Ine and Amanohashidate: the boathouse village on Ine Bay

Around the coast of Ine Bay stand about 230 boat houses, known in Japanese as funaya.¹ They were built to lift fishermen's wooden boats out of the sea and protect them from rain, insects and rot.⁵ The ground floor held the boat, and the upper floor was where a fisherman kept his gear, such as nets.⁶ The prefecture's guide dates the boathouses to the Edo period, between 1603 and 1868.⁷

Seen from across the bay, the houses look as if they float. The prefecture's description explains the effect: the lower floor sits almost flush with the waterline, so the houses seem to float.⁸ The same page calls the boathouses a designated Group of Historic Buildings.⁹ Ine's tourist office takes a more modest line and says the funaya are not a historic site but a living place for fishermen and residents.¹⁰

That distinction shapes the visit. Today almost every boat is a larger fiberglass vessel, so locals moor in front of the funaya instead of inside them, although some smaller fishing boats are still stored in the boathouses.¹¹ The ground floor can be used to cook, hang fish or squid to dry, and hang laundry.¹² Many of the houses are now cafes, restaurants and inns, and some can be booked for an overnight stay.¹³

Going from Amanohashidate to Ine by public transport is possible, but it is slow. The prefecture says the Tankai bus from Amanohashidate Station on the Kyoto Tango Railway Miyatoyo Line takes approximately 60 minutes to Ine.² By car, it is 45 minutes north from Miyazu via National Route 178.²³ Both figures are in addition to the journey from Kyoto or Osaka to Amanohashidate in the first place.

Ine's tourist office adds a full-journey view: Ine is about 2 hours by car from Kyoto city and 2 and a half hours from Osaka, and about 3 hours or 3 and a half hours respectively by train plus local bus.^21,22 That is a long way for a day trip without a car. In October and November 2025 the Amanohashidate Tourism Association announced a tourist express bus running daily, with three boarding places in Miyazu and two stops in Ine, at a fare of 1,000 yen paid to the driver.^24,25 Check whether it runs again before you count on it.

The tour sold on this site avoids the problem. Its coach ride is 2.5 hours each way, and Ine comes first among the stops, with 1.5 hours in the village. If you are weighing a coach tour against buses and a rental car, the days of the week matter as well as the distance, since a bus timetable that suits a weekday may not run on a weekend. Check the operator's schedule for your date.

Many of the boathouses have become cafes, restaurants and inns, and an overnight stay in one is possible.¹³ The food of the area is built around the bay. The prefecture lists yellowtail shabu-shabu as a local delicacy in Ine, and notes that the freshest, fattiest yellowtail is caught in winter.²⁸

For a view of the whole village, the prefecture recommends heading up to the roadside station perched above it, which gives an aerial view of the boathouses.²⁷ The roadside station Funaya no Sato Ine has free parking for 138 regular cars.⁴⁰ On the day tour sold here, the itinerary lists Funayanosato Park and the Funaya no Sato observation point among its stops.

A reviewer on the tour noted that on a Wednesday most Ine shops were closed. That is worth holding in mind if your trip is on a midweek day: bring cash for any purchase, since most local shops may not accept cards, and do not plan a long lunch in the village on the strength of a map pin alone.