Amanohashidate, Ine Fishing Village, and Osaka - May 2024

Crossing Amanohashidate. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Amanohashidate and Ine Fishing Village - a taste of Kyoto by the Sea

Heavy cold rain poured down from dark brooding sky since the moment we woke up and it would not let up until the end of the day. It definitely dashed our plans for exploring Amanohashidate on foot and bicycle.

It wasn’t just wet, it was incredibly windy and chilly too. iPhone 13 mini—no way I was going to take out any of my Sony cameras with their infamous weather resistance (or lack thereof) in this rain!

We decided to take the boat across the bay to the other side instead. Trying to find the jetty bring us to Chionji, where we sought temporary refuge from the rain.

Rain rushing down a chain at the temple. iPhone 13 mini.

Instead of the typical wooden block Ema (where worshippers write down their prayer/wish), the temple has little fans hanging from the pine leaves instead. iPhone 13 mini.

I highly recommend getting the Amanohashidate Day Pass (we got ours from Klook)—it covers the local buses, the boat ticket, and cable cars/ropeways up to the View Land and Kasamatsu Park respectively.

The rotating bridge connecting the main land to Amanohashidate. These people are stranded on the bridge until our boat pass and the bridgd reconnect. iPhone 13 mini.

The boat tour (like other boat tours in the area) encourages tourists to feed shrimp crackers to seagulls. I have no idea why we encourage this kind of behaviour—it harms both the birds and humans. Seagulls will continue to associate humans with food and literally rewarded to steal food from us without fear, resulting in endless terrorising of innocent people trying to eat by the seaside and leaving dropping everywhere, and at the same time their health is jeopardised by our terrible processed food.

This was taken at Ine but basically the same phenomenon. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

After reaching the opposite shore, we made our way to Kasamatsu Park and took the cable car to the top—there was also a ski-lift type of cable chair option, but it was closed due to the weather.

Amanohashidate is a narrow sandbar across Miyazu Bar—it is one of Japan’s three scenic views, literally meaning ‘Heaven’s Bridge’ as the calm water reflects the sky on a sunny day. There is a famous tradition to look at Amanohashidate by bending upside down from the hips and peering from between your legs at the observatory at Kasamatsu Park, making it look like a rising dragon—a position called Matanozoki. With the heavy rain and fog, we didn’t get to see much of the scenic view, but it was still amazing nevertheless:

Amanohashidate in the rain. iPhone 13 mini.

The bus to Nariaji temple was still running, but the wind and the chill turned us off from being outside for too long. As the cable car runs every 30 minutes, we waited for the next one beside a heater. It was unfortunate that we had to miss visiting so many temples and other sites due to the weather!

The bus ride to Ine took about an hour; we literally couldn’t see out of the window due to the heavy rain and fog! The bus was packed with students going home from school, and we felt bad about being drenched.

We were so grateful to finally reach our B&B for the day—Cafe & BB Guri! Chiaki, the proprietor, has been so helpful and friendly from the moment I booked the room—she asked about our dietary restrictions in order to cook breakfast for us the next day, and gave guides and tips on how to reach Ine (such as sitting on the right side of the bus to be able to see the sea on the way there!). Our room takes up the entire second floor of a charming cafe, and it is a beautiful room that is a masterclass in interior decor. The room also has a kitchenette, a bath tub, TWO king-sized beds, and a projector with a collection of Japanese and Hollywood movies. We felt instantly at home.

Chiaki had also offered to help us make reservations in the restaurants in town—like in many small towns and villages, reservations are almost always required—but she also said that only one place would have vegetarian options, which is Kajiya, a stone’s throw away from the B&B.

Kajiya indeed tried their best to accommodate us and feed us with delicious food despite the language barrier. To be honest, we were very prepared to not be able to find vegetarian options at Ine (or any rural area in Japan), so it was a very pleasant surprise for which we were grateful. (They also accept card payment!)

A seagull watches the beautiful landscape from the jetty. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Apart from a light spattering of rain, the morning finally saw the sun peeking out! It was hard to wake up when the bed was so warm and comfortable, but I wanted to have some time to walk around Ine before we had to leave.

