Global Wanderer

29/9/25 – 2/10/25

After an interesting few days in Tokyo and Nikko, we took a short flight to the capital of Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku Island. It was certainly a change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, as despite being the largest city on the island, its population is less than 500,000!

After navigating our way from the airport to the city (there was a public bus route we managed to figure out!), we dropped our bags off at our accommodation, and wandered across to a department store to find some food (always a solid option for a quick meal in Japan!).

Our first sight of Matsuyama, and some awesome Takashimaya sushi!

We headed through Okaido, a covered, pedestrianised shopping street, before continuing to walk around Matsuyama’s city street. It really has a different atmosphere – very relaxed, very laid back. Even the city’s nightlife/entertainment district, whilst a hive of activity as the sun went down, was incredibly chilled out in comparison to Tokyo!

Whilst not as chaotic as somewhere like Tokyo, Matsuyama still had a neon-lit entertainment distract

In search of dinner, we wandered past an izakaya we’d spotted earlier that looked lively and full of people – turned out to be a wonderful decision! We sat at a table at the back and made our way through several courses of delicious food before finally calling it a night!

After a filling breakfast at the hotel, we began the next day with the aim of walking up to Matsuyama castle. This is one of the 12 surviving ‘original’ castles of Japan, and was a huge highlight we were looking forward to visiting. The walk up to the castle isn’t too difficult, although it does take its time, mostly because you’ll want to keep stopping at all of the gates you pass through, and occasionally to look back at the incredible views over the city you get as you gain height.

At the top of the hill, there’s a relatively flat portion of land with some lookout spots, along with the ticket office for the castle, and a box with a stamp inside (of which there were many to be found throughout Matsuyama).

A view across the main streets of Matsuyama, and a castle stamp!

The castle itself is an incredible example of traditional Japanese architecture, and as you walk through the enormous gates and make your way around the complex, you get a real feel for the castle. There’s samurai armour and equipment there that you can check out (very cool), and there are some great views to be had from the rooftop too!

The castle was well-worth the visit

We headed down from the castle having spent a good deal of time up there – and made our way back to the street leading up to the castle. Here, I spotted my first mikan tap! Mikan is a type of Japanese mandarin grown in Matsuyama and the surrounding area (Ehime Prefecture) – the juice made from the mikan is incredibly sweet, and absolutely delicious. There was once apparently a joke/urban legend about mikan juice being so ubiquitous it was ‘coming out of the taps’ in Ehime – and so the city’s residents decided to play along! There’s now quite a few places with mikan taps installed – self-serve taps with mikan juice flowing out! Turns out Ehime produces over 200,000 tonnes of citrus fruit a year, having the perfect growing climate – with over 40 varieties being cultivated. I must admit, the juice was DELICIOUS.

A mikan tap!

The streets of Matsuyama are crisscrossed by tram tracks – with these beautiful, old-style single-car red trams trundling past all day long. But the real railway highlight here is the Botchan train, a tiny narrow-gauge train that originally began service in 1888. The train itself became famous in Japan thanks to its featuring in Natsume Soseki’s novel, Botchan (hence the current name). I must admit, between the trams and the train, Matsuyama felt like a a real blast from the past!

The famous Botchan train! And one of Matsuyama’s iconic Iyotetsu trams

Nearby to the Botchan station is the famous Dogo Onsen, probably Matsuyama’s most well-know site. This onsen is apparently the oldest in Japan, at around 3000 years old, and was part of the inspiration behind the bathhouse in the famous Miyazaki film, Spirited Away (a favourite of mine!). Indeed, in the street leading up to the onsen, there were a number of shops selling Spirited Away-themed merchandise and onsen accessories.

Dogo Onsen was incredibly pretty – and really does remind you of Spirited Away

Behind the Dogo Onsen, up a (very long) flight of stairs, we came across the Isaniwa shrine. Complete with a beautiful garden, the shrine was well-worth the visit, and aside from the historical factor, the view over Matsuyama from the top of the hill was amazing!

Isaniwa Shrine complex – it’s a decent walk up, but totally worth it

Our next day, our last in cozy Matsuyama, began with another wander through the Okaido shopping street (lots of things are considerably cheaper in Japan, including shoes, watches, and electronics, amongst other things). Once we’d stocked up, we made our way over to Bansuiso, a French-chateau-style building that was erected in 1922. It is a rather odd sight, in the middle of a city that is otherwise filled with a combination of modern buildings and Japanese heritage sites, but that made it fascinating to visit in its own right. Apparently, then-Prince Hirohito (future Emperor of Japan) visited the house not long after it was completed, and returned in the 1950s as Emperor. There’s a room on the second floor that was used as an ‘audience room’ for the Emperor – the room was preserved with original furniture from this visit!

Bansuiso also has some lovely gardens attached to it (and it appeared there was a teahouse in the middle of the garden too)

We spent the rest of the day wandering through the streets of Matsuyama, checking out the local gardens, and taking a ride on the city’s ferris wheel (located on the roof of a department store building, of all places). The laid-back atmosphere of Matsuyama is great – and as a region that receives very low numbers of Western tourists (we were the only ones we ran into, aside from a small group who were attending a conference in the city), the people of Matsuyama are incredibly friendly and seemed excited to have visitors.

After the sun had set, we returned to the Dogo Onsen to see it lit up at night. There is actually a public foot-spa located outside the onsen that is free to use – we ended up sitting here for quite a while!

The Dogo Onsen was even prettier at night!

We ended back up at the same izakaya as we’d visited on our first night in the city – no bad thing! – and we were ready to finish up for the night, but not before taking a ride on one of the Iyotetsu trams. The wood-panelled interiors are beautiful, and I absolutely felt like I was on the water-train in Spirited Away.

Matsuyama’s trams aren’t just a great way to get around – they’re iconic in their own right!

With a little bit of energy still left in the tank, we tackled the climb up to the castle one more time – this time in the dark, however, and were rewarded with some fabulous nighttime views. I can absolutely say that Matsuyama was a highlight, and with its relaxed atmosphere, incredible food, beautiful castle, and Spirited Away vibe, I would recommend a visit to anyone in Japan!