Getting in no longer requires a week of hiking along misty mountain trails, but remains a little more difficult than most Japanese destinations.
By train
The nearest train station is at Oboke, which is along the JR Dosan Line between Kochi and Takamatsu. The hourly Nanpu which runs from Okayama stops here 1 3/4 hours, ¥4410.
From Oboke you can connect to a bus through a tunnel into West Iya, but services are infrequent: there are up to eight buses per day on weekends only in the high season April-Nov, and just four per day the rest of the time.
By car
If you have your own set of wheels or want to try your luck hitchhiking, Route 438 from Sadamitsu and Route 439 from Anabuki connect directly into East Iya, and offer the fastest route if arriving from Tokushima and Kansai. If you are heading to Mt. Tsurugi å£å±± from Sadamitsu è²å , there is a regular bus service along Route 438 but only as far as the base of the mountain. Coming from Mi no Koshi è¦ãè¶, figure on a four hour walk down the mountain to the bus stop. Along the way, try some delicious hand-made udon noodles ææã¡ãã©ã at the restaurant beside the river. Note that traffic is very light, especially on weekdays, and the roads are quite narrow and twisty.