Matsuyama

松山33°50′ N 132°46′ ECityPop. 506,743Shikoku

Matsuyama suits anyone who wants a castle in the morning and an old public bath at night, and the bike stays at the foot of the castle hill.

Photo Zairon · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery

Who should base here

Stay in Dogo to walk to the baths after dinner, or by JR Matsuyama Station for early trains to Uchiko and Imabari.

Eat in Matsuyama

Lanterns light the courtyard of Dogo Onsen Asuka-no-Yu after dark.

Photo of Matsuyama

Dogo Ichie

Matsuyama · Ehime

Place to eat

Drink in Matsuyama

Photo of Matsuyama

Dogo Beer Bar

Matsuyama · Ehime

Place to eat

Things to do in Matsuyama

Dogo Onsen Honkan

Matsuyama · Ehime

Onsen

Dogo Onsen Asuka-no-Yu

Matsuyama · Ehime

Onsen

Dogo Onsen Tsubaki-no-Yu

Matsuyama · Ehime

Onsen

Matsuyama spreads toward the Shikoku mountains beyond the tiled roofs of the castle.

Matsuyama Castle

Matsuyama · Ehime

Culture

Old paving stones line the pilgrim footpath over Tsukaji Pass in Tosa, Kochi.

Stone steps lead from Fujiidera, temple 11, onto the forest pilgrim trail toward Shosanji in Tokushima.

Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage

Ehime

Culture

Autumn colour lines the steep slopes of the Iya Valley above its rocky river in western Tokushima

Photo of Shikoku

Dogo Onsen Nigitatsu Kaikan

Matsuyama · Ehime

Stay

The low Sada sinking bridge crosses the still, green Shimanto River in Kochi in May

Photo of Shikoku

Terminal Hotel Matsuyama

Matsuyama · Ehime

Stay

Imabari Castle's white keep and turrets reflect in its broad seawater moat under a clear sky.

Photo of Shikoku

Giant Store Matsuyama

Matsuyama · Ehime

Operator

Matsuyama is the biggest city in Shikoku and the capital of Ehime. Kato Yoshiaki began his castle on Katsuyama, the 132-metre hill in the middle of town, in 1602 and named the place Matsuyama the next year. A ropeway and a chairlift run up from Shinonomeguchi, and the walking paths take 25 to 40 minutes. No path up the hill takes bicycles.

Dogo Onsen lies about 5 km east of JR Matsuyama Station, 25 minutes away on the Iyotetsu tram. The Honkan bathhouse finished six years of repair work on 20 December 2024 and runs at full strength again. The Asuka-no-Yu annex and the locals' Tsubaki-no-Yu stand two minutes away in the shopping arcade, and riders get a free 40-space rack on the Honkan's east side that never closes.

Eat taimeshi, Ehime's sea bream rice, and finish with a Dogo Beer from the Minakuchi brewery after the bath. From 25 to 28 May 2027 the city hosts the Velo-city world cycling summit, which the European Cyclists' Federation runs each year, at the Ehime Prefectural Budokan.