Ine - a hidden treasure of the Kyoto prefecture

When we say Kyoto, the first thing that comes to mind would be the Kyoto city. A magnificent place that is breathing history and is full of world heritage sites, beautiful temples and.. well.. tourists. Now that the pandemic is becoming a thing of the past, the streets are overflowing with visitors and if you are not a fan of crowds, you might want to visit the main sights in the early morning hours.

However, what many (especially first-time) visitors of Japan might not know is that there is much more to explore in the prefecture besides the Kyoto city. Don´t get me wrong - I love the Kyoto city and think that it is a must-see place in Japan, but let us go to a little bit off the beaten path to a lovely little seaside town tucked away in the Ine bay.

Ine town (伊根町, Inecho, Ine Fishing Village) has been on my bucket list for the longest time. It is located on the Tango peninsula, which is on the Northern side of the Kyoto prefecture. To get here, it takes about two hours by car or about four hours by trains and a bus from Kyoto. Indeed, a little bit further away from the main sights, but I promise, it is worth it.

This time I opted for a rental car. You can find rental car offices near most larger train stations in Japan, but I do recommend making a reservation in advance. I filled in the paperwork and as I have only have had my Japanese license for less than a year, I was handed the “beginner” magnetic sign to stick on the car.

The drive was lovely, passing through green hills and by small villages on the way.

You will also pass another interesting place on the way here – Ama no Hashidate, which is known as one of the three most beautiful views in Japan. I did not make a stop here this time, but will definitely do so if I ever come again.

In the afternoon I finally arrived in Ine and fell in love right away. The estimated population of this small town is almost 2000 citizens within 900 households. 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. There are no convenience stores, one cafe, an izakaya and a few restaurants in the area, but it would be great to have a chance to speak with some of the local youth about how they spend their free time.

In 2008 Ine was designated as one of the most beautiful villages in Japan, and I can truly see why. What makes this town special are its famous traditional boathouses – Funaya. The sea side of the city is lined with houses that can be directly entered by boats, making for a spectacular scenery, especially when seen from the sea.

There are now about 230 funaya left in the town, 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 floor or in another house across the road.

When similar places become popular tourist destination, it can be quite disruptive for the locals, but it seems that the Ine local tourist organization is doing a great job keeping the business alive while preserving the living spaces and the peace of the original inhabitants. You can actually reserve a guided tour of the city and the boathouses throuh their website. I did not do so this time, but would definitely do it next time to learn more about the history of the town.

There are a few guesthouses in the city, some of them being funaya themselves, making for a great experience if you can stay the night there. As usual, I did not book in advance and there were almost no places left by the time I got around to it. However, also as usual, I got very lucky - just a few days before the trip I found a lovely guest house that opened only a month ago. As it stared its operations so recently, it was not on booking.com nor had its own website yet and the only place it was listed on was jaran.com, a Japanese accommodation booking site.

The place was lovely, it smelled of new wood and you could tell that not many people have stayed here before. It was quite spacious and offered all you might need, including a set of tea and coffee, yukata set and all necessary bathroom amenities and skincare. On the 2nd floor there was a tatami space with a large window overlooking the bay. An ideal place to read, listen to music and just roll around and chill. But the highlight if the place was on the 1st floor – a private onsen with a view of the sea and the small island with a tiny pine tree growing on top of it.

But now it was time for dinner and there is only one option if you are staying at a place next to the sea – seafood. I chose a course meal at the local restaurant. It started with a glass of champaign and continued through about 5 courses of fish prepared in various ways. By the time we got to the final course of sushi that the chef prepared right in front of me I was stuffed. Luckily, beer saved the day as always and I was somehow able to finish everything. The walk back to the guesthouse was much needed after such a feast.

In the early morning I went for a walk to explore the city. The sky was clear, air was crisp, there was nobody around and it truly felt like inside of a Shinkai Makoto movie. Just a short walk from my guesthouse, I noticed a rock stairway on the mountain side, leading up to a torii gate on top. You bet I had to go take a look and after climbing up the stairs, I discovered there was a small shrine surrounded by tall trees. When I looked behind me the view was like a painting - a wonderful view of the sea, the boathouses and the road.

I wanted to walk a little bit more towards the center of the town but came across.. a problem. Or to be more precise two problems – there were two monkeys on the road and no way to go around. I am going to be honest, I find monkeys super scary and I sure as hell was not going to get close to them. I waited for a little while but they did not seem to be planning to move anytime soon, enjoying the morning sun on the road. But that’s okay, I made my way back to the hostel to rest a little bit more.

Before I checked out I took one more dip in the onsen on the terrace. While taking in the fresh morning air and beautiful scenery in front of me, I noticed a large boat passing by in the distance. Not quite sure whether the people on the boat could see from there, but to be sure I hid myself up to my neck in the bath until it was out of sight. What was interesting was that the boat seemed as if it was under an attack of birds - it was surrounded by them. It looked like about hundred gulls and a few huge brown birds (Tonbi in Japanese, but I do not know the English name..) were following the boat. What I did not know is at this time but in about an hour I would be there, in the middle of the bird craziness.

A piece of advice I would like to give to anyone who has the chance to visit Ine is to see it from the sea. You can buy a ticket for the about 30-minute boat ride on the spot and it will cost you about 1,500 JPY. There were also smaller boat taxis you could rent, if you would prefer a more private boatride. If you opt for the larger ferry, when geeting on the ship you will notice that they are selling small bags of rice crackers at the little souvenir shop next to the ticket counter. These are important :D It is up to you whether you buy them or not - maybe depends on how much you like birds and how adventurous you are. I have decided not to buy them, but it seemed like 90% of the other passengers went for it.

The birds were already waiting for the boat to start, hanging around, trying to act nonchalant. We left the dock and once we were a few meters on the sea.. it started. The first passenger opened their bag of crisps and we were suddenly surrounded by flocks of hungry birds waiting to be thrown a treat. The audio guide started and a very polite woman’s voice was telling us that it is okay to feed the gulls, but beware of the large brown birds, as they have very sharp claws. The supply of rice crackers seemed to be endless and I think that I could not take a single picture without a bird on it. :D As I was standing on the deck I was not sure if this was fun or actually kind of scary. Buit was a great our of the ordinary experience and surprisingly nobody got pooped on!

I had a delicious kaisendon (seafood bowl) for lunch at the tourist center restaurant and with that, my time in Ine sadly came to an end. It was a short but very enjoyable trip and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has some spare time and would like to see a different side of Kyoto. The town is also a photographers paradise and I could easily spend another day here just taking photos. I did take a few during my stay, so if you are interested, you can find them here:

Ine gallery

But yeah, leaving Ine behing I was now heading back to the Kyoto city to meet some friends and continue on my trip!

(To be continued…)

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The Guesthouse I stayed at:

https://www.ine-kankou.jp/e_inn/miyabibettei

Ine town Website:

https://www.ine-kankou.jp/en