Ise City (伊勢市) is located in eastern Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū about two hours to the east of Ōsaka by train. Home to Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred and famous Shintō shrine in Japan, it is a popular destination for tourists and pilgrims in spite of its inconvenient location.

Pictured on Ise City's manhole is Okage Mairi. During the Edo Period (1603–1868) it was popular for large groups of pilgrims to travel to Mie and every sixty years millions of pilgrims would decend upon Ise during what was known as the Okage Toshi (Okage Year). Also called nukemairi (抜け参り), servants and children would travel to the shrine without their master's or parent's permission, often having to rely on mendicancy along the way. 

At the time, the trip from Edo (modern-day Tōkyō) could take as long as fifteen days, while from Ōsaka it took 5 days and from Nagoya three.