The town of Ine is located approximately 130km north of Kyoto, on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Due to its seaside location, fishing and seafood have long been part of the history of the area.
Since the 1700’s, local fisherman have built their wooden, thatched-roof homes right on the water.
The bottom floor acts as a boat garage come workshop with the living quarters above. This design made the morning commute as simple as heading downstairs.
Amazingly, these ‘funaya’ traditional homes still remain to this day. Visitors can see all 230 of them dotted along the 5km stretch of coast, some as private residences and others converted to accommodation.
A unique place to visit
The pristine landscape and unique traditional architecture of Ine set it apart from any other location in Japan. For this reason, it has been designated as a ‘Group of Traditional Buildings’ by the government–a historic preservation category to protect beautiful and unique places such as these.
(You can read the rest of the article at this link. This article was first published by Team JJ on July 20, 2019. Check here for deeper and unique insights into visiting Japan, including wellness, travel, cuisine and more. Find us on Instagram and on Facebook.)
