A little of each town’s story

The boathouses of Ineura

From: Living with the sea in the boathouses of Ine

A row of boathouses against green hills

About 230 boathouses line roughly five kilometers of the Ine Bay shore. The first floor was built for hauling boats out of the sea and storing them; the second floor was once used for drying nets and storing gear, and later as living space. People began building boathouses right beside the water in the 18th century, and the oldest surviving one dates from the mid-19th century. On July 22, 2005, Ineura became the first fishing village designated a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Although on the Sea of Japan, Ine Bay opens to the south and stays calm all year round.

Sources: ine-kankou.jp mlit.go.jp maff.go.jp ja.wikipedia.org

This moment in the journey

To the town of boathouses

Ine is a fishing town in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture. Along the shore of Ine Bay stand about 230 funaya, boathouses of a kind found nowhere else: the first floor is the boat storage area, and the second floor is the residential area.

Looking across the bay, I saw the boathouses lined up at the very edge of the water, with green hills behind them. Sightseeing boats and fishing boats passed slowly in front. Through the open doorway of one boathouse, I could see Aoshima, the island at the mouth of the bay.

I walked the lane on the hill side. A scooter ran past between the wooden-walled houses. I passed a small restaurant with a banner for dried sea cucumber rice bowls, and from behind the boathouses came out to the bay again.

Watch this scene on YouTube0:20

Read this scene in the full journey