I was invited by the Tourism Division of Miyoshi City to participate in a tour around the Okoke/Iya Valley area

徳島の三好市の祖谷渓谷、 大歩危などを観光するツアーに招かれました。

and it was an amazing experience.

本当に素晴らしい経験でした

Our three day tour of the beautiful Miyoshi City in Tokushima started off at Oboke station.

三好市の観光は 大歩危駅から始まりました

When we arrived we wandered around the local shops surrounding the station.

着いたら地元のお店を見て回りました

We visited a liquor store where i purchased some local made sudachi wine

私は地元の酒屋さんで すだちのお酒を買ったよ

and the Oboke mart where we learnt about the famous local foods of Oboke including

歩危マートでは 様々な地元の食べ物がありました

Iwadofu - A very firm tofu that was made to withstand being carried up the steep mountains,

例えば、岩豆腐。 すごく硬い豆腐で山々を通って運ぶ時に 形が崩れないように作られたそうです。

Tama Konyaku - made from local potatoes that has a nice texture

玉こんにゃくは地物との芋で 作られており、食感が非常にいいです

and Bokeage - which is a fried tofu said to be great in Oden and Soup.

ぼけ揚げは豆腐を揚げたもので おでんや汁物によく合うと言われています

We had the chance to make and drink some tea while being entertained by the locals.

地元の人たちのパフォーマンスを 楽しみながらお茶を飲むことができました

They danced and played their seashell horns while showing off their skills in diablo, plate spinning and spinning tops.

踊って貝を吹いたり、 お皿を回したりしてくれました

We were then taken on a magnificent river cruise down the Oboke Gorge.

それから壮大な大歩危渓谷の クルーズにいきました

The Oboke Gorge is a valley that runs for about 8km along the Yoshino River.

大歩危渓谷は 吉野川に沿って8kmも続く渓谷です

The water was crystal clear and surrounded by these breathtakingly beautiful rocks that were formed over 200 million years ago.

水は透き通っていて、 200年以上も前に出来た、美しい岩々に囲まれています

We also saw a variety of wildlife living their daily lives along the river.

渓谷に住んでいるたくさんの野生の生き物を 見ることもできました

Following the pleasure boat ride we headed up to a restaurant called “Manaka” main floor of the pleasure boat complex for lunch.

素晴らしいクルージングのあとは まんなかというレストランに行って昼食を食べました

We were able to try some of the famous foods from Miyoshi City such as

三好市の名物を食べることが出来ました

“Amego" a sweet fish,

アメゴという川魚

Iya Soba and Iwadofu.

祖谷そばと岩どうふ

My favourite food was the Konyaku Sashimi, the texture was soft and smooth

私のお気に入りはこんにゃくのお刺身 柔らかくてとってもなめらかでした

and combined with the sweet miso sauce it was delightful combination.

甘い味噌とのコンビネーションは 本当に最高でした

Once we had finished lunch we headed over to the Kazurabashi on a really cool vintage styled bus.

昼食を終えると、レトロな雰囲気のバスに乗って かずら橋に向かいました

Iya No Kazurabashi (Vine Bridge) is one of Japan’s oldest bridges.

祖谷のかずら橋は 日本で最も古い橋のひとつです

It is 45m long and 15m above the river.

全長45mで川から15mの高さです

It was a thrilling experience to walk over as it shook and swayed back and forth.

歩くと橋が揺れるのは とてもハラハラしておもしろかったです

The view from the middle of the was beautiful. You could see the river winding down through the valley.

橋の真ん中からの景色はすごく綺麗でした 渓谷から川がゆるやかに流れるのが見えました

We then walked from the vine bridge towards Biwa Waterfall and on the way we came across this little shop selling Amego and Deko Mawashi.

それからびわの滝に向かう途中 アメゴとでこまわしを売っているお店を見つけました

Deko Mawashi is a potato, tofu and konyaku skewer covered in miso that is cooked over charcoals on a fire.

でこまわしは芋、豆腐、こんにゃくを 串に刺し、味噌を塗って炭火で焼いたものです

It looked very delicious.

すっごく美味しそうだったよ

The Biwa waterfall is a 50m high waterfall which comes crashing down between moss covered rocks, into a pool of water.

びわの滝は全長50mで 苔に覆われた岩の間を水が勢いよく流れていました

The sound of the rushing water was somewhat peaceful and the waterfall itself was a magnificent thing to see.

水の音は心地よく、 滝そのものは壮大な景色でした

We stopped at a souvenir shop where you could buy various local foods and specialty items before heading up into the mountains to look around.

山に行く前に、 地元のお土産や食べ物を買えるお店にいきました

On the way we stopped at a look out which had an amazing view of Ochiai village and the houses that were built in the Edo and early Showa periods.

