Ine is located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture at the northeastern end of the Tango Peninsula. Located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, the town faces Wakasa Bay from the northeast to the southeast.
Ine has a Humid subtropical climate (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.[2]
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,[3] Ine has suffered greatly from rural depopulation over the past 70 years.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1920
7,579
—
1930
7,523
−0.7%
1940
7,151
−4.9%
1950
7,786
+8.9%
1960
6,958
−10.6%
1970
4,779
−31.3%
1980
4,021
−15.9%
1990
3,586
−10.8%
2000
3,112
−13.2%
2010
2,412
−22.5%
2020
1,928
−20.1%
History
The area of the modern town of Ine was within ancient Tango Province, and ports along this coast had trade connections with mainland Asia in ancient times. The town has connections with the Urashima Tarō legend (Tsutsukawa district and Honjo-Hama district ) and with the Xu Fu legend (Nii district) . In the Edo Period, 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. 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.
Government
Ine has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 9 members. Ine, together with the city of Miyazu and town of Yosano, contributes one member to the Kyoto Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kyoto 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