The boat houses / Funayas. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Ine is one of UNESCO’s World’s Most Beautiful Bays, and one of Japan’s Most Beautiful Villages. Despite opening up to the Sea of Japan, the water was calm, and apparently the difference in water level in high and low tide is also almost always constant and low in. This is due to the unique geography of where Ine is—it sits in a meeting of the sea and the mountains, the latter of which curls up defensively around it, as well as the presence of a natural breakwater in the shape of the uninhabited island Aoshima. The village is well-known for its interesting boat houses (or funaya)—the first storey of the house is basically a boat garage! Most of the houses are preserved from hundreds of years ago, but new funaya are still being made, although they have to abide by rigid specifications on the design and dimensions.

These bicycles are free to use as long as you leave them back in one of the five bicycle parking lots again afterwards. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Ine is a small village with a population of around 2,000 people. There is a school just right next to the bay, and many people still work as fishermen. While there are B&Bs located in the village, most houses are still private family homes and their rights and privacy should be respected. As much as possible, if you’d like to visit Ine, please try to stay in the village to support the local economy instead of just day-tripping! I’ve heard of too many small picturesque villages being overrun by day-tripping tourists arriving in dozens of buses, overwhelming local infrastructures and making life hell for the locals. I hope this will not happen to Ine!

A cleat on one of the docks. Fishing boats and tourist boats are moored here. Sony A7C + 16/1.8 Viltrox AF.

As a fishing village, the locals get their fish direct and fresh from the fishermen in the morning when they return to the docks with their catch. Cafe & BB Guri can provide you with the rubber boots you’d need if you’d like to check out this ritual!

Another seagull contemplating the scenery. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

There was a profound sense of peace that drifted into me while I walked around the bay and overlooking the sea. The village is a testament to living together in harmony with nature in design and functionality—awe-inspiring beauty to behold.

A mass of fishing nets being dried out. Sony A7C + 16/1.8 Viltrox AF.

An ancient Chinese saying goes: The Virtuous Love Mountains and the Wise Love Waters. We saw this on a plaque at Genkyuen garden and we joked about whether we were virtuous or wise. All joking aside, the phrase encapsulates why humans have always sought out to be in nature and have felt the most peace in it, and looking back on the past two weeks we had spent in Japan, I felt very fortunate that we got to experience that feeling.

Remnants of the fish market. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

There is a small hill which has an observatory from which you can marvel at a panorama of the bay from above—it’s accessible through a few flights of steps.

A clear plaque celebrating an NHK drama (I’m sorry I can’t read Japanese!)? Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Chiaki told us that she herself has a kayak and will paddle around the bay during summer. Oh to be able to paddle around the Ine bay area, and Kyoto by the Sea area generally!

One of the boats parked in the garage. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

A heron was chilling across from me. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

I don’t know my fishing equipment but it looks like a crab trap to me? Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

The traffic light was always amber while we were there. There just wasn’t a lot of traffic, although it started to pick up with tourists as we were leaving. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

A small alley beside the bus stop we were waiting at. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

The street leading to Cafe BB & Guri. Sony RX100V.

The bus ride back to Amanoshidate felt shorter than the trip there. Maybe it was because the weather was finally cooperating and I was drowning in the sights of the sea and the coastline the whole time and lost track of time. While the bus could take us all the way to the JR station, we decided to stop right opposite where we took the bus yesterday and walked across Amanoshidate.

If I have a penny for every random Darth Vader figure I saw during the trip…. I would have two pennies, which isn’t a lot but it’s just weird that we saw two during our 2 weeks trip! Sony RX100V.

Amanoshidate was formed over millions of years due to the sand and sediment deposit in this intersection between the sea and the river in Miyazu bay. I’d venture a guess that the sandbar has long since been reinforced by the government in order to protect it from natural erosion as I saw some stone foundation along the non-sandy banks and there is also a presence of a concrete trail across the whole sandbar. There are also public bathrooms that can be found throughout the trail!

Senior citizens enjoying the sun and the sea. Sony RX100V.

Pine trees line the length of Amanoshidate as they are very good in growing and surviving in the harsh conditions presented by having mostly sand as growing medium. Over the years, the decomposition of organic matter from grass and the pine trees themselves have resulted in enough loam and nutrients for other trees to start growing, which is just the natural progression of how vegetations and forests form. In order to preserve the iconic character of pine-tree-lined Amanoshidate, the local government encourages people to pick up leaves and pine cones and they also remove non-pine trees while planting new pine-trees.