途中で落合村を一望することが出来ました 江戸時代〜昭和初期の間に作られたのです

Next we visited Kakashi no Sato Village (Scarecrow Village) where there were hundreds of scarecrows placed throughout the village.

次にかかしの里にいきました 何百ものかかしがいる集落です

We later learned that only 30 people actually lived in the village meaning that there were more scarecrows than people.

そこには30人しか住んでおらず かかしの方が人より多いみたいです

The scarecrows were there to make the village looked lived in.

かかしは村を活気づけるために 作られました

The creepy part about this was that some of these scarecrows were designed based on some of the people that used to live in the town.

ちょっと不気味だったのは いくつかのかかしは実際に昔そこに住んでいた人を モデルに作られているということです

We stayed in the Tougenkyo- Iya Mountain Village in a traditional thatched roof farm house.

桃源郷祖谷の山里の宿泊しました。 伝統的な茅屋根の家です

From the outside the farmhouse appears to be big and empty but as you enter you will noticed that the entire inside is clean and modern.

外から見るとガランとしているように見えますが 中はすごく近代的で綺麗でした

The Kitchen had heated flooring and every appliance you would need to have a fantastic stay.

台所には床暖房があり、快適な滞在をするための 装備が整えられていました

The toilet and bathroom was spacious and very clean.

トイレとお風呂は 広々としていて、非常に綺麗でした

The Bedroom had tatami floors and we slept on futons.

寝室は畳で 私たちは布団で寝ました

Outside there was a set of chairs where you could sit and relax looking over the valley. It was a very beautiful place to stay in.

外の椅子に座って渓谷を ゆっくり眺めることも出来ます。

For dinner we headed over to another farm house for a nice home cooked meal.

夕食には別の建物に行き、 美味しい家庭料理を食べました

We had various local mountain foods including Inoshishi Nabe (Wild Boar Hot Pot), Spring Rolls, Seasoned mountain potatoes and boiled vegetables and tofu.

いのしし鍋、春巻き、山芋の煮付け、 野菜や豆腐など様々な食べ物がありました

The seasoned potatoes were a big hit among everyone who was there.

山芋の煮付けはみんなのお気に入りでした

We also tried a few of the local Sake’s that we purchased earlier that day.

購入した日本酒も飲んだよ

Day two of the tour started off with a beautiful sunrise over the beautiful foggy mountains.

2日目は美しい日の出、 霧がかった山々から始まりました

From our accommodation we walked down the street to a restaurant called Nakochi for breakfast.

宿泊施設から歩いて なこちというレストランに朝食を食べにいきました

It had a great view of the valley.

渓谷の景色は素晴らしかったです

We were served homemade deer sausages and bread.

手作りのソーセージとパンを食べました

The sausage were juicy and delicious.

ソーセージはジューシーで 美味しかったです

After breakfast we headed to Okuiya Nijukazurabashi (The double vine bridges).

朝食のあとは奥祖谷二重かずら橋に行きました

The walk down to the bridges was amazing the crisp, clear air and the smell of cedar was delightful.

橋までの道のりは素晴らしかったです 空気は冷たく澄んでいて、松のいい香りがしました

Here there are two bridges one for men and one for women.

ここには男性用と女性用の橋があります

Although i walked across both.

でも私はどっちも渡りましたww

There was also a fascinating ropeway bridge where you could hop into a little cart and you could pull yourself across the valley by pulling a rope.

小さなカートに入ってロープを手繰りよせて進む、 ロープウェイもありました

It was a unique experience and the view from the cart was breathtaking

すごく面白くて カートからの景色は最高でした

I had a lot of fun exploring the area and running across the bridges.

橋周辺の探索はすごく楽しかったです

Next we headed up to the top of the mountain to a farm where we had the opportunity to make traditional Iya soba Noodles by hand.

山の上にある小屋で 祖谷そば作りを体験することも出来ました

First we added the flour which was a mixture of buckwheat and regular wheat flour and water.

小麦とそば粉を混ぜたものに水を加えます

We then kneaded that into a lovely ball shape.

それからまとまるまでこねます

After that we rolled out the soba with a rolling pin in a very specific way.

それから、めん棒で生地を伸ばします

We then folded the soba and added extra dry flour to it in preparation for cutting.

それから生地を折りたたみ、 切る前に打ち粉します

The first batch of soba we used the guillotine to cut it and the second time we cut it with a knife by hand.

はじめはギロチンのようなナイフで、 次は包丁で切りました

For lunch we went to a restaurant called the Soba Dojo where we ate Soba in various ways.

