is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Yosa District,

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 1,984 in 899 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 32 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ine is located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture at the northeastern end of the

Tango Peninsula was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba to the south, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name was . It was also referred to as or . In terms of the Gokishichid ...

. Located on the coast of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, the town faces

Wakasa Bay is a bay located in the Chūbu region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Kyoto Prefecture, and Fukui Prefecture. Geography Wakasa Bay is the area south of the straight line from Cape Kyoga on the west of Tango Peninsula to Cape Echizen on the e ...

from the northeast to the southeast.

Neighboring municipalities

Kyoto Prefecture *

Kyōtango is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,683 in 22,886 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kyōtango is locate ...

* Miyazu

Climate

Ine has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ine is 14.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1912 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ine population statistics
/ref> Ine has suffered greatly from rural depopulation over the past 70 years.

History

The area of the modern town of Ine was within ancient

Tango Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba Province, Tanba to the south, Tajima Province, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa Province, Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name ...

, and ports along this coast had trade connections with mainland Asia in ancient times. The town has connections with the

Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who, in a typical modern version, is a fishermen, fisherman rewarded for rescuing a sea turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There, ...

legend (Tsutsukawa district and Honjo-Hama district ) and with the

Xu Fu Xu Fu (Hsu Fu; ) was a Chinese alchemist and explorer. He was born in 255 BC in Qi, an ancient Chinese state, and disappeared at sea in 210 BC. He served as a court sorcerer in Qin dynasty China. Later, he was sent by Qin Shi Huang to the east ...

legend (Nii district) . In the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, it was part of the area was controlled by Miyazu Domain. The town of Ine was established within Yosa District with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The village was bombed by the United States Navy in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On November 3, 1954 Ine merged with the neighboring villages of Tsutsukawa, Asadsuma, and Honjo and was raised to town status. In October 2008, Ine was designated one of

The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan is a Japanese nonprofit organization of listing some of the most beautiful villages and towns in Japan. The association is active on enhancement and protection of Japanese rural heritage, cultural fairs, and branding and promotion of regional, ...

Government

Ine has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of 9 members. Ine, together with the city of Miyazu and town of Yosano, contributes one member to the

Kyoto Prefectural Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture ...

. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kyoto 5th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Ine has a mixed economy of commercial and tourism. The town is famous for wooden fishing houses called " Funaya", selected as a National Preservation District for traditional buildings.

Education

Ine has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town's one public high school closed in 2020.

Transportation

Railway

Ine has no railway service. The nearest passenger train stations are Miyazu Station or

Amanohashidate Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway company Willer Trains ( Kyoto Tango Railway). Lines Amanohashidate Station is a station of the Miyazu Line, and is locate ...

on the Kyoto Tango Railway in neighboring Miyazu.

Highway

Local attractions

* Ine Funaya (designated National Preservation District for traditional buildings) * Ura Shrine * Urashima Park

In popular culture

*1982; Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san *1993; Eenyobo (ええにょぼ) (

Asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Ta ...

) TV drama was set in a Funaya in Ine.

References

External links

* Towns in Kyoto Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan {{Kyoto-geo-stub