Yoga and Deep Iya Tour

Yama Yoga

+ Deep Iya Tour

Find your center in the heart of Iya

A deeper connection

Are you interested in having a personalized yoga lesson with an awesome view from a secluded Iya kominka farmhouse? Well, one of our top English speaking guides is also Iya's skilled yoga teacher, and she will take you to either her exclusive "Yama Shala" yoga hideaway for a private indoor lesson, or out to a stunning viewpoint in the center of Historic Ochiai Village for an outdoor lesson (weather permitting).

The yoga lesson takes about 70 to 80 minutes, then afterwards you will have some herbal tea you can help pick fresh from the garden.

After the lesson you go to a local restaurant which offers a range of meals (including delicious vegetarian sets) or you can go to a hand-made soba noodle restaurant. Next you'll go for an in-depth walk upon the ancient paths of Ochiai Village where you'll also go into a historic thatched roof farmhouse, as well as through the famed Scarecrow Village, out to the tranquil Double Vine Bridges, and to various viewpoints including Manpu Gorge and its awesome footbridge.

You can also see some more info at the Yama Yoga website.

Base Time:

7 (or 7.5) hours

Available April to November only
Not available on Wednesdays.
Includes pick-up and drop-off from any Iya Valley or Oboke area accommodation and/or via JR Oboke Station. Pick-up or drop-off elsewhere also possible, just let us know.
This tour typically lasts about 7 hours.
If traveling both ways via Oboke Station and/or an Oboke area accommodation, this tour requires 7.5 hours, due to the extra driving time needed (please see below).
Flexible Route Tour possible based on yoga requests
Add On sights possible, see below.

Price:

Standard Taxi (1-3* people) ¥ 60,900

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Jumbo Taxi (3-4 people) ¥ 79,800

+ ¥600 per person Activity fee

This is total price per private group (not per person), except for the additional per person activity/lunch fee
If going both ways via the Oboke area, the 7.5 hour tour fee would be ¥65,250 for Standard Taxi, or ¥85,500 for Jumbo Taxi. Please see below.
Maximum 4 people due to size limit of Yama Shala space
All prices include tax
Includes vehicle, driver, and English speaking local guide
3 people in Standard Taxi is only recommended if 3rd person is a child or you are all 3 small adults
Meal fees not included (see below about options)
Please pay your guide's lunch fee (about ¥800-1200, see below)
Entrance fees not included (¥550/person Double Vine Bridge, children are discounted)

Itinerary:

Pick-up from any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station
Ryugugake Park and Manpu Gorge Wire Bridge
Mountain farmhouse yoga lesson or outdoor village yoga lesson.
Yoga lesson at your accommodation also possible, please ask when contacting.
Local Lunch
Historic Ochiai Village Walking Tour
Nagaoka-ke Historic House
Scarecrow Village Walk
Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridges
Ochiai Village Viewpoint
Drop-off at any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station

Details About this Tour
- This is a Fledxible Route Tour, and can be altered based on the yoga location or other yoga lesson requests . Please just ask if you have any specific interests.
- Available April to November only (not available in winter).
- Not available on Wednesdays.
- The Yama Shala requires a short 5 minute hike uphill on a mountain path.
- This tour can start anytime between 8:00am and 11:00am.
- Pick-up and drop-off can be from any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station. Other locations that are not in Iya or Oboke can also be arranged but may include an additional fee and require extra time.
- On heavy rain days, it may not be possible to do outdoor yoga or walk through some places such as Ochiai Village (but we will provide umbrellas), so we will just tour these places by car and extend time at other points.
Lunch Options
- On this tour we have a few restaurant options, often based on the day of the week (not all locations are open every day). These locations include a couple hand-made Iya soba noodle restaurants, or a local restaurant which has a variety of fresh dishes including wild game (deer) as well as soba noodles. Vegetarian is possible at any place (but please understand about the often unchangable use of dashi, whether here or anywhere in Japan). Meal prices typically range from about 800 to 1200 per person at all places.
- Also, we ask that you please pay your guide's meal fee for lunch at any restaurant.
- Alternately, you can bring along your own bento lunch box and/or snacks instead of stopping for a meal, and eat at the mountain house where you do the yoga lesson. Food can be purchased from the shop next to Oboke Station. Please let us know if you would prefer to do this.
If via Oboke area

For those traveling both to and from the Oboke area, please understand that it requires about 15-20+ minutes to travel each way between the Oboke area and the Iya Valley.

To allow enough time for the yoga experience, this tour needs 7.5 hours when both starting and ending via the Oboke area, and the 7.5 hour fee is ¥65,250 for Standard Taxi , or ¥85,500 for Jumbo Taxi. (+600 yen per person Activity Fee).

Oboke area start/end points include:
• JR Oboke Station
• Hotel Obokekyo Mannaka
• Sun River Oboke Hotel
• Oboke Boat Cruise location
• Akanoya guesthouse
• Bokenouen guesthouse
• Cosmos guesthouse
• Yamaya guesthouse (for Yamaya, the total time is 8 hours and will have an extra fee)

+Add On options for this tour:

The Yama Yoga Tour goes to some of the best spots deeper in the valley, but we can Add On some additional points to this tour to make it even more special, or you can even opt to have your yoga lesson on Mt Tsurugi!

Rates for every 30 minutes of extension:

Standard Taxi with guide + ¥4350

Jumbo Taxi with guide + ¥5700

*these extension fees are per group, not per person.