Shōtō-an

Kansai

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This antique-strewn century-old house is a wonderful place to sample Matsusaka's famous wagyū (Japanese beef). Lunch sets of sukiyaki (thin slices of beef cooked in broth and dipped in raw egg) and teppanyaki (thicker cuts of meat grilled on an iron hot plate), both with 100g of grade-A5 beef (the best), cost a reasonable ¥3000. Last orders 2pm; picture menu.

Dinner is by reservation only and features more elaborate courses. The restaurant is around the corner from the Castle-Guard Residences; it's easily spotted, with a menu outside the gate and some gnarly pines in the front garden.

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Nearby Kansai attractions

1. Castle-Guard Residences

0.05 MILES

Just south of the castle ruins is a street of original row houses built as residences for the samurai charged with guarding the castle. One (closest to…

2. Matsusaka-jō Ruins

0.15 MILES

Matsusaka's grand castle, constructed in 1584, was short-lived: a typhoon destroyed the five-storey donjon (main keep) in 1644, while fire and…

3. Matsusaka Merchant Museum

0.36 MILES

Ozu Seizaemon was one of the most successful merchants of the Edo period, and his well-preserved timber-framed home, originally built in the late 17th…

4. Ise-jingū

11.79 MILES

Believed to have been founded in the 3rd century, Ise-jingū is Japan's most venerated Shintō shrine. It’s in two parts – Gekū, the outer shrine, and Naikū…

5. Gekū

11.79 MILES

Ise-jingū's outer shrine dates from the 5th century and enshrines the god of food, clothing and housing, Toyo'uke-no-Ōmikami. Daily offerings of rice are…

6. Sengūkan

11.8 MILES

At the entrance to Gekū, this museum illustrates Shikinen-Sengū, the ceremonial reconstruction of the buildings of the Ise shrines and the transfer of the…

7. Oharai-machi

13.57 MILES

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8. Naikū

14.02 MILES

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