Travel Plan for First Timers in Ehime

This is an ancient temple that has retained many valuable cultural assets, including National Treasures, such as its three-storey pagoda and its Sanmon gate. It is also known as one of the 88 temples along the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

The vivid red shrine at the top of a long flight of steps is beautiful and the Hachiman-zukuri architectural style of its buildings that is unusual even within Japan is something not to be missed.

The 3000-year-old Dogo Onsen is Japan’s oldest hot spring, and it became a model for the famous anime “Spirited Away”. Experience this onsen at your leisure within its main building whose Japanese atmosphere has a sense of age and nobility. Then, take a stroll in the town around Dogo Onsen and sample the dishes of Matsuyama for lunch.

Start your journey for Matsuyama Castle on the Botchan Ressha, an old-fashioned train running through the town. The Botchan Ressha is admired as a reconstruction of a train which was boarded by the protagonist in “Botchan”, a 1906 novel written by literary master Soseki Natsume who had a connection with Matsuyama.

To reach the ropeway going onto Matsuyama Castle, you have to go through the Matsuyama Ropeway Shopping District. There are many stores including restaurants, general goods shops and bookstores available in the district so you can enjoy a walk there while feeling the everyday life of the residents.

A castle that has become famous within the country for keeping its precious and ancient appearance. Including its castle tower that was built in the Edo Era, it possesses 21 surviving cultural assets, and the castle has even been selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Castles. The view from the top of the castle tower is spectacular.