Ine no Funaya

Tour the Ine Bay on a sightseeing boat

The funaya houses face out toward the sea, so the true beauty of the houses standing on the edge of the Ine Bay can be only appreciated from the ocean. The boat tour explores around the beautiful scenery of the bay in about 30 minutes. One of the fun parts of the tour is seagull-feeding. Purchase bird feed at a shop and hold some out from the boat to feed the seagulls and black-tailed gulls that flock around the boat.

Learn ropework and glass float making from fishermen

Ropework is one of the most important skills of fishermen. At Ine town, visitors can learn basic ropework from fishermen that may be also useful in our daily life. Once you learn the basics, you can also make your own glass floats by wrapping a glass ball with knitted hemp rope. Fishermen once used these glass floats as buoys until they were phased out by plastic floats. It would make a perfect souvenir to remember your trip.

Urashima Jinja Shrine

Urashima Jinja Shrine is known to be where the oldest legend concerning Urashima Taro, the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale, originated. Built in 825, the shrine has an exceptionally old history whose descriptions can be even found in the "Nihon Shoki," one of the oldest works of Japanese history. After praying, stop by at the Treasure Reference Library (fee required). The shrine displays picture scrolls as well as the forbidden jeweled box called "tamatebako," which appears in the fairy tale. You can also get explanations of the paintings of the scrolls from the chief priest of the shrine. Near the shrine is also "ryuketsu," or a dragon hole, said to be the path from where Urashima Taro has returned to the village after spending some time at the Dragon Palace under the sea.