggos aren’t allowed to stay overnight so of course we didn’t do it. We read prior that doggos aren’t allowed around Koyasan at all so unfortunately I had to stay in the van. We parked in the museum car park while the humans did their sightseeing.
They started at the Daimon Gate, the entrance to Koyasan and continued their way down the main street, stopping at the many temples along the way. The end of the road led to the Okunoin temple. At the end of a 2km stretch of cemetery filled with over 200,000 tombstones. Despite it being a cemetery it wasn’t so creepy and was actually quite beautiful. Some of the tombstones were so incredible. At the end there is Kobo Daishi’s Mausoleum (Gobyo), the site of his eternal meditation. Visitors come from all over to pray to Kobo Daishi, and it is not uncommon to see pilgrims chanting sutras here.
After the walk back to the van to me we headed to our stop for the night, Kaki no Sato Kudoyama michi no eki. About a 5 minute walk away from the michi no eki humans found Wakaya. This was a small family run izakaya which was so cool. The owner kept giving us local delicacies and beer and mammy sang her first ever karoke. Get this, it was in Japanese also, how cool is that! What a great day we had.
Day 11 | Akame 48 Falls
Our destination for today was Akame 48 falls. We saw it on Google maps at the beginning of this trip and bookmarked it to come back to. As the name suggests, it’s a serious of 48 waterfalls over a hiking course. It cost ¥1,000 per person for entrance. It didn’t say whether dogs were allowed or not, but as it was expected to be a 3 hour round trip hike, humans made the decision for me to stay in the van.
At the entrance there is a small aquarium as the area is home to salamander also. Unfortunately humans didn’t get to see any. We arrived just before 2pm and the park closed at 5pm. It said it took 90 minutes each way so we were on a very strict schedule. On the way up humans didn’t want to hang around too much to make sure they had enough time to get to the end.
Actually, it wasn’t so difficult so they managed to reach the end within just 1 hour. So they were able to take a bit more time on the way down to take pictures and enjoy the views. Whilst there were 48 falls, many of them were very small, with only a few bigger falls which were impressive. It was a nice, casual hike and was nice and quiet also with only a handful of others on the track.
The plan was to go to onsen after as there were 2 really nice ones next to the falls. However, they were both closed by the time they had finished. So instead we had to find a separate one nearby to the michi no eki we stayed at.
We chose to stay at the Iga michi no eki as it was the closest. It was one of the bigger ones we had stayed at, more like a roadside station on the expressway. The good news was it had a dog run, so I got to run around freely for ages. Which was great after spending so much time in the van.
Day 12 | Koshikake Campsite
As the trip was coming to an end we wanted to have one more night of camping. So we headed towards Mikawa Lake in Aichi prefecture. The original campsite we headed for looked pretty rubbish and we happened to stumble upon Koshikake Campsite by mistake. We couldn’t find any info about it online so it was a good find. It was right on the edge of the lake so had lovely views. We got here early afternoon so had the whole day to enjoy the peace and quiet of the campsite.
It cost ¥4,400 for the night (¥3,300 for the campsite and ¥550 per person) plus ¥700 for firewood. We had stocked up on food for the BBQ en route so we happily sat eating and drinking at the edge of the lake, having a lovely relaxing day.
Day 13 | Yuya Onsen
Our penultimate day took us first to Yuya Onsen, a small onsen town. When we parked up to choose an onsen we got chatting to a guy in the car park in our broken Japanese and his broken English with the help of Google translate. It turned out he was the owner of the Hazu Hotel group in the town and when we went to go for onsen they let us in for free even though they don’t usually let in day trippers! How cool is that!
The onsen was great, directly onto the river it was so beautiful. The mens onsen was definitely the better one as it had an outdoor pool whereas the ladies was just an indoors one. I believe they change them over each day so it depends what day you go on as to which you get.
After the humans were refreshed we headed further on our way and found a small cafe to stop for lunch. It was here that I found the perfect motorbike, what do you think?
For the night we headed to Izu Kannmai michi no eki. You may recall we have stayed here before, when we had the supercars surround us in the morning. With great views of Mount Fuji, riverside walks and a dog park it’s a great michi no eki to spend the night.
Day 14 | Obuchi Sasaba
Our last activity of the trip was to Obuchi Sasaba tea fields. This was another site we found on Google maps and had bookedmarked for our return. Obuchi Sasaba tea fields are known for their amazing views of Mount Fuji over the tea fields. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived Fuji was pretty covered so we didn’t get that picture perfect photo. However, you do get to try some of the local tea for tree and we bought a pack for ¥500.
A stop at a roadside station on the highway, I got to stretch my legs at a dog run. It’s so great that in Japan, almost all roadside stations on the Expressway have a free dog run for dogs to stretch their ends as well as their humans. We finally got to the last michi no eki of the trip, Kiyokawa. This was the closest michi no eki to Kamakura and we wanted to last drive to be as short as possible.
The michi no eki itself wasn’t that great but it did have a small restaurant on site. However, we found the most amazing izakaya just a short 5 minute walk away. Yakidokoro Koryo was the best find. Pork is a local delicacy and the pork here was so utterly delicious, some of the best we’ve ever had. The owners were super friendly as were the other locals who were enjoying their Sunday evening. The best thing about the place? It was super pet friendly! I was allowed inside and also had a friend to play with. Everyone was so friendly to me and we had a great evening with lots of food, drinks and laughs.
Day 15 | The Handover
Overnight and throughout the morning it was raining super heavily. So we had to wait for it to die down a bit before starting the drive back. Around 11am we set off and reached Kamakura at around midday to say goodbye to the Adria for the second time. It was so much easier having our own car so we put all our stuff in the back of the car and drove back to Tokyo.
Conclusion
How did you enjoy our pet friendly Mie & Wakayama roadtrip? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed it, check out my other roadtrips to Fuji Five Lakes & Izu Peninsular or my Hokkaido roadtrip.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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