City (pop., 2000 prelim.: 2,171,378), southern Honshu , Japan.
Located east of Kyōto , at the head of Ise Bay, it is one of Japan's leading industrial cities. Manufactures include textiles, watches, bicycles, sewing machines, machine tools, chemicals, and ceramics. The city dates from 1610, when a great castle was erected by the Owari branch of the Ise Shrine located there are the oldest and most highly esteemed Shintō shrines in Japan.