Located in the central part of the valley in Higashi-Iya, this steep-walled gorge was one of the main stumbling blocks that prevented road access to much of the valley until the mid-1900s. With manpu literally meaning "ten thousand men", this is what it took to carve a road into the sheer rock faces here. The old one-laned parts are almost all widened now. The Ryugu Tunnel (opened in 2003) goes under the roughest patch, but the one kilometer section of the original road which the tunnel bypasses can still be driven upon for those who wish for a little adventure. An awesome wire suspension foot bridge (free) spans the gorge halfway along the tunnel bypass very, very high above the river, which serves as a secondary access route to the Ryugugake Cottages on the opposite side (the main route is by car bridge a little further along). To access this original Manpu road, when traveling from the Nishi-Iya/Kazurabashi direction turn off to the left just after the large brown wood sign announcing "Tourist Information" and "Ryugugake Park" (in English) and follow it around to the other side of the tunnel. From the other direction (coming from Kyojo/Mt.Tsurugi) turn left just before entering the Ryugu Tunnel and follow. If coming by bus, ask to get off at "Ryugugake-koen", located about twenty minutes past the Kazurabashi in Nishi-Iya or ten minutes before Kyojo.