Ine is a remote small town located on Ine Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture. Ine is famous for its funaya, picturesque wooden boathouses constructed to house the fishermen’s wooden boats. Modern fibreglass boats do not need to be protected in the same way from rain, insects and rot, so they are moored in front of the funaya, while only a few house the smaller wooden boats. The funaya were built to house fishing boats, store nets and equipment, and to dry fish. Only a few were occupied as homes, today just a very few house a family’s adult children or grandparents.
Along the coast of Ine Bay, there are about 230 boathouses and a population of about 2,100 in one of UNESCO’s “World’s Most Beautiful Bays.” The danger for a community like Ine, which has such an attractive built heritage in a stunning natural landscape, is that it suffers the negative impacts of tourism with few, if any, benefits. Tourists arrive by coach or car, take a few photos and maybe a 25-minute boat trip to take photos from the sea and leave. How do you develop a more responsible form of tourism in a place for which the overwhelming majority of domestic and international visitors is little more than a photo opportunity and for many, only a selfie is required?
In the heart of Japan’s first ancient kingdom, the birthplace of agriculture and sake in Japan, artifacts used for procuring food on the Tango Peninsula certify Kyoto by the Sea as one of the three oldest points of human civilization in Japan. 36,000 years ago humans were coming to this region for their nourishment. The area has 12 sake brewers, a winery, multiple craft beer breweries, creative chefs who have moved here to seek out organic farms, permaculture, soil rebuilders, and fisheries adopting more sustainable practices. Ine Bay deserves better. How can slow tourism be developed there?
I was introduced to Jesse Efron of Kyoto by the Sea by Huw Willams of Japan-san, which provides Japan expertise to the travel trade. In my conversation with Jesse, we explored how Kyoto by the Sea is working to create a richer tourist experience and one which creates value for the local community. They offer homestay and BB experiences in funaya, visits to the Mukai Sake Brewery, heritage arts experiences, opportunities to explore the food culture, take a sea taxi tours, fishing, and e-bike tours, and you can buy fish on the quay and have it grilled for you. So how can slow, responsible tourism be developed to benefit the people of Ine and their culture?
