Matsuyama Japan Ehime
50
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Emerald Waterways (7 Cruises)
Explora Journeys (1 Cruises)
Lindblad Expeditions (15 Cruises)
National Geographic Resolution
15 Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line (1 Cruises)
Seabourn Cruise Line (17 Cruises)
Seabourn Encore
17 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
At the tourist port northwest of the city, near the Takahama district. Takahama station is about ten minutes' walk from the terminal, and the city centre is then twenty minutes away on the Iyotetsu train.
The castle and the Dogo Onsen district, in that order. The two are linked by tram and make up the essence of the call. Add the covered shopping arcades downtown if time allows.
Its keep is one of only twelve in Japan to have reached us without modern reconstruction. Steep stairs, dark beams and arrow slits give the exact measure of a feudal fortress. It crowns Mount Katsuyama, 132 metres above the rooftops.
By ropeway or chairlift, both climbing the slope since 1955, or on foot by the trails for the more energetic. The ascent is short either way; it is the inside of the keep that demands good legs.
A hot spring that legend dates back three thousand years, among the oldest in Japan. Its main building, the Honkan, built in wood in 1894, stacks roofs, lanterns and galleries like a palace of baths.
Both work. You can admire the Honkan from the square and browse the neighbouring arcade among towel shops and sweet stalls. Or take the full experience: shoes off, yukata on, into the hot water.
By direct coach or taxi, allow 25 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. From the city centre, the tram runs straight there, including the old-fashioned little train called the Botchan.
Because Masaoka Shiki, who renewed the art of haiku at the end of the 19th century, was born here. Every district honours that memory: engraved stones, a museum dedicated to him, and boxes where anyone can drop their own verses.
An old-style little train, a replica of the original, running between the centre and Dogo. It takes its name from Natsume Soseki's novel Botchan, which Japanese schoolchildren read and which is set in Matsuyama.
Local udon and Ehime mandarins in every form, from juice to sorbet. The prefecture is Japan's citrus orchard and lets nobody forget it, gently. The covered arcades around Matsuyama-shi station are full of both.
