This remote river valley in the mountains of eastern Shikoku’s Tokushima Prefecture was one of our favourite places on the entire island. First of all, the landscapes are beautiful, but there were also enough cute little villages and unusual sights to keep us busy exploring.

Apart from that, we found it the perfect spot to get off Japan’s tourist trail. Here’s everything you need to know about this beautiful place.

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Organized Tours of the Iya Valley

If your time in the Iya Valley is limited, and you still want to see as much as possible, an organized tour might be the way to go. There are several options available, like this bike tour of the Valley or this half-day tour with a chauffeur. You can browse for more options below.

What to See and Do in the Iya Valley

As the valley is quite long, I’ve decided to list the must-see sights geographically. The list starts in Oboke at the western end of the Valley and ends at the Double Vine Bridge close to Mount Tsurugi in the east.

Lapis Oboke (Demon and Mineral Museum)

This museum in the Oboke Canyon is dedicated to an unusual combination of themes: Minerals and Yōkai, the demon-creatures of Japanese Mythology. There are some beautiful examples of crystal formations, but for us, the Yōkai-section was the main reason to stop by.

The museum does a good job of introducing some of the more important Yōkai and explaining their origin and modus operandi, We got lots of important survival tips, should we ever encounter one of these often deceitful creatures;-). It’s a lot of fun and we found it an interesting glimpse into the rich Japanese mythology. The entrance fee is 600¥ and you can check the current opening times here.

How to Get Here: The museum is located in Oboke, near the bus stop Michi-no Eki Oboje. You can also walk there from Oboke Train Station in about 20 minutes. Cross the river east of the station and then walk north along the highway running west of the river until you see a big parking lot on the right hand side. There’s a nice viewpoint on a platform over the river a little farther to the north.

Iya-No Kazura-Bashi (Vine Bridge)

This historical vine bridge in Nishi-Iya is one of the biggest tourist draws to the Iya Valley, and the only place in the valley, where me met lots of other travelers (I think we saw more people here than in all of the other parts of the valley combined).

You’ll get the best view of the vine bridge from the road bridge directly to the west, but if you want to cross it, you’ll have to pay an entrance fee of 550¥. I found it to be fun, but if you’ve got issues with heights, you should know that the gaps between the boards are quite big.

All in all, we both preferred the much more isolated Oku-Iya Niju Kazura-Bashi further east (see below) and if you plan on going there, you can probably skip the entrance fee and walk across the Iya-No Kazura-Bashi.

How to Get Here: You can easily reach the bridge by bus (bus-stop Kazurabashi).

Buke Yashiki Samurai House

This is a super well-preserved 18^th century house high above the village of Kyojo, and it used to belong to a samurai of the local Kita Clan. We thought it gave an interesting glimpse into the domestic lives of these highly respected members of Japanese Society.

Inside, you can see the central living area, the kitchen and servants quarters. Most interesting I found the old portrait photographs of the last family that lived here, and there are also some beautiful painted scrolls and plenty of objects of daily life.

Next to the house stands a small shrine and a huge, impressive 800 year old cedar tree. We also loved the views of the surrounding peaks and the opposite slope of the valley from up here. The entrance fee is 300¥ and you can check the current opening times here.

How to Get Here: The closest bus stop is Kyojo down in the village of the same name. To get to the house without a car, you’ll need to lug your way up the northern slope over several serpentines on foot, like we did. This takes about an hour and really puts the isolation of the place into perspective.

Imagine walking up here every time you wanted to go home. I guess there’s always a price to pay for solitude. Keep your eyes peeled for Japanese Rat Snakes on the way up there. We spotted one hiding in the underbrush near the road. They’re non-venomous, so no need to worry.

Higashi-Iya Museum of History and Folklore

This small museum in the village of Higashi-Iya gives a good idea of the daily routine of villagers in the valley over the last couple of centuries. There are loads of tools and objects of daily life, my favourite of which was a fascinating complex figurine used for puppet theatre performances.

Something else I liked was the recreation of a traditional tatami-matted sitting room with a central stove. The entrance fee is 400¥ and you can check the current opening times here.

How to Get Here: The museum is located right next to the Kyojo bus-stop.

Ochiai Traditional Village

Ochiai is a pretty little village full of traditional buildings, which makes for a fun 30 minutes or so of exploring. The rows of houses are built on terraces across the northern slope of the valley and as you might expect, the higher you climb the better the views get.

Apart from a number of cute thatch-roofed houses, we liked the small Shinto shrine, which sits in a copse in the centre of the village. We can also recommend the small Soba Dojo restaurant at the eastern end of the village, where we tried the traditional regional variation of Soba (buckwheat noodles).

How to Get Here: There’s a bus stop at the foot of the village called Ochiai-Bashi.

Oku-Iya Sightseeing Tour Monorail

If you don’t have the time for a hike, but still want to explore a bit of the natural surroundings of the valley, this small Sightseeing Monorail is the perfect way to go, plus it’s a lot of fun.

It consists of little beetle-shaped cars sitting two people, which gently transported us through the forest and up the slopes of the mountain at sometimes surprisingly steep angles. After leaving the forest, we got some nice views of the valley and surrounding peaks before descending to the starting point.

Make sure your schedule isn’t too tight, though. If everything goes as planned, the whole trip should take about an hour, but we were in there for a bit longer.

The people in front of us had some technical problems, so we had to hit the emergency brake and wait for the guy in the maintenance beetle to come and kick-start us. Although I have to say, there are worse places to be stuck for half an hour than a beautiful Japanese forest full of fluttering birds.

