Wanderlust UK – September 2019

wanderlust.co.uk September 2019 127

in the town of Amanohashidate.

The name, meaning ‘bridge

to heaven’, comes from the

3km sandbar that juts across

the bay. I rode a cable car

up the mountain to get

a better look, the bay

sparkling like a thousand

shards of glass. At the top,

I copied everyone else and

put my head between my

legs: upside-down, the bridge

is meant to look like a fl ying

dragon. I’m not sure I could

see the dragon, but I did spot

a red dragonfl y.

Abouttwohoursnorthofthecity

ofKyotoliestheself-branded

regionof‘KyotobytheSea’,

wheregreencliffsdropsharply

intotheocean.Thisiswhere

you'llfindtheunusual

phenomenonof‘singingsand’.

AsIwalkedacrossthebeach

ofKotohikihama,thesand

squeakedandchirpedloudly

beneathmyfeet–aresult

NORTHERN

KYOTO
TO THE OCEAN

of higher levels of quartz

content in the grains.

‘Kyoto by the Sea’ also hides

another secret: the idyllic fi shing

village of Ine. Set against the

turquoise waters of the Sea of

Japan, there are 230 two-storey

wooden boathouses, some

dating back to the 1800s – the

only place in Japan where such

buildings exist. I hopped into

a boat to circle the bay, waving

at fi shermen who sheepishly

returned my gesture.

Another 20 minutes along

the coast and I found myself

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

DID YOU

KNOW?

The view of

Amanohashidate’s sandbar,

covered in 5,700 pine trees,

is considered one of

the ‘top three scenic

views’ of Japan.