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Rainy season arrives early to Iya and all of Shikoku
May 16, 2021
A warm spring makes an extra early start to the rainy season
The rains have started way early this year, with the Japan Meteorological Association announcing that as of May 15th the rainy season has now officially begun for Shikoku and all of western Japan.
This is about 3 or 4 weeks earlier than normal, and supposedly the earliest start to the rainy season in the history of officially taking statistics! But this spring has also been quite warm so far, so hopefully the early start means it will be finished all that much sooner, allowing the later half of June and July (which would normally be wet) to therefore be clear. Yet this may also mean a particularly hot and humid summer in Japan, but luckily up here in the mountains of Iya it usually feels much more comfortable than down in sultry Ikeda or any other Japanese city.
But one nice thing about the rainy season is that it allows for some beautiful fog formations
throughout the Iya Valley, so if you do visit at this time, its always wonderful to see the drifting clouds upon the lush green landscape!
Please stay healthy and safe this spring if visiting the Iya Valley!
From January 9, 2024 until February 15 the Iya-no-Kazurabashi in Nishi-Iya will be closed in order to replace the vines.
Several sights and places to stay either fully close or have limited schedules in the winter season from December 1 until March 31, particularly in the Oku-Iya area.
On Saturday morning November 4th the annual Oku-Iya Harvest Festival will be held in the 'downtown' area of Kyojo where lots of Iya foods will be on offer!
Join the fun with the local people this summer at a variety of events that are happening all across the Iya Valley and Miyoshi City area!
As of April 22, 2023 the main road into Oku-Iya (Higashi-Iya) has been patched up and is now passable again, and local bus service is now back to normal.
On April 6th bus service will begin again to and from Oku-Iya, but the necessary road detour will create delays for the entire bus route.
A driving route detour is now necessary for reaching Oku-Iya. Bus access is now possible again, but delays are necessary.
Spring has arrived a little earlier than usually to the Iya Valley, and the dazzling cherry blossoms are starting to paint the valley pink!
On Feb 25, 2023 the 24th Annual Shikoku Sake Festival returns to Miyoshi's Ikeda town, with lots of regional brewers serving their finest sake!