昼食にはそば道場というレストランにいきました そこでは様々な形でそばを食べることが出来ます

There was Iya Soba Noodles - which were thicker than usual, Soba Tama - a large ball of boiled soba and Sobagome - a soup with soba grains and vegetables.

通常のそばより太い祖谷そば そば生地をまるめたそば玉、 そばの実と野菜が入ったスープがありました

Everything was very delicious.

全部美味しかったです

After lunch we headed to Chiiori a traditional thatched roof house believed to be built over 300 years ago.

昼食のあと、篪庵という300年前に建てられたと 言われる合掌造りの家に行きました

The inside was renovated and had many traditional items and pictures placed throughout.

中は改築されていて、 伝統的なものや絵が飾られていました

There was even a traditional fire pit.

伝統的な囲炉裏もありました

On the way back down the mountain we came across and Inoshishi pen and it was interesting to see them in the flesh as they are every so elusive in the wild.

山を下るときにいのししの小屋を見つけました 野生のいのししを見るのは非常に珍しかったです

On the way to our next destination we stopped by to check out the view of the Hinoji Valley. Which looks like the Hiragana character ‘Hi’.

次の目的地への道のりで ひの字渓谷を見ることが出来ました。 ひらがなの「ひ」みたいだからそう呼ばれています。

Once we arrived at the onset we walked down the street to view the small statue of a peeing boy.

温泉についたら、 しょんべん小僧がいました

This statue stands at the top of a 200 metre cliff and It is said that long ago travelers and local boys would sometimes try this out.

この像は200mの高さに位置しており、 なんと昔、旅行者や地元の少年が (小便に)挑戦していたらしいです

Next we headed back to Iya Onsen for a unique hot spring experience.

次に祖谷温泉にむかいました

We took a cable car down to the rotenburo (open air bath) at the bottom of the valley.

ケーブルカーで渓谷の下にある 露天風呂に行くのです

Along the way we enjoyed the panoramic views of the valley.

その道で壮大なパノラマビューを楽しみました。

It took about 5 minutes to reach the bottom.

下に行くまでに約5分かかりました

The hot spring overlooked the river. It was lukewarm and used the natural water from the spring.

天然温泉は川に臨んでいて、 ちょうどいい湯加減でした。

After relaxing in the onset we headed back up to the hotel for a world class multi course meal.

温泉でくつろいだあとは 素晴らしいコース料理を食べました。

We started with a local mountain peach wine followed by various delicious and beautifully presented dishes including a variety of appetisers.

地元の桃のお酒から始まり、 前菜、さまざまな地元の名物をいただきました。

Followed by a spicy miso fondue which we had a variety of seasonal raw vegetables and steamed mushrooms that we could dip into it,

生野菜、蒸しキノコなどを 辛味噌につけて食べる料理

Sobasubeshi soup, Amego a sweet grilled fish, Chrysanthem Manju, Duck Meat Hot pot.

そばすべし汁、アメゴ、 菊まんじゅう、鴨鍋

We also received Yuzu Sherbert ice cream as a palet cleanser mid course.

お口直しにゆずシャーベットもありました

In the second half of the course we received Vegetable Tempura with Andes Rock Salt,

次は、アンデス岩塩が添えられた 野菜の天ぷら

Iya Soba and rice, picked vegetables and last but not least for dessert we ate Apple Moose and fresh persimmon.

祖谷そば、漬物、 デザートにはりんごムースと柿を食べました

We also tried 3 different types of local sake.

3種類の日本酒も呑みました。

Day three of the tour started off with another beautiful sunrise over the beautiful foggy mountains.

3日も素晴らしい日の出と 霧がかった山々の景色で目覚めました。

We headed back to Nakochi again for breakfast where we were served a traditional Japanese styled breakfast

なこちでまた朝食を食べました。

with rice, mission soup and various side dishes.

ごはん、味噌スープ、さまざまなおかずを食べました。

The shop owner also played the shamisen for us.

マスターが三味線を弾いてくれました。

After breakfast it was time to head back to Oboke station and head home.

朝食のあとは大歩危駅に向かいました。 旅ももう終りです。

I had such a wonderful time on the tour and met many great people.

ツアーで素晴らしいときを過ごし たくさんの素晴らしい出会いがありました。

I hope that one day you will get to experience the Nature, Culture, Beauty, Sights, Food, of Oboke and Iya Valley in Miyoshi City, Tokushima.

あなたも徳島の三好市で 素晴らしい文化、自然、食べ物を体感してください

I definitely recommend heading down here if you want a Japanese styled holiday.

日本の伝統を感じ休暇を 過ごししたい人にはおすすめします。

#LOVESHIKOKU