The tour costs 2000¥ for adults and 1000¥ for children. You can check the operating times here.

How to Get Here: You’ll have to take the bus to Sugeoi station, where you can walk across the river to the southern bank and then follow the road running west for about 20 mins.

Nagoro Doll Village

If a museum full of demons and a beetle-shaped monorail aren’t weird enough for you, how about a village populated by dolls? The appearance of Nagoro is the brainchild of local artist Tsukimi Ayano, who’s populated this small village with hundreds of nearly life-sized dolls.

This is one of the most unusual places we’ve come across in Japan (or anywhere, really), and I can’t begin to explain how much fun we had exploring this unique village. You can find everything you need to know about visiting it in my dedicated guide here.

How to Get Here: Take the bus to the aptly named Nagoro (Scarecrow Village) bus stop. If you’re coming from Kyojo or further west, you’ll have to change buses in Kubo.

Oku-Iya Niju Kazura-Bashi (Eastern Iya Valley Vine Bridges)

This set of double vine bridges is located in the more remote eastern part of the valley, close to the foot of Mt. Tsurigi. They take a lot longer to get to than Iya-No Kazura-Bashi, but we were also completely alone when we were exploring them, which meant that we enjoyed them so much more.

Crossing them is a bit adventurous and lots of fun. To get back, you can either cross the other one or pull yourself across the river in the “Yaen” Monkey Cart, a small wooden Gondola, which I had to try, of course.

The stretch of river that the bridges go across is quite beautiful, too and we also climbed down to the water and checked the vinebridges out from below. There’s also a small nature trail leading a few hundred meters east along the river. The entrance fee is 550¥ and you can check the opening times here.

How to Get Here: Take the bus to the Niju Kazurabashi Bus Stop. If you’re coming from Kyojo or further west, you’ll have to change buses in Kubo.

Other Things to See in the Iya Valley

The double vine bridges are farthest east we got in the valley. If you continue about 5km further east, you’ll reach the foot of Mount Tsurigi, which is the highest mountain in the area. I can’t give you any first-hand info on that, but you can check out the information on the Iya Valley Tourism Website.

The Iya Valley is vast and we could have stayed weeks here exploring everything, if we had had the time. For instance, there are several companies in Oboke offering boat tours and rafting on the river, which is something I’d like to do on my next visit.

The undisputed symbol of the valley seems to be the statue of a Peeing Boy situated atop a cliff somewhat close to Iya Onsen, a traditional bathhouse-hotel, which is mostly popular with Japanese travelers. Both of these can be found along the road between Miyoshi in the south and Iyaguchi in the north.

Iya Valley Map

All the places I’ve described in the post can be found in this map of the Iya Valley.

Practicalities

How to Get to the Iya Valley

By far the best way to get around Japan is by using the country’s impeccable train system, which is fast, comfortable and efficient. A regional JR-Railway pass allows for unlimited use of Shikoku’s JR railways for 3, 4, 5 or 7 days, which is a fantastic deal. You can order your pass online on this site.

Oboke, at the western end of the Iya Valley can be reached by JR train from Kochi in the south (about 50 mins./1,300¥) and Takamatsu (about 1,5 hours/1,800¥) or Kotohira (about 40 mins./1,100¥) in the north.

In Oboke you can board local buses that run through the valley from west to east (See How to get around section).

Where to Stay in the Iya Valley

There are a couple of places to stay in the valley, but we found budget options to be a bit scarce.

We stayed at Yoki Guesthouse in Miyoshi but at the moment they only seem to rent entire apartments, making it more of a mid-range to top-end option. If you do decide to stay here, you can sleep in the traditional way on mattresses atop the tatami mats on the floor.

The guest-house is run by Usin, who speaks English, is super friendly and very knowledgeable about the surrounding attractions.

Currently, the most affordable options seem to be Heso Camp or 4S Stay Awaikeda Ekimae in Miyoshi.

Mid-Range and Top-End options are a bit more frequent. One of the most popular ones is Hotel Iya Onsen, which has beautiful views and warm springs to bathe in. Hotel Kazurabashi near the western vine bridge also famously features open-air baths with a view. You can browse for more options in the map below.

Where to Eat in the Iya Valley

As there are no big towns in the valley, the numbers of restaurants are limited. One of your best bets is to eat at your hotel or guest-house. For example, Usin at Yoki Guesthouse cooks some super tasty dinner and there’s also a kitchen where you can do a bit of self-catering. There’s a small grocery store in the village, where you can get supplies.

Apart from that, there are some small restaurants and cafés in some of the villages in the valley. We can recommend Soba Dojo in Ochiai, where we tried the famous local Soba Noodles served in a cold broth. There are also some cafés near the Iya-No Kazura-bashi vine bridge.

How to Get Around in the Iya Valley

The easiest way if you’re short on time would be renting a car in Takamatsu or any of the other big cities on Shikoku and drive yourself. If that’s not in your budget, it’s possible to get around the Iya Valley without a car, which takes a bit of planning. We managed to see all of the above sights in two and a half days using only public buses.

When we visited the valley, there were four buses going west to east per day and four going the other way. You can check out the current schedules here. You get a ticket while boarding the bus and pay the driver when you leave. There’s a constantly adjusting electronic display listing the ticket numbers and prices, so it’s very straightforward.

To get to attractions in the eastern part of the valley (like Nagoro Village or the Double Vine Bridge), you’ll have to change buses at Kubo (where you won’t have to wait, as the buses are timed perfectly).

Where to Go Next

Takamatsu, home to one of Japan’s most beautiful gardens

Kotohira, a cute small town with an impressive Shinto Shrine