Taking the School Bus in Iya Valley

What?
The Yoshino River cut deeply in the landscape to create several gorges which can be best enjoyed by leisurely driving through. While boasting several spots of interest like a boat ride, small museums, onsens and several mountain trails, most famous are the vine bridges that span either side of the gorges.
Where?
Located quite centrally on the fourth largest island Shikoku, Iya Valley (祖谷渓) is quite hard to get to without your own wheels. As I don’t have those I decided to overnight in small Awa-Ikeda (阿波池田) which can be reached by the Dosan Line and Tokushima Line. From there I hopped on a bonnet bus for a bus tour that took me back to the station several hours later.
URL
Japan Guide Outline Miyoshi Tourism

I was always under the impression that the vine bridges in the Iya Valley were best viewed in the rain. Unfortunately the sun was shining as bright as ever. I was also under the impression that it is best to have a rental car at your disposition. Unfortunately, I don’t have a driver’s license.
I am pretty sure that visiting any place in Japan is best done on a weekday, but it was a very relaxing Sunday for everyone.
So saying that things didn’t really start out as planned is an understatement.

My initial thought was to visit the Oku-Iya vine bridges and climbing mount Miune. It soon became clear though I wouldn’t have time for that. After that I thought to walk through the nature near Oboke and Koboke stations, but some research taught me there are not a lot of trekking paths and that the points of interest were too far apart. So I decided to go for the third option, that of a bus tour. It would take me to the Heike house, the Kazurabashi vine bridge, the peeing boy statue, a strange yokai (monster) house and on a pleasure boat ride on the Yoshino river.

The Heike house was to be neglected, there’s nothing more to say about that. The vine bridge was the big attraction of the tour, and while it was not disappointing, the whole place was a bit of a tourist circus. The bridge, the beautiful emerald blue river, the nearby Biwa waterfall, all the ingredients of a top location are there, but unfortunately it all is downsized by the steel bridge right next to the vine bridge, the delapitated concrete restaurant building next to the waterfall, the restaurant built on the slope of the river bank, ... I mean everything they could have done wrong, they did. But even then the bridge had its charms and crossing it was quite thrilling.

Sitting in the front seat...

... of the charming bonnet bus.

People crossing the Kazurabashi Vine Bridge.

Local specialty.

The peeing boy statue is beautifully located and makes for great snapshots, but it’s also not a place to be longer than ten minutes.

The yokai house was just plain fun. The different monsters are rather cute and a lot of their background stories are written down in English making it really a surprisingly nice experience. The adjacent stone museum was completely not my cup of tea though, but I'm sure some people would be interested in it.

The closing pleasure boat ride had the same flaws as the vine bridge: while potentially breathtaking, both flanks of the river are built upon by on the one side a railway and on the other a road. The potential of the Oboke gorge is so much bigger than Nagatoro, but over there at least the greatest part of the ride was through rather unspoiled nature.

All in all the Iya Valley did not disappoint me beyond repair, but it was also not the trip I thought it would be. I did have a great time though, but thanks to a completely unexpected reason: the bus ride! In spring and autumn the tour is conducted in a bonnet bus built in 1966. The whole thing breathes character and charm. Hat off to the driver who still has to handle that crumbling and creaking poke! The bus barely made any pace over 40km/h, but that was maybe the perfect speed. I loved every second sitting, bobbing and bouncing on that bus. And let there be no mistake: between all the stops there were enough views of splendid nature to be enjoyed. The pleasure of the drive was unquestionably the highlight of the day!