Iya region, Tokushima prefecture, one of Japan's three major unexplored regions
This facility is located in the Ochiai village of Higashiiya. Generally, villages are formed at the foot of the mountain, and the fields spread further, which is the so-called "Japanese satoyama landscape", but the village of Iya is cut off the slope of the mountain to form a village. The Ochiai village is a village with a height difference of about 390 meters, and old private houses built in the middle to late Edo period are still scattered on the cliff.
These old private houses have the structure and floor plan peculiar to the mountain village, and have a unique landscape combined with the undulating village road, the surrounding stone walls and cultivated land. In 2005, the rarity of such a historical landscape was evaluated, and the entire village was selected as an important traditional buildings preservation district (judenken district).
Quiet time, Peaceful mountain village, Iya
What place is Iya? Where should we go to see Iya?It may be the best answer for the questions that perhaps there is nothing.In other words, it stays that there are something to survive for people and only natural things surround it and them.
The dawn veiled in the morning haze, the mountains covered by the see of clouds, the bluish river, and the silent settlement in snow, these are in Iya.That is called the village of mysterious land where the fleeing Heike warrior lived in secret once. In addition, Iya is also very mountainous area which is one of the three undiscovered regions in Japan is expressed in many attractive and decorative words.
However, contrary to be expressed in various words, even now lots of people, who have inherited the traditional and peculiar lifestyle in a mountain region, live there with following the logic of nature every day.
Now almost lost Afterimage of Japan
For those people, it is not restricted much by tradition, but it is merely the "regular life" which has continued from their ancestors for generations. The time flows at a leisurely pace, and there is the mountain village in an atmosphere as per usual. It is an actual shape of Iya and that is why it is the Japanese original lifestyle which is gradually disappearing.
It is difficult for us to feel the “regular life” or to express the commonly seen scenes in daily Japanese life. If you walk along the mountain village of Iya, you can touch the common “regular life” in Iya, unlike your daily life. You will also meet the mothers who are friendly and love to chat, and the fathers who give you fresh vegetables in their gardens.
We hope we can help the travelers to Iya to feel the quiet time, peaceful mountain village and Iya.
