Hospitality and Public Transportation in Middle-of-Nowhere Iya Valley
December 10th 2007 Just before it started to get really cold her and winter came to stay, I took a three-day weekend trip to the Iya Valley region in Mideastern Shikoku. I had been there once before last summer when I went white water rafting in the beautiful Yoshino River. At the time I thought it looked like such a beautiful place for hiking, but I was with a group and we were on a time limit. So, I decided to ret
... read more 
In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more 
