After two hours of drive, I arrived at the two rivers, Yoshino and Iyagawa, which in these days are popular for rafting and canoeing. The Yoshino River has ravines with unique names, Oboke and Koboke, meaning it is dangerous to take either long steps or small steps to cross the river.

Riding on an excursion ship to enjoy the scenery.

Oboke is actually one of the three biggest out-of-the-way places in Japan. With metamorphic sandstone’s surface weathering, thick earth layers were molded into a wavy shape and cracks made a way for water to encroach them, creating a unique geographical environment.

Seeing the view from the ship, I was very much overwhelmed by the beauty and magnificence of nature.

You can enjoy the view in green during summer and in colored leaves during fall at the limpid stream.

A cormorant welcomes the visitor. He is the master of fishing ayu and other river fish.

The ship goes up and down on the river in 30 minutes. Cool winds blowing on the river let you forget all the concerns with the summer hot weather.

Here comes the steep Iyagawa Valley. It is a V-shaped valley along the river, with the tallest cliff of 200 meters. It is said that in old times travelers urinated from the top of this cliff to show their courage.
Today, there stands a Manikin Piss on top of the cliff.

In fact, the writer, an acrophobe, was scared with this height.

Iyagawa has another famous site for its height. Iyagawa is said to be a place where fleeing warriors from Heike hid themselves 800 years ago. One of the warriors came up with the idea of building Kazura bridge, which is thrown 14 meters up from the Isogawa River.

It sways when people cross it, so they cautiously walk. Kazura bridge is made out of Kazura, which is the type of tree that grows around this area.

But you may feel you are being punished or going through an ascetic practice.

After enjoying the beautiful nature of Tokushima, I moved to Anan.
Instead of Tokushima City, this time I stayed in Anan, a southern city in Tokushima Prefecture, which is famous for sea turtles.

A coast near Anan.

Local children are jumping into the sea.

Luckily, I could encounter a summer festival. It was held at the center of the city and people were dancing Awa-Odori under LED lights as if to symbolize this “City of Light”, enlivening the mood.

Anan is prosperous for its LED production; therefore in the city there are many light illuminations in LED.

The competitive performance of this brilliant dance and art of light attracted the audience very much.

You can see this kind of traditional dance anywhere in the city.

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