Kicking the bucket...list: Day 7 - Gorging myself in the Iya Valley

A river runs through it

In the same way the defeated Heike 平家 warriors fled to the Iya Valley 祖谷渓 in the aftermath of the Genpei War 源平合戦, Bauhaus' practitioners escaped to Japan in the early 1930's following the rise of the Nazis. Today the movement lives on in the suburbs of Takamatsu 高松*: 

After four days in Takamatsu and a full week on the ground in Japan, I finally moved on from relying on public transport to get around by renting a car. For the next 17 days this Toyota Corolla would be my vehicle (figuratively and literally) for getting around Shikoku 四国. The one condition I set for myself while behind the wheel was to eschew toll roads, in order to better explore the island in-depth and to enjoy the scenery. And because I can be a cheap bastard:

My destination on my first day behind the wheel was the Iya Valley. The valley was somewhat obscure (at least to non-Japanese travelers) until Alex Kerr purchased and restored an abandoned 18th-century thatched-roof farmhouse he called Chiiori 篪庵, and transforming it into a guesthouse, a process described in his classic work Lost Japan. Among Japanese the Iya Valley is probably most known as one of the reputed locations where survivors of the defeated Taira clan fled after their defeat in the Battle of Dan-no-ura 壇ノ浦の戦い. It only took around a couple of hours to reach Ōboke Station 大歩危駅 from the rental car agency in Takamatsu. After picking up a few tourist brochures inside the train station, I had some Iya soba 祖谷そば for lunch at a restaurant close by: 

The view of the Yoshino River 吉野川 from the Ōboke Bridge 大歩危橋, close to the station and soba restaurant:

For an even better view I drove up a narrow road to the Koboke Observation Deck 小歩危展望台:

The drive up that narrow road was the scene of the one unpleasant incident of my entire nearly month-long trip to Japan. Vehicles in Japan are right-hand drive, meaning motorists use the left side of the road. Despite being an American, I've never had any serious issues with driving on the "wrong side", having done so in half a dozen countries. But that isn't the case with some of my fellow gaijin 外人. 

Mountain roads in Japan are frequently only wide enough for one car to drive along at a time, despite the traffic going in both directions. In these cases the driver closest to a turnout is expected to pull over and allow the other car to pass. While heading up one such section to the lookout, my way was blocked by a car coming down. Behind this driver and on his left side was a turnout large enough to accommodate two vehicles (and I'm sure of that fact because another car coming down immediately pulled into one of those spaces). Instead of backing up the short distance and to his left, the first motorist inexplicably tried to move his car over to his right, almost getting stuck in a small ditch next to the mountainside in the process. It soon became clear he wanted me to drive around him, which I wasn't going to do. So he eventually moved over to the proper turnout on his left (my right), allowing me to pass (finally). As I slowly drove by I noticed he was a foreigner. And as I passed by he yelled in English (in a European-sounding accent) that I should've driven around him. My reply was "This is Japan. We drive on the left!". Except that I may have also inserted the words "You fucking idiot" in between the two sentences above. 

After taking in the view, I drove back down to the main road and to a spot where visitors can take sightseeing boats along the Yoshino-gawa. And, lo and behold, who was there but my European antagonist! He's the man wearing the white tank top in the photo below. I don't know if he didn't recognize me or chose to ignore me, but he never made eye contact with me the entire time we were on the boat: 

As for the river boat ride, it was a pleasant way to spend half an hour:  

A rock formation dubbed the "Lions Head" that I for one could not easily discern:

Koinobori 鯉のぼり, giant carp windsocks. They're only meant to be hung up from late April to early May, but in the interests of photo opportunities and tourist gratification, these ones were still flying proudly on the last day of May:

The obligatory souvenir commemorative photo, and indisputable evidence of how white my legs had become before the onset of spring:

Following the boat ride I had a snack of karaage 唐揚げand Calpis カルピス while looking out over the koinobori banners. My wife thinks I ate too much fried food on this trip but how could I possibly pass up such delicious opportunities as they arose? For the record had I not been driving I would've had a beer to go with the chicken. Sometimes sacrifices must be made:

My next stop was the quirky Roadside Station Ōboke 道の駅大歩危. The Yōkai 妖怪 House exhibit on the ground floor looked cheesy at first but the English explanations were surprisingly informative. Even more surprising was that some encounters with yokai allegedly took place as recently as the early 1950s:

Tanuki 化け狸 seem to feature prominently in local yokai lore:

The second floor of the museum was devoted to stones and gems, and was also more interesting than I initially expected:

An example of petrified wood from Arizona. The family and I visited the famed Petrified Forest National Park while on a cross-country driving trip three years ago:

The oldest stone in the world:

Looking out over the river from the museum balcony:

A train on the Dosan Line 土讃線 passed by while I was outside: 

Sudachi スダチ is a tart green citrus fruit, and is a specialty of Tokushima Prefecture 徳島県, which is where the Iya Valley is located. It also makes for a refreshing soda. And speaking of Tokushima-ken, my presence in the prefecture made it the 45th of Japan's 47 to have visited. Before this trip was finished I would add one more to the list: 

It was getting late in the afternoon, meaning it was time to check in at my next accommodations. My room at the Iyanoyado Kazuraya 祖谷の宿かずらや:

The view from my room. The ryokan 旅館 was a bit of a splurge, but I like to think I deserved it:

As far as I could tell I was the only solo traveler during the two nights I stayed there. Nevertheless dinner (and breakfast) were for two. The staff, however, were very attentive and understanding, and seemed to appreciate that I could speak (some) Japanese. The meals were delicious, of course: 

Heading down to the bath in the evening. All in all, the first day of the driving trip was a success, and that included getting to yell at clueless European tourists. The next day would be more of a challenge behind the wheel:

*I'm kidding. It's just the name of a shop selling imported carpets and curtains: