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Ehime

Visit Dogo Onsen – the inspiration for Spirited Away

About Ehime
steps to the sea from a shrine (Photo: erika m / Unsplash)

Top Attractions in Ehime

Around Ehime

Imabari

Imabari

Near the port in Imabari (今治市, Imabari-shi) is a huge, beautifully made ship’s propeller displayed as sculpture. It looks ...

Ehime
Ozu

Ozu

Ozu (大洲, Ōzu) is sometimes referred to as Ehime’s ‘Little Kyoto’. I have no idea why, because they’re as unalike as any two...

Ehime
Tobe

Tobe

To most Japanese people, Tobe (砥部) calls to mind Tobe-yaki, a type of ceramic known throughout Japan. People tend to imagin...

Ehime
Uwajima

Uwajima

Uwajima is the southernmost city in Ehime. It’s a compact city, centered around a small castle on a hill. Above the city towe...

Ehime
Matsuyama

Matsuyama

Matsuyama is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture and the largest city in Shikoku. Its name means “pine mountain”. Matsuyama ...

Ehime
Iyo

Iyo

In Japan, the names for municipalities bear scant resemblance to entities of the same name in the west. So in Japan, a ‘villa...

Ehime
Matsuno

Matsuno

Matsuno is a pretty little settlement in Ehime near the border with Kochi. Once a very quiet backwater of the celebrated Shim...

Ehime
Saijo

Saijo

The city of Saijo sits on a plain facing the Seto Inland Sea, with the imposing Mt. Ishizuchi behind it. Saijo is sandwiched ...

Ehime
Yawatahama

Yawatahama

Yawatahama is a sleepy port town in the armpit of Japan’s longest peninsula, the Sadamisaki Peninsula that juts out of the we...

Ehime
Seiyo

Seiyo

In Japan, the names for municipalities bear scant resemblance to entities of the same name in the west. So a place that is no...

Ehime
Niihama

Niihama

Niihama City in Ehime Prefecture is a bustling industrial city of 124,000 people on the north coast of Shikoku. Although the ...

Ehime
Kuma Kogen Highland

Kuma Kogen Highland

Kuma Highland—Kuma Kōgen in Japanese—is a large inhabited area at a high elevation in central Ehime bordering Kochi Prefectur...

Ehime
Uchiko

Uchiko

Uchiko is small town that lies to the southwest of Matsuyama. It stands at the bottom of a river valley with rice fields spