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Matsuyama, Japan

Matsuyama: Dōgo Onsen's Historic Bathhouse and One of Japan's Twelve Original Castle Keeps

Matsuyama, the capital of Ehime Prefecture, grew up around a hilltop castle begun in 1602, and its Dōgo hot spring is said to be the oldest in Japan. Carry your passport when you go ashore, because visitors to Japan must have it with them at all times.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know

Cruise ships berth at the No. 1 Wharf of the outer harbor, in the Gaikō district of Matsuyama Port, an area being developed for container shipping and industry. The nearest train station, Mitsu on the Iyotetsu Takahama Line, is about 30 minutes away on foot, and the nearest bus stop, Nishishomae, is about 10 minutes' walk.

  • Matsuyama Airport is about 10 minutes from the wharf by car or bus.
  • Ferries for Hiroshima and the islands use a different terminal, Matsuyama Kankō Port.
  • With about 494,000 people in 2022, Matsuyama is the largest city on Shikoku.

Matsuyama on Your Own

An independent day in Matsuyama means getting from the outer harbor to the center first, then using the city's streetcars between the castle and Dōgo Onsen. Ask your ship whether it runs a shuttle to the city; otherwise walk to Mitsu Station or take a taxi.

  • Into the city: From Mitsu Station, Iyotetsu Takahama Line trains run inland to Ōtemachi and Matsuyama City Station, the hub for streetcars and buses.
  • The castle: A ropeway and a parallel chairlift climb Katsuyama, the hill in the city center, toward the castle. The keep is one of twelve in Japan still standing in its original form. Check opening times before you go.
  • Dōgo Onsen: Streetcars run to Dōgo Onsen from both JR Matsuyama Station and Matsuyama City Station, and one route passes the castle and the Ōkaidō arcade on the way. The Honkan bathhouse hands out numbered tickets when it is crowded, so go early in your day.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so leave time for the trip back from the city to the outer harbor.

Getting Around Matsuyama

Iyotetsu, the local railway company, runs Matsuyama's suburban trains, streetcars and city buses. Downtown is easy to explore on foot once you are there, and the streetcar links the main sights.

  • The streetcar network has five routes; route 4 is skipped because the number four sounds like the word for death in Japanese.
  • An IC card bought at Matsuyama City Station gives discounts on Iyotetsu trains, streetcars, buses and taxis.
  • JR Matsuyama Station, on the Yosan Line, is a short walk west of the city center's streetcar hub.

What to Eat in Matsuyama

Matsuyama's table is built on Seto Inland Sea fish and Ehime citrus. Look for sea bream rice, the city's three-colored dumplings, and anything made with local citrus.

  • Taimeshi: Ehime has two styles of sea bream rice. In the Hōjō area of Matsuyama a whole grilled sea bream is cooked with the rice, while the Uwajima style, now found in Matsuyama too, puts raw sea bream dressed with egg and soy sauce on top of hot rice.
  • Botchan dango: Skewers of rice dumplings coated in sweet bean paste tinted with green tea, egg and red bean are named for Sōseki's novel, which mentions them, and every sweet shop in town sells them.
  • Matsuyama tart: This local sponge roll is filled with sweet bean paste.
  • Citrus: Ehime grew about 90 percent of Japan's iyokan in 2021, and mandarin oranges are harvested in the fall.
  • Goshiki sōmen: These thin noodles come in five colors, tinted with natural ingredients such as green tea and plum.

Tipping in Japan

Tipping is not part of Japanese culture, and a tip left on a restaurant table is likely to be handed back to you. Some Western-style hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill instead.

  • Guides: Tour guides and interpreters are an exception to the no-tipping custom. If you do tip, put the money in an envelope rather than handing over loose cash.
  • Currency: Japan uses the yen (¥, JPY).

Culture and Sights in Matsuyama

Matsuyama calls itself a city of haiku and a city of literature. The poet Masaoka Shiki grew up here, Natsume Sōseki taught here and set his novel Botchan here, and stones carved with haiku stand around the city.

  • Haiku stones: Dozens of stones engraved with poems by Shiki, his followers and other poets are placed around the city.
  • Botchan: Sōseki's 1906 novel gave its name to a stadium, a dumpling and the Botchan Ressha, diesel-powered replicas of the city's first steam trains that have run on the streetcar tracks since 2001.
  • Pilgrim temples: Eight of the 88 temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage are in Matsuyama. Ishite-ji, founded in the 8th century, is among them.
  • Isaniwa Shrine: Above Dōgo, 135 stone steps lead up to a shrine of 1667, regarded as one of Japan's three great examples of the Hachiman style of shrine architecture.
  • Dōgo Onsen Honkan: In 1994 the bathhouse became the first public bath in Japan to be named an Important Cultural Property, and it partly inspired the bathhouse in the film Spirited Away.

