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The Naruto Strait between Tokushima and Awaji Island generates the world's largest tidal whirlpools โ up to 30 m in diameter and spinning at 20 km/h as tides push through the narrow channel. High-speed aquo boats pass directly through the churning, roaring whirlpools at close range, while the Uzu-no-Michi glass walkway 45 m above allows a vertiginous bird's-eye view.
The Oboke and Koboke gorges of the Yoshino River expose ancient schist bedrock polished to marble-like smoothness by millennia of torrents. Glass-bottomed wooden boats drift through the turquoise water between towering cliff walls, while the nearby Iya Valley โ home to three original vine-suspension bridges (kazurabashi) โ offers a sense of remote Shikoku entirely unchanged from feudal times.
This legendary suspension bridge woven from mountain vines (shirakazura) spans 45 metres across the Iya River, swaying gently 14 metres above emerald water. The current bridge is reconstructed every three years in the traditional manner and remains one of Japan's most atmospheric structures. Cross in the early morning before tour groups arrive for the best experience.
The Iya Valley is one of Japan's three great hidden valleys โ a dramatic V-shaped gorge carved by the Iya River into the heart of Shikoku. Steep forested walls plunge hundreds of metres to the turquoise water below, with Oboke and Koboke gorges offering some of the most spectacular riverside scenery in the country. The valley is best explored by car, with countless pull-offs for photography and traditional thatched-roof farmhouses visible on the hillsides.
The Naruto Strait produces some of the world's largest tidal whirlpools, reaching up to 20 metres in diameter during spring tides. View them from 45 metres above via the Uzu no Michi glass-floor walkway on Onaruto Bridge, or get up close on a 30-minute sightseeing boat tour. The spectacle is most powerful on the day of the new or full moon.
At 1,955 metres, Tsurugi-san is the second highest peak in western Japan and the highest mountain on Shikoku. A ropeway from Minokoshi reaches a point just 90 minutes' walk from the summit, making it accessible to most visitors. The mountain is sacred in Shinto belief and home to Tsurugi Shrine near the peak, and the views on clear days extend across the entire island.
The villages of West Iya preserve a way of mountain life that has largely vanished from Japan โ steep terraced fields, thatched-roof farmhouses clinging to near-vertical slopes, and communities linked by roads so narrow that passing another car requires one driver to reverse to a turnout. The famous Ochiai village, visible from a viewing point above as a cascade of rooftops down a mountain face, is one of Japan's most photographed rural landscapes.
The Naruto whirlpools are at their most powerful during spring tides โ the two to three days around each new and full moon throughout the year, with the most dramatic displays in March and September when tidal range is greatest. Boat operators publish monthly calendars of the best viewing times, and the spectacle of whirlpools up to 20 metres across draws crowds from across Japan. The combination of a full-moon night cruise with bioluminescent water in summer is particularly memorable.
Cape Muroto juts dramatically into the Pacific Ocean at the southeastern tip of Tokushima, its black lava coastline pounded by heavy surf. The cape is where the young Kobo Daishi is said to have achieved enlightenment in a cave, and it remains an important site on the Shikoku pilgrimage route. The UNESCO-listed Muroto Geopark offers dramatic geological formations and the chance to see the rocky platforms where the ocean floor has been lifted.
The stone foundations of Tokushima Castle (1585) crown the hill of Shiroyama in the centre of the city, surrounded by gardens and the excellent Tokushima Castle Museum. A ropeway carries visitors to the summit of adjacent Mount Bizan for panoramic views over the Yoshino River delta and the Seto Inland Sea. Cherry blossoms in spring and autumn foliage make this a favourite local escape.
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