Amanohashidate and Ine

In the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast, the Tango Peninsula holds two landscapes very different from Kyoto’s temples. In Miyazu, Amanohashidate is a roughly 3.6 km sandbar covered in pine trees that nearly closes the bay, like a bridge. Since the 17th century it has been counted among Japan’s three most famous views, alongside Matsushima and Miyajima.

The bridge shape is best seen from above. On the north side, a cable car and a chairlift climb to Kasamatsu Park, the origin of the custom of viewing the landscape upside down, bent over so the sandbar looks like a dragon rising to the sky. On the south side, the Amanohashidate View Land observation deck offers the opposite view. Between them you can walk or cycle across the sandbar under the pines, or take a boat through the bay.

About 20 km to the north, the village of Ine stretches along a sheltered bay, with roughly 230 funaya — fishermen’s boathouses that store the boat on the ground floor over the water and have the living quarters above. It is the first fishing village designated as a preserved group of traditional buildings in Japan. Sightseeing boats circle the bay, and some funaya have been converted into cafés and lodgings.

The region offers Sea of Japan seafood such as winter crab and yellowtail, the Nariai-ji temple up on the mountain, the Kono shrine at the foot of Kasamatsu Park, and, at the tip of the peninsula, the Kyogamisaki lighthouse.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Miyazu, Ine.