I went to Drive-in Toba! Detailed information on popular souvenirs, gourmet food, and surrounding information!

About 5 minutes from the Ise Expressway Ise IC, take the Ise Futami Toba Line towards Toba. Drive-in Toba is located at the Toba entrance of the Ise-Shima e-POWERROAD (Ise-Shima Skyline), a "driveway in the sky" that connects Ise and Toba.

You can enjoy searching for souvenirs with a wide selection of products, from famous Ise-Shima sweets to processed seafood products and local sake from Mie. This is a shop where you can become an Ise-Shima souvenir expert if you thoroughly check out the products and acquire product knowledge.

I will introduce you in detail♪

At the entrance, we were immediately greeted by the Ise lobster rice cracker corner.
Various manufacturers are competing for supremacy, claiming that they are the number one Ise shrimp cracker, such as ``Ise 'Kiwami' Shrimp Cracker Premium,'' ``Ise Hosho Shrimp Cracker,'' and ``Ise Shima Longevity Rice Cracker.''

It feels like the home of spiny lobster.

In terms of easy-to-get items, Ise Shima Fisherman Arare (390 yen each for shrimp, squid, and seaweed) is also popular.It's also perfect for snacking on while driving.

Shell Reine (1,620 yen for 10 pieces, 810 yen for 5 pieces), a famous Toba confectionery, was chosen for the coffee break at IseShimaSummit.

Crispy on the outside, moist and exquisite on the inside, and the dough contains natural pearl shell calcium, making it a Toba specialty.

This corner caught my eye because of the pearl connection. It looks like a row of pearl decorations, but that's not the case. "Pearl Drop (440 yen for 8 tablets, 300 yen for 5 tablets)".
A candy containing pearl powder. It seems to have a good effect on your skin as well.

The words "Ise-Udon" visible beyond the pearl drop.
That's right, Ise's specialty is `` Ise-Udon,'' which is characterized by its sweet and spicy sauce and chewy noodles. It's easily available at supermarkets around here, but when it comes to souvenirs, there are items like this that have a premium feel to them.
Why not buy Ise-Udon?

Don't forget Akafukumochi (1,100 yen for 12 pieces, 760 yen for 8 pieces), which is one of the most popular souvenirs from Ise-Shima.
Akafukumochi is often seen at Kintetsu stations, but it's surprisingly hard to find when you stop by a store while driving. The words "Ise Famous Akafukumochi" are displayed in large letters on signboards along the road, making it the most popular product.
Due to the limited number of items that arrive each day, some days they may be sold out by the afternoon. please note.

On the signboard, the words `` Akafukumochi'' were written in large letters alongside ``Akafuku''.
``Drive-in Toba'' is a shop where many customers stop by on their way home from sightseeing in Toba and Shima, but once you get on the expressway, you cannot buy alcoholic beverages in the service area.
That's why we have a wide selection of Mie local sake.

These are ``Saku'' by Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten (Suzuka) and ``Hanzo'' by Ota Sake Brewery (Iga), which were served to the leaders of various countries at the Ise-IseShimaSummit and became a hot topic. A two-bottle set (300ml each for 1,840 yen) is also on sale as part of the ``Mie Brewery Sake Tour''.

If you come to Ise-Shima and want to try local alcohol, we also recommend the Ise-Shima limited souvenir, the Ise Local Sake Set (1,840 yen).

The set includes 3 bottles: local sake ``Okakusama'', plum wine ``Nigori Ume'', and local shochu ``Okakusama Junmai Shochu''.

For those who want to master local alcoholic beverages, try ``Kono Sora Kono Umi Kono Aosa'' (1,440 yen), a shochu made with Ise-Shima's specialty ``Aosa,'' which has a refreshing aroma of the ocean, or ``Kono Aosa'' (1,440 yen), which is made with Kinko-imo. ``Shishu Hayato Kinkimo Shochu'' is a product full of regional flavor.
Kinkimo is a dried sweet potato produced in the Shima region using local sweet potatoes, and is popular as a preserved food for divers and fishermen. It was also selected as a dedication to IseJingu ShikinenSengu shrine in 2013.

Other options include ``Oyster Shigure'' (1,080 yen), which uses oysters from Ise Shima, and ``Ise Takuan'' (440 yen), which is made using the traditional method of aging for two years in barrels that have been used for 100 years. There are plenty of local specialties, such as Isoage Maruten's Goshikiage (1,080 yen), which is popular in Oharai-Machi.

I wondered how they were able to stock so many products, so I asked Mr. Suzaki of Mie Prefecture Tourism Development Co., Ltd., which is in charge of operating Drive-In Toba.
"We have over 500 specialty products. We have close to 100 wholesalers that we have relationships with, and we are always looking for new products ourselves."

Through constant efforts, we have achieved a complete product lineup.

In addition to specialty products, we also have a wide selection of toys and miscellaneous goods for children. "We hope that families will stop by and have fun."

Inside the store, there is also a gallery exhibiting the works of Hiroharu Okamura, a photographer who continues to capture scenes of Toba. On this day, I was able to see Toba's fireworks and photos of Ama divers.

There is a restaurant next to the souvenir corner, where you can enjoy a menu made with local ingredients.

We recommend the Matsusaka beef bowl and Ise-Udon set for 1,250 yen,

The "Iseji Set" (720 yen) is a set of whitebait bowl and Ise-Udon.

It's a good idea to sample some of the rich local cuisine before you drive home!

【basic information】
Address: 1-82-1 Toba TobaCity Mie Prefecture
Phone number 0599-25-3610
Parking lot: 5 large cars, 50 regular cars
Business hours 9:00-17:15 *Subject to change depending on the season
Closed: Open all year round
Toilet: There are no barrier-free toilets in the facility.
EV charging facility (none)

*The information posted is as of March 2018.