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Shikoku in 7 Nights: Kotohira, the Iya Valley, Kochi and Dogo Onsen

Start in Takamatsu and take the train to Kotohira for a night below Kotohira-gu, then the Nanpu limited express to Oboke for two nights in the Iya Valley by the vine bridge. Continue on the Nanpu to Kochi for two nights, timed so one morning is a Sunday for the Sunday Market, and take the Nangoku Express bus to Matsuyama for two nights in Dogo Onsen. The trains cost ¥6,050 in single fares and the bus ¥4,000, so the ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass does not pay: the legs fall over six days, which means the ¥20,000 7-day pass. The Iya Kazurabashi is closed for rebuilding from 12 January to around the end of February 2027.

By · Updated

The Iya Kazurabashi vine bridge hanging low over a rocky, fast-flowing river in the Iya Valley, Tokushima
The Iya Kazurabashi, on day 3.

Photo: Meg Faibisch Kühn / Ryokan Finder

Key facts

Length
7 nights: Kotohira 1, Iya Valley 2, Kochi 2, Dogo Onsen 2
Trains
¥6,050 in single fares, Takamatsu to Kochi
Kochi to Matsuyama
Nangoku Express bus, about 2.5 to 3 hours, ¥4,000
ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass
Skip it: the legs span 6 days, so it would be the ¥20,000 7-day pass
Vine bridge
¥550; closed for rebuilding 12 January to about end of February 2027
Kochi Sunday Market
Every Sunday, about 6:00 to 14:00

Where you sleep

Kotohira: 1 night · Iya Valley: 2 nights · Kochi: 2 nights · Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama: 2 nights

Price tiers run from $ (Budget) to $$$$ (Luxury) and are our own classification. Each night below has our pick and, where the directory has one, an alternative at a different tier. Prices quoted are from each inn’s own booking engine when we checked and change with the date.

Day by day

  1. Day 1: Takamatsu to Kotohira

    From Takamatsu, JR local trains reach Kotohira in about an hour; a few Shimanto limited expresses take 35 minutes. Kotoden’s line from Takamatsu-Chikko is the other way in, about an hour, and is not a JR line.

    Kotohira Kadan is a 15-minute walk from JR or Kotoden Kotohira Station, and runs a free shuttle bus.

    Tonight: Kotohira

    Our pick

    Kotohira Kadan$$$$ · Luxury

    Konpira Onsen, Kotohira

    Founded in 1627 as an inn on the approach to Kotohira-gu, at the foot of the shrine’s hill. Its baths and the rooms with open-air baths use Kotohira Chikoin Onsen water. Sources: Kotohira Kadan: history, checked October 24, 2026; Kotohira Kadan: FAQ (baths), checked October 24, 2026; Kotohira Kadan: access, checked October 24, 2026.

    Alternative

    The catalog has no other Kotohira inn yet; search the town on Agoda for others.

    Search Kotohira on Agoda

  2. Day 2: Kotohira-gu, then into the Iya Valley

    Climb Kotohira-gu in the morning: 785 stone steps to the main shrine, 1,368 to the inner shrine.

    In the afternoon take the Nanpu or Shimanto limited express to Oboke, and the Shikoku Kotsu bus or a taxi up to Hotel Kazurabashi. The bus takes about 20 minutes for about ¥600, the taxi about 15 minutes for about ¥3,000. Buses are few, so check the timetable.

    Tonight: Iya Valley

    Our pick

    Iya Onsen Hotel Kazurabashi$$$ · Premium

    Iya Valley, Miyoshi

    About five minutes by car from the vine bridge, with its own cable car up to an open-air bath on the ridge. Check-in from 15:00, check-out by 10:00. Sources: Miyoshi City tourism: Iya Kazurabashi (hours, fee, inns nearby), checked October 24, 2026; Hotel Kazurabashi: access, checked October 24, 2026.

    Alternative

    Iya Onsen Hotel$$$ · Premium

    Iya Valley, Miyoshi

    Lower down the gorge, with a cable car that drops about 170 metres to open-air baths beside the Iya River, fed by a spring that flows on its own. Source: Miyoshi City tourism: Iya Kazurabashi (hours, fee, inns nearby), checked October 24, 2026.

    Both Iya inns in the catalog are in the same tier.

    Search Miyoshi-shi on Agoda

  3. Day 3: The vine bridge and Oboke Gorge

    Cross the Iya Kazurabashi, 45 metres of woven vine 14 metres above the river. It is open every day, 8:00 to 17:00 from September to March, 8:00 to 18:00 from April to June and 7:30 to 18:30 in July and August, for ¥550. It is lit from 19:00 to 21:30 but cannot be crossed then.

