Lifestyles and Traditions - Culture
A funagoya boat house is a shelter built to protect a boat from elements such as rain and wind. There are funagoya boat houses both on Dōgo and in the Dōzen area, but the boat houses (around 20 of them) that line the coast of Tsuma Bay are the most exemplary. In the past, if the wooden boats were left in the sea, they would be infested with shipworms (Teredo worms). In order to protect the boats, when not in use they would be lifted ashore or moved to fresh water.
The Oki Islands are affected by snow and strong winds during winter, so boat houses are built to protect the boats. But this kind of spectacle can only be seen along the coast of the Sea of Japan. This is because of the different mechanisms of tides in the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. The daily range between high tide and low tide in the Sea of Japan is only about 50 cm, but on the Pacific coast it can range from 2 m to 5 m; boat houses would not be suitable because it would be difficult to launch or reload a boat.