History of Matsuyama

Matsuyama's story runs from a hot spring known in Japan's earliest histories to a castle town built in the early 1600s, a Meiji-era railway and bathhouse, and a city rebuilt after the bombing of 1945. Literature runs through all of it.

  • Ancient Dōgo: The springs at Dōgo appear in the Man'yōshū, a poetry collection of about 759, and Prince Shōtoku is said to have bathed there in 596.
  • The Kōno clan: In the Muromachi period, the Kōno clan ruled central Iyo Province from Yuzuki Castle, near the springs, and developed the port at Mitsuhama.
  • 1602 to 1627: Katō Yoshiaki, rewarded for siding with Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sekigahara, began a new castle on Katsuyama in 1602 and named the place Matsuyama in 1603. He was moved to another domain in 1627, before the castle was finished.
  • 1635 to 1868: The Hisamatsu branch of the Matsudaira family ruled Matsuyama Domain until the Meiji Restoration. The keep, said to have been five stories originally, was cut to three in 1642, burned by lightning in 1784, and rebuilt in 1854, making it the newest of Japan's twelve original keeps.
  • 1888 to 1895: The Iyotetsu Takahama Line opened in 1888 as Shikoku's first railway, the city was created in 1889, the Dōgo Onsen Honkan was finished in 1894, and in 1895 Sōseki, then a teacher in Matsuyama, is said to have used a room at the Honkan with his friend Shiki.
  • 1945: An air raid on July 26, 1945, killed 251 civilians, destroyed more than 55 percent of the city and burned 11 castle buildings.
  • Rebuilding: Lost castle buildings were reconstructed in wood from 1958 onward, using surveys and photographs made before the war.
  • 2024: The Dōgo Onsen Honkan reopened in full on July 11, 2024, its first full opening in five and a half years, while conservation work continued.
  • To learn more ashore: The Shiki Memorial Museum, at 1-30 Dōgo Kōen in Dōgo Park, covers the poet's life and the literature of Matsuyama.

Family Experiences in Matsuyama

Matsuyama is a practical city for children, with streetcars to ride, a castle reached by ropeway or chairlift, and a mechanical clock near Dōgo that performs on the hour and half hour. The bath at Dōgo suits families who are comfortable with Japanese public bathing.

  • Younger children: Ride the streetcar, and stop at the Botchan Karakuri clock beside Dōgo Onsen streetcar stop, where figures from the novel emerge each time it chimes.
  • School age: Ride the ropeway or chairlift up Katsuyama and explore the castle gates, turrets and keep; displays include samurai swords and armor.
  • Teenagers: Dōgo has three public bathhouses, including the 1894 Honkan and the newer Asuka-no-Yu annex, and a ticket valid for two days covers a bath at each.
  • Breaks: Dōgo Park, on the site of Yuzuki Castle, is a green space with recreated houses of the castle's medieval rulers, free to enter.

Accessibility at Matsuyama

Matsuyama's two main sights involve a hill and an old wooden building. Ask your ship about wheelchair access at the outer-harbor wharf and on any shuttle before you go ashore.

  • Iyotetsu has run low-floor streetcars on its city lines since 2017.
  • The castle hill is climbed by a ropeway, a chairlift or footpaths, and the castle itself is a hilltop complex of gates, turrets and stone walls.
  • The Dōgo Onsen Honkan is a three-story wooden building from 1894; ask staff about access before you buy a ticket.
  • Taxis are an alternative to the 30-minute walk from the wharf to the nearest station.

Shopping in Matsuyama

Matsuyama's two covered shopping arcades, Ōkaidō and Gintengai, are in the city center, and the Dōgo Yunomachi shopping street near the bathhouse is full of souvenir shops. Local crafts and citrus products make good gifts.

  • Tobe-yaki: This thick white porcelain with indigo designs comes from the town of Tobe, just south of Matsuyama, and is a nationally designated traditional craft.
  • Iyo kasuri: Iyo's traditional splash-patterned cloth, traditionally dyed in indigo, now comes in many colors as clothing and accessories.
  • Citrus: Iyokan and mandarin products, from juice to sweets, are sold throughout the city.
  • Crafts at Dōgo: The Asuka-no-Yu annex near the Honkan displays traditional Ehime crafts.
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