This post was written in 2007. Some information may be out of date.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Matsuyama is Dogo Onsen, said to be the oldest hot spring in Japan. So it was the very first place I headed when I got to Matsuyama.
A full view of Dogo Onsen
It’s an old building. It got even more famous thanks to Natsume Soseki’s novel Botchan.
The first floor has the baths, and the second floor has a lounge where you can enjoy tea and sweets.
It was way too crowded, so I just had a bath and left.
The entrance of Dogo Onsen
Surprisingly, there were lots of Western tourists in Matsuyama, even though I’d hardly seen any in Takamatsu or Tokushima. I soaked for about an hour. There’s no outdoor bath and the facilities are old, but the water was really good. It completely washed away the fatigue of the trip. Still, maybe because it’s become such a tourist spot, it was definitely not the kind of place where you can relax and take your time, so I got out after about an hour.
After that I had a look around the Dogo Onsen area.
The shopping arcade in front of the onsen.
Iyokan gelato I found while wandering around the arcade.
Ehime Prefecture is really famous in Japan for its mandarin oranges. So there are loads of citrus products, and most of them are tasty ^_^; Kind of like how Jeju Island is famous for its tangerines. On the way back I bought a big bag of mandarins and handed them out to people at work as souvenirs, and they went crazy over how good they were.
A quiet corner of the onsen.
The Botchan Train in front of Dogo Onsen Station.
It’s not just on display – it actually runs around the city. Kids would love it.
A clock made with characters from Botchan.
Every 30 minutes the characters come out and dance. Out front there’s a service that takes photos for tourists.
The foot bath.
There’s a sculpture of the same shape inside the Dogo Onsen main building too.
Dogo Onsen park.
It’s not bad, but maybe because I’d seen so many beautifully kept gardens on this trip, it didn’t do much for me.
Dogo Onsen park 2
Dogo Onsen park 3
And that’s the end of my Dogo Onsen trip. The water is really good, but it’s become a full-on tourist spot, which was a bit of a shame. Maybe it would have been better on a weekday afternoon rather than during Golden Week.