Details

The Yoshino river is an iconic back-country whitewater river, having its source under Mt. Ishizuchi, about 100 km to the west. It’s where the Yoshino hits the Kochi-Tokushima border that things get interesting. The torrent of water is squeezed between towering cliffs as it makes its way to the Oboke gorge, and the famed beautiful Iya valley. The natural formation and volume of water all-year round transforms the Yoshino into a foaming rafting paradise. Our rafting supplier is fully licenced to operate on the Yoshino, and offers both this shorter, Beginner-friendly course, and a longer Advanced course. 

Your hosts are our supplier’s founder, Australian Mark Treston, his colleague and now-president of the company, Teruhiko “Teru” Katsuragawa, and more than a dozen (in peak season) other multinational team members. Between the two leaders, they have 41 years of rafting experience and it shows. Likewise the rest of the team are all river enthusiasts and yet highly aware of safety. This allows the team to offer a variety of rafting and customized options, including experiences for young families – although please note that this particular experience is more suited for adults and kids of 12 and over. If you need a custom experience, please let us know.

The Yoshino River is Japan’s premier white-water destination, boasting an abundance of water, big challenging rapids and amazing scenery. In this activity, you will learn the safety basics of rafting, what to do if you fall overboard, how to steer and paddle, what to expect as you hit the whitewater rapids, and what instructions you will hear from the boat guide. Then you will ride the bus up to the launch point and push off. Rounding the first corner, it’s not long before the raft picks up speed and you encounter your first rapids. While scary at first, you quickly realize the rafts are actually very stable – although it helps to hold on!

The course includes a quiet stretch, where you can either choose to do a daredevil jump from a rocky column in the middle of the river, or to simply drift quietly on your back while watching the sky and the incredibly steep forest greenery of the hillsides surrounding you. All along the course but particularly at this interlude, your guide will take photos which will result in a group (the group on that raft) photo CD you can take home for free. Finally, the adventure is over and arriving at your destination, you join the rest of the crew in carrying the paddles up to the beach, then a short walk back to the supplier’s base camp for a well earned shower, change of clothes, and, delightfully, bagels that are baked on the premises.

Tour itinerary (Tours leave daily at 9:00 and 14:00)

07:45 Catch the Nanpu 06 Limited Express train from Kochi Station to Oboke Station (station D45 on the JR Dosan line), or drive directly to HappyRaft base.
08:49 Arrive at Oboke Station. You will be met by our rafting supplier and driven across to the supplier’s home base in Otoyo.
09:00 Arrive at our rafting supplier’s home base, for teaming with other crew members in your raft, course introduction, fitting, and basic instructions
09:30 Travel in supplier’s van to the launch point, where the safety orientation starts, along with instructions on how to handle the paddles and raft.
12:00 After 2 hours of incredible thrills and fun, you arrive at the pickup point, just meters away from the supplier’s home base
12:30 After changing, enjoy a free bagel baked on the premises, and receive your complimentary photo CD with all the shots taken by your river guide
13:20 Leave with supplier’s driver to return to Oboke Station.
13:51 Arrive Oboke Station, in time for the south-bound Nanpu 09 Limited Express and a train ride back to Kochi
14:42 Arrive Kochi Station