There is a lot of crooked pine trees in Amanoshidate. The soil is too shallow for the roots to grow deeply, and in any case, water is always available near the surface, which further discourages the roots from growing deep. Add to the fact that pine trees grow very tall, it makes for very unstable trees, so it’s not a good idea to try climb them. I don’t know if the strong winds we experienced also have any effect on the trees as well, but they probably don’t help. Sony RX100V.

Pine needle leaves. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

More pine trees. I thought it’s funny how it looks like the trees are giving us the middle finger. Sony RX100V.

It was with a heavy heart I got on the train to Osaka. I already had a deep ache in my heart to go back to Kyoto by the Sea and experience more of its wonders.

The rotating bridge marks the end of Amanoshidate. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

Osaka

We reached Osaka pretty late, and still had one full day to spend before hopping on the Shinkansen to Haneda the day after. We thought of going to Kobe to look for more hikes, but settled on renting a bicycle with Road Bike Rental Japan (who was kind enough to accommodate our last minute rental request—please try to book your bikes with them at least the day before to give them time to prepare and arrange their fleet and staff time). Thank you for probably my first and last time riding a Bianchi road bike (I was so nervous handling the bike and I spent a lot of time securing it when we had to park it because I ain’t affording damaging or losing this bike!).

At Osaka station. Sony RX100V.

I’ve visited Osaka before and I know that the city is criss-crossed with huge canals! I was hoping that there would be another kayak tour operator like Tokyo Great Kayaking Tour in Tokyo, but it looked like the only hit on Google has ceased operating, which is such a bummer. I did see some racing kayaks on storage racks by the Oo River on the way back to the rental shop though.

HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel at Umeda. Sony RX100V.

At Osaka castle, where it was just a sea of people even though it was a Thursday afternoon. That long and winding queue was to get inside the castle keep. Sony RX100V.

We wanted to cycle around the harbour area but kept getting sidetracked by the excellent local vegan food scene and ended up spending quite some time at Nipponbashi looking for a Steam Deck (spoiler alert: looks like there’s no stock Japan-wide). We finished the meagre ‘tour’ by pedalling over to Shitenno-ji and then back to the rental shop.

Shitenno-ji is one of the oldest temple in Japan. We didn’t go in the inner grounds of the temple due to a lack of time, so we mostly just watched the crazy number of tortoises chilling at the pond. Sony RX100V.

At first we thought these were just rocks, but nope THESE WERE ALL SHELL HEADS! There’s a sign warning to not throw food into the pond for the tortoises as that will just pollute the pond and harm the animals. Sony RX100V.

At Shitenno-ji. Sony RX100V.

At Shitenno-ji. Sony RX100V.

We came across a batting cage the day before and I expressed interest in giving it a try because I’ve never done baseball before and it’s not something we have in Singapore. Anyway, it turns out that baseball is really hard and I didn’t manage to hit a single ball (I think I managed to touch the ball 3 times). It was still fun to try though!

At the batting cage. There was also a public foot onsen here! The moment I sat down at the onsen was also when it started raining again. Sony RX100V.

I was feeling wistful about our trip coming to an end and we squeezed in one last stop at Tempozan even though by this time (8-9PM), most shops at the Harbour Village were already closed.

At Tempozan. Sony RX100V.

Tempozan Ferris Wheel in the rain. Sony RX100V.

We walked around Tempozan Park and enjoyed the solitude in the cover of the light rain and the night, with the gentle splashing of the water as a backdrop. Since our accommodation was just one train stop away from Tempozan, we decided to walk back, saving 400 yen, and dragging out our last full day in Osaka and in Japan as much as we could.

A coast guard ship docked near the park. Sony RX100V.

On one hand, I regretted how little time we spent at each town in the past 2.5 weeks—each trip ended with feeling like there was so much more to see. But on the other hand, I’m grateful that we could have a ‘sampling’ trip which served as an overview on just how many more things to see and do in all these places. But on the other other hand, there’s still a long list of places I want to and have not visited in Japan (not to mention other countries), and this trip definitely did not help make that list any shorter!

At Tempozan. Sony RX100V.

One huge lesson I learned in Japan for next time?

Bring a bicycle, save on transportation costs, and have even bigger adventures!

At Tempozan station. Sony RX100V.