Toba City is a beautiful coastal port city located 200 miles southwest of Tokyo. Like Santa Barbara, its economy revolves around the ocean and tourism, it is a center for nautical recreation with beaches, boating, and water sports of all kinds. Toba is the gateway to Ise-Shima National Park, a pristine woodland with deep significance to the history of Japan.

Presently, visitors enjoy such attract as a 140-foot-tall observation tower and a large public aquarium. The observation tower provides views of a bay inlaid with gem-like islets. The aquarium houses a large variety of dolphins, whales, penguins, seals, and tropical fish in salt- and fresh-water tanks. Toba is perhaps best known as the home of Mikimoto pearls. It was here that the art of culturing pearls, and mariculture in general, was invented.