Ine - the town of Funaya boathouses
- Kyoto off the beaten path -
There are now about 230 boathouses in the small town of Ine. Some of them have turned into guesthouses, but many are still homes of the locals, with the boat garages on the first floor and the living quarters on the 2nd or in another house across the road.
When similar places become tourist destination, it can be quite disruptive for the locals, but it seems that the local tourist organization is doing a great job keeping the tourism alive while preserving the living spaces and the peace of the original inhabitants.
There is an elementary school and a middle school, but the last high school has closed a few years back. It was fun to imagine how it must feel like growing up here, in a small town cradled between the sea and the mountains.
During my time at Ine I stayed at a lovely place called Miyabi Bettei, that has just opened in March 2023. It was a renovated Funaya boathouse with a private onsen on the teracce.
The second floor had a tatami space which offered an amazing view of the see and it felt as if the place was floating on top of the water.