    The bridge is rebuilt every three years. From 12 January to around the end of February 2027 it is closed to visitors, and the evening light-up stops.

    Down at Oboke, the gorge sightseeing boat takes about 30 minutes.

    Same inn as day 2.

  4. Day 4: Oboke to Kochi

    Back to Oboke Station and on south through the mountains on the Nanpu to Kochi. Sansuien is a 7-minute walk from Kochi Castle.

    Plan the trip so that day 5 is a Sunday.

    Tonight: Kochi

    Our pick

    Sansuien$$$ · Premium

    Kochi

    On the site of the Tosa lords’ lower residence, a 7-minute walk from Kochi Castle, with its own natural hot spring and a samurai row house in the garden that is an Important Cultural Property. Sources: Sansuien: access, checked October 24, 2026; Sansuien: about the inn, checked October 24, 2026.

    Alternative

    The catalog has no other Kochi city inn yet; search Kochi on Agoda for others.

    Search Kochi on Agoda

  5. Day 5: Kochi Sunday Market

    The Sunday Market runs about 1 km along Otesuji, the avenue up to Kochi Castle, with about 300 stalls, from about 6:00 to about 14:00. It has been held since 1690, every Sunday except 1 and 2 January and 10 to 12 August. Go in the morning.

    Kochi’s Tosaden trams are covered by the ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass, if you hold one.

    Same inn as day 4.

  6. Day 6: Kochi to Matsuyama and Dogo Onsen

    The Nangoku Express bus crosses the mountains to Matsuyama in about 2.5 to 3 hours. By train it means a long V through Tadotsu.

    From JR Matsuyama Station, the Iyotetsu tram to Dogo Onsen takes about 25 minutes for a flat ¥250.

    Tonight: Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama

    Our pick

    Dogo Onsen Funaya$$$$ · Luxury

    Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama

    Thirteen of its 58 rooms have Dogo Onsen water in their own bath; tattoos are allowed in the large baths if covered with a sticker. Source: Checked on the inn’s own website (Ryokan Finder inn facts), checked October 21, 2026.

    Alternative

    Yamatoya Honten$$ · Mid-range

    Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama

    A lower tier in Dogo Onsen, and children are welcome. Source: Checked on the inn’s own website (Ryokan Finder inn facts), checked October 21, 2026.

    Search Matsuyama on Agoda

  7. Day 7: Dogo Onsen and Matsuyama Castle

    Bathe at the Dogo Onsen Honkan, whose Kami-no-yu bath costs ¥700 and is open 6:00 to 23:00 with no reservation. Matsuyama Castle is on the hill in the middle of the city.

    Same inn as day 6.

  8. Day 8: Leave Shikoku

    Fly from Matsuyama Airport: the Iyotetsu limousine bus from Dogo Onsen Station takes 40 to 45 minutes for ¥1,200.

    Or take the Linear Jet from Matsuyama Sightseeing Port to Hiroshima, 70 to 80 minutes for ¥9,000.

    • Dogo Onsen → Matsuyama Airport · Iyotetsu airport limousine bus

      40 to 45 minutes · ¥1,200 Source: Dogo Onsen: access, checked October 21, 2026.

    • Matsuyama → Hiroshima · Linear Jet high-speed boat

      70 to 80 minutes · ¥9,000 Source: Setonaikai Kisen: Linear Jet to Hiroshima, checked October 21, 2026.

The 5-night version

One night each in Kotohira and Kochi, two in the Iya Valley and one in Dogo Onsen. The legs still fall on five different days, more than the 3-day pass covers, so buy single tickets. Lose the Kochi Sunday unless your Kochi night is a Saturday.

A stone torii and steps climbing through forest towards the inner shrine of Kotohira-gu
Steps to Kotohira-gu’s inner shrine

Photo: Maarten Heerlien / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped and resized

Rows of white-canopied stalls under the palm trees of Otesuji at Kochi’s Sunday Market
Kochi Sunday Market, Otesuji

Photo: Meg Faibisch Kühn / Ryokan Finder

The three-storey wooden Dogo Onsen Honkan bathhouse lit at dusk
Dogo Onsen Honkan

Photo: Japanexperterna.se / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and resized

A white-walled turret of Matsuyama Castle behind a stone wall, in late afternoon light
Matsuyama Castle

Photo: Meg Faibisch Kühn / Ryokan Finder

Rail passes: do they pay?

ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass

Skip it

3 days ¥12,000, 7 days ¥20,000 (children half), from 1 October 2026

  • Single fares: Takamatsu to Kotohira ¥980, Kotohira to Oboke ¥2,440, Oboke to Kochi ¥2,630. That is ¥6,050 by train.
  • The legs fall on days 1, 2, 4 and 6, six days apart, so the 3-day pass cannot cover them all and the choice is the 7-day pass at ¥20,000. Even with its ¥1,000 discount on the ¥4,000 Nangoku Express bus, it costs about twice the ¥10,050 of tickets and bus.
  • It covers non-reserved seats on JR Shikoku and Tosa Kuroshio trains, Kotoden, the Tosaden trams and the Asa Coast Railway. It does not cover any bus, the Shodoshima ferry, or since 7 March 2026 Iyotetsu’s Matsuyama trams. The 4- and 5-day passes ended on 1 October 2026.

Sources: ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass information (JR Shikoku), checked October 24, 2026; JR Shikoku notice of 6 August 2026: pass prices from 1 October 2026, checked October 24, 2026; JR Shikoku notice of 31 October 2025: Iyotetsu leaves the pass on 7 March 2026, checked October 24, 2026; JR Shikoku Dosan Line fare and limited express charge table (PDF), checked October 24, 2026; NAVITIME: Nanpu fares, Kotohira to Oboke, checked October 24, 2026; Japan Trip Navi: Oboke and Iya rail pass, citing JR Shikoku’s fare table, checked October 24, 2026.

Japan Rail Pass

Only if Shikoku is part of a longer trip

7 days ¥50,000 ordinary bought online

  • It covers JR Shikoku lines, but this route’s train fares are ¥6,050. It pays only when long Shinkansen rides on the way to and from Shikoku fall in the same week.

Source: Japan Rail Pass types and prices (JR Group), checked October 24, 2026.

Luggage: send it ahead

Iya is the leg to travel light for: the bus from Oboke runs only a few times a day, and Hotel Kazurabashi recommends checking its timetable before you come. Send big cases ahead from Kotohira by Yamato’s TA-Q-BIN, which delivers in a day or two, to Kochi or Dogo, and take one bag into the valley. Sources: Hotel Kazurabashi: access, checked October 24, 2026; Yamato Transport: how to send a parcel with TA-Q-BIN, checked October 24, 2026.

When to go

Autumn colour fills the Iya gorge from the river to the ridges; Miyoshi City lists the gorge among its autumn sights. The vine bridge is open through the autumn and early winter, then closed for rebuilding from 12 January to around the end of February 2027. Sources: Miyoshi City tourism: Iya Kazurabashi (hours, fee, inns nearby), checked October 24, 2026; Miyoshi City tourism: Kazurabashi rebuilding notice, 16 October 2026, checked October 24, 2026.

Kochi’s Sunday Market runs all year except 1 and 2 January and 10 to 12 August, the Yosakoi festival days. Source: Kochi City: Sunday Market, checked October 24, 2026.

Kotohira-gu’s grand festival is held from 9 to 11 October; on 10 October the deity’s procession of about 600 people comes down from the main shrine to the town. Source: Kotohira-gu Shrine (official), checked October 24, 2026.

Questions

Is the ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass worth it for this route?

No. The train legs cost ¥6,050 in single fares, and because they fall over six days you would need the 7-day pass at ¥20,000. It also no longer covers the Matsuyama trams or any bus.

Is the Iya Kazurabashi vine bridge open?

Yes, every day, for ¥550, from 8:00 to 17:00 from September to March. It closes for its three-yearly rebuilding from 12 January to around the end of February 2027.

How do I get from Oboke Station to the Iya Valley inns?

By the Shikoku Kotsu bus, about 20 minutes and about ¥600 to Hotel Kazurabashi, or by taxi, about 15 minutes and about ¥3,000. Buses are infrequent, so check the timetable first.

How do I get from Kochi to Matsuyama?

By the Nangoku Express bus, about 2.5 to 3 hours for ¥4,000, or ¥3,000 with an ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass. The train goes round through Tadotsu and takes about 4 hours.

When is the Kochi Sunday Market?

Every Sunday from about 6:00 to about 14:00, along about 1 km of Otesuji near Kochi Castle, except on 1 and 2 January and 10 to 12 August.

More routes and guides

Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto: 7 nights, or 5 in the shorter versionKyoto, Kinosaki and Arima: 6 nights, or 5 in the shorter versionRyokans in ShikokuRyokans in Dogo OnsenShikoku ryokan guide

Sources

Times and fares are adult, one way, in the normal season, as each source gave them on the date shown. Where no source we could check gives a fare, we leave it out rather than estimate it. Check timetables before you travel.