Takeshi decided we should go river rafting. Brilliant idea! So on June 15th, we all (Takeshi, Mimi, Simon, Ruriko, Akiko, and me), piled into his van at 7:30 in the morning and drove to Otoyo, near Oboke.
Otoyo is situated in the Yoshinogawa Gorge, running in a North/South direction through the middle of Shikoku. It’s in Tokushima prefecture; we were going to play on the upper Yoshino river, which eventually makes its way east to Tokushima and the sea. It took us about two and a half hours to get to the Happy Raft headquarters from Imabari via the freeway.
I should mention that it started raining about 20 minutes before we were supposed to meet. This is to be expected at the beginning of the rainy season in Imabari. It rained all day…
Ruriko researched and arranged our appointment with Happy Raft, the company hosting us. They were the cheapest of the alternatives at $5,500 per person for a half-day trip – a great value, and they’re friendly, accommodating folks. We signed off the obligatory liability waivers and were led downstairs for our gear. We were two groups of six, and a couple in a small raft.
After donning wetsuits, shoes, fleece, kayak spray jackets, helmets and flotation vests, we were led through extensive instructions on rafting safety, what to do if we fall out, and so on.
It was quite thorough, though I could only follow about a third of it…but Takeshi and Ruriko helped explain things when necessary.
Finally, it was time to jump into the van, head up the road and into our waiting rafts. Out on the water, we watched a group of kayakers in tiny ‘banana boats’ enter the river. They became a sort of unofficial escort as we made our way downstream, occasionally one of them would do a nose stand in the water (!). It looked very odd.
Yoshio was our steersman and guide, and the first thing he made us do was stand up on the raft edge, and throw ourselves backward into the river!
After a moment of panic I relaxed and enjoyed floating around and practicing getting back into the raft. The water was green, cold and over my head, however, and I was glad I was in a wetsuit. Running the first set was quite exciting and a bit scary – great fun.
However, he then pulled up to a big crag of rock sticking out of the water, and had us all climb up on top of it. It was clear that we were going to have to jump off…and we did.
I don’t like heights, and this was the scariest part of the whole thing for me, but I gritted my teeth and jumped. A big part of the appeal, and satisfaction, of these adventures lies in overcoming such fears.
Two people dove off. Takeshi showed us what it looked like to do a bellyflop from 15 feet up! Luckily, he was ok.
I found the rain, the mist, the rocks and wild, green, white water, and the steep mountains taking me back to northern British Columbia and my years of treeplanting there. It was the closest thing I’ve seen to BC in Japan. Of course the buildings look different, have a different vernacular of line and space, a different presence, but the spirit, of being in the woods, was here. I felt I could breathe out. And occasionally smell some woodsmoke.
Then we jumped out of the boat again, took hold of each others flotation vests at the shoulders, feet up, and, in a six person train, ran a set of rapids! It was thrilling as I couldn’t see a thing and waves kept rolling over me…whew! Didn’t hit any rocks, though.
In the final set of rapids, we rode over a perhaps five foot dropoff , and up and over a big tooth of a rock.
It was an exciting finish to a wonderful expedition. Back onshore at Happy Raft, in our dry clothes, we drank some tea and ate fresh banana bread. We were all, to our surprise, quite tired. Yoshio burned his photos, and a video segment onto a disc for us for ¥1000 ($10).
And still hungry; we stopped and ate Iya soba at a small, roadside restaurant run by an obaachan. Delicious! Iya soba seems ‘dryer’ than other soba noodles, perhaps because it has more buckwheat in it… Then on to a local hotel for a soak in their luxurious onsen. It was deserted and a bargain at ¥400 and a Happy Raft discount. It was raining hard at this point and the soak was a great way to warm up and relax.
In the tatami rest area in the lobby, I found a Shikoku no Michu (Shikoku 88 temple) pilgrimage guidebook – in English, no less! They didn’t have any for sale, but I’ll look for it in Matsuyama when I’m there. It looked very good, and I must start thinking about saving money to make the walk…
Takeshi took us further east and north towards Takamatsu to hook up to the freeway. We ended up driving down a wonderful narrow (one lane with pullouts) road through the mountains. We stopped to admire a large hillside garden of Ajisai (Haydrangea) and buy some maki-sushi at a small village. They were having a barbeque, and were very friendly.
Eventually we found the freeway and the road home. Then it was off to Himedori itzukaya to celebrate! But that’s another story.
Thanks Takeshi and Ruriko for organizing a great trip!
Most of these photos were taken by Yoshio and the other Happy Raft guides.
Happy Raft: http://www.happyraft.com , tel.: 0887-75-0599.
