Castle Journeys

We left the Ochiai valley and headed along route 32, along a narrow and winding road that was a bit scary at times. The steep mountain slopes and the winding river below make for some truly spectacular views and well worth the drive in dry weather. Sadly many of these valleys were pounded with heavy rains and flooding a few days later. 

Ochiai is a famous mountain village in Iya scattered with terraced rice fields high in the mountains with steep drops of nearly 400 vertical meters. Located throughout Ochiai are the eight thatched roof houses of Togenkyo-Iya which are available for visitors to stay in overnight. This was our last day of sunshine and the blue skies across the valley were breath taking. 

We arrived at our accommodation a 200 year old thatch minka, high in the Iya valley late in the afternoon. We settled in with our supplies for the night and watched the sun set across the valley. 

After exploring Uchiko, we headed into the mountains towards the Iya valley in Tokushima. Along the way we came across this old thatched minka we had to stop and photograph. 

Some of the intricate details in the buildings in the Yokaichi district. 

Yokaichi, is a district in Uchiko where all the traditional homes and warehouses have been restored. Around 1900 the area prospered on the production of white wax which allowed the merchants to build these impressive Meji era buildings, which have been restored. The area has several streets filled with amazing buildings, with intricate details equal to Kyoto without the crowd. With rain chasing us, we woke up to clear blue skies and children going off to school. Despite wearing masks, coronavirus felt very far away. 

We spent night three in a restored machiya (wooden townhouse) in the town of Uchiko. The town and the accommodation were magical. It is definitely on my list of places to return to. 

Todo Takatora started building the castle in 1602, which took six years to complete. On a sunny day, you can see beautiful reflections of the turrets and main keep in the waters of the moat, but I was grateful it wasn't raining.  Like many of other Japanese castles, it was pulled down during the Meiji restoration. The main keep and turrets were reconstructed in 1980, and in 2007 the kurogane-gomon (Iron gate) was restored.

We drove around a number of the Seto islands which can also be explored by bikes. All of the bridges have special access and lanes for bikes, tourist attractions are signposted, and much of the accommodation caters to the needs of cyclists. We stayed overnight on Oshima island in a place that had cabins, fancy tents, areas to hang your bike and great coffee that overlooked the island's bridge. A fantastic way to end the day and watch the sunset across the inland sea.

We began our journey across the Shiminami kaido from Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture leaving the mainland of Honshu. This is a 70-kilometer route crossing bridges, traversing islands in the Seto Island sea that terminates in Imabari on the island of Shikoku. Six different bridges, cross six different islands, with stunning views and observations points along the way. Even though it was overcast most of the time, the views and the islands were magnificent. Tokyo and the corona virus felt very far away. 

The castle was abandoned in 1873 and many of the buildings were demolished as part of the Meji restoration.  In August 1945, the castle tower and imperial court were burned due to an air raid in WWII.  As part of the city reorganization 50th anniversary reconstruction, the castle tower, imperial court and Tsukimiyagura tower were restored in 1966, and the main keep now serves as a historical museum. .

The original building was started in 1573 by the feudal lord Ukita Naoie and completed by his son Hideie, in 1597, with the main keep having six floors. It is one of the few castles with a black exterior in Japan and was nicknamed Ujo - Crow Castle. In the 1600s the castle was taken over by the Ikeda clan where it and the town flourished and the outer gardens were built. In 1896 during the Meiji restoration its moats were filled in, and during WW2 it was mostly destroyed with only the tsukima-yagura (Moon-viewing turret) surviving. The castle was rebuilt in 1966 and has an elevator and museum inside.

The variety of kura and warehouses in the binkan chiku area of Kurashiki, is truly spectacular.  It is so wonderful to see these old buildings being restored, loved and coming back to life again. The diversity of designs in the windows, doors, construction, materials and finish is best I have seen. I could have spent all day walking the laneways, admiring all the buildings and their differences. 

Kurahiki is a town west of Okayama that was an old shipping port with canals that played an important role in rice distribution during the Edo period. Many of the warehouses along the canals were built with white walls and namako finish. Later textiles also played an important role in the area, with the first place denim was produced in Japan. There were so many streets and lanes to explore and so many amazing buildings it is worth spending an entire day here. 

If you are looking to see a post town not over crowded with tourists this a great place to explore. 

In the last week of June, as the prefectural lockdowns were relaxed in Tokyo, we decided to make our dash for a little freedom to explore some more of Japan. Both our jobs are very demanding, and feeling close to burnout with all the pressure of the coronavirus situation, we were in need of a little downtime to help us through the coming months. So we decided to combine our love of minka, with my love of castles and explore Okayama and Shikoku, and take in the Shiminami kaido. Our first destination was Kameyama about a five hour drive from Tokyo and the post town Sekijuku - number 47 of the 53 post town stations on the old takkaido and Kameyama castle. Day two - was a four drive to Okayama for the castle and kurashiki, and the historical Bikan area. Day three - was a three hour drive to Fukuyama for a quick look at the castle and then onto the Shiminami Kaido and staying overnight on Omishima. Day four - our final destination was Uchiko on Shikoku, but along the way, we explored a number of the smaller Seto islands. We also had time to explore Imabari castle and a quick stop in the Tobe pottery town. Day five - saw us head deep into the mountains of Shikoku travelling through several prefectures to our final destination Tougenkyo Iya valley, to spend a night in a thatched minka. Day six - our final destination was the onsen town Arima, but along the way, we explored the magical Iya valley and the whirlpools under the Seto Island bridge in Sakaide. Day seven - we broke our drive back to Tokyo up and headed for an onsen town in the Aichi hills, Yuo valley staying overnight in Shinhiro, around a four and half hour drive mostly on expressways. Day eight - was a four hour drive back to Tokyo as the rains really set in, inundating many of the areas we had just visited.

Hi, we did travel to Sakaiminato, but we drove there. I am not sure if you are planning to hire a car or use trains? We came from Tokyo and drove along the coast and Tottori to avoid the traffic in Kyoto. The coastline around Obama and Tsugura is really beautiful and the sand dunes in Tottori are fantastic. Hope you have a great time.