Iya Valley 祖谷
Vine bridges & ‘living scarecrows’
A legendary remote region in the central Shikoku mountains, the Iya Valley is a great escape for a couple of days, though you’ll want your own wheels to explore it.
The more accessible Nishi-iya (western Iya) features the legendary Peeing Boy Statue, a great hot springs hotel at Iya Onsen and a famous though over-visited vine bridge dwarfed by a huge carpark.
The much harder-to-get-to Oku-Iya (Higashi / eastern Iya) is the absolute highlight, although you’ll be driving extremely winding roads to get in there (hint: they are what keeps the tour buses out!).
Highlights here are:
- the twin vine bridges at Oku-Iya Kazurabashi
- eye-popping Nagoro village, with its population of life-size scarecrow dolls.
- a relatively easy climb of Mt Tsurugi, Shikoku’s second highest mountain, which sits at the head of the valley.