Ochiai Mountain Hamlet & Sacred Mount Tsurugi (Steep Slope Traditional Minka Architecture)

Category: Traditional Mountain Hamlet & Shikoku’s 2nd-Highest Peak | Location: Tokushima

Clinging dramatically to the sheer, sun-facing ramparts of the East Iya Valley in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, the **Ochiai Mountain Hamlet** (*Ochiai Shūraku*) is a stunning alpine settlement recognized as a National Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Sprawling across an extreme 30-to-40-degree slope between 580 and 970 meters above sea level, the village spans an astonishing vertical elevation disparity of **390 meters** between its lowest and uppermost residences. Dating back to medieval Heike samurai refugees, residents carved terraced stone retaining walls without flat paddy fields, practicing a vertical agro-ecological system now celebrated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). The rustic timber homesteads of Ochiai feature steeply pitched thatched roofs and weathered cedar board siding built directly upon cyclopean stone terraces. Inside these traditional *Minka* farmhouses, open central hearths (*Irori*) burn sweet-scented mountain hardwoods, sending aromatic smoke upward to naturally fumigate and preserve the thatched roof reeds against pests for generations. The hamlet achieved international acclaim through the visionary restoration project led by American author and cultural expert **Alex Kerr**, who transformed several 300-year-old thatched minka into luxurious boutique heritage retreats (*Tougenkyo Iya no Yamazato*), marrying heated wooden floors and cedar bathtubs with antique irori hearths. From the panoramic Ochiai Observation Deck positioned across the gorge, visitors can gaze across the canyon at the entire vertical village, which appears to cling impossibly to the emerald mountain face beneath shifting blankets of mist. A short drive further east leads to **Mount Tsurugi** (*Tsurugi-san*), the second-highest peak in Shikoku, soaring to 1,955 meters. Inscribed among the *100 Famous Japanese Mountains*, hikers can ride a scenic double-seater chairlift up to Nishijima Station before strolling across wooden boardwalks traversing expansive dwarf bamboo (*Sasa*) meadows to reach the sacred summit for an unobstructed 360-degree panorama over Shikoku’s mountain spine.