Iya Valley Vine Bridges

The Iya is a steep river valley cut into the interior of Shikoku, isolated enough that thatched houses and terraced fields on impossible slopes survived long after they disappeared elsewhere. Its best known feature is the kazurabashi, a bridge woven from mountain vine over a deck of spaced planks, rebuilt every few years because the material rots. The main one near Nishi-Iya hangs high enough over the river to concentrate the mind, and two smaller bridges deeper in the valley, called the husband and wife bridges, see far fewer people. Downstream, flat-bottomed boats run through the Oboke gorge below marbled rock walls.

What you actually see

• The main vine bridge - a woven span with gaps between the planks and the river underneath.
• The double bridges of Oku-Iya - two smaller vine crossings and a hand-pulled cable cart.
• Oboke gorge boats - short river trips between striped and folded rock walls.
• The valley road - terraced hamlets and thatched roofs on slopes above the gorge.

When to go

April to November covers it, with the vine bridges lit in the evening through the warmer months. Autumn colour in late October and November is the strongest reason to come, and also the busiest. Winter closes some roads and makes the rest unpleasant. Arrive early at the main bridge, since the crossing is one-way and a queue builds by late morning.

Honest expectations

The crossing takes about a minute, is charged, and moves at the pace of whoever is nervous ahead of you; steel cable is hidden inside the vines, so the danger is theatrical. Roads in the valley are narrow, blind and winding enough to make passengers ill, and buses run only a few times a day. Reaching the smaller bridges really needs a car.

Nearby

The Oboke and Koboke gorges, and the Shikoku pilgrimage temples on the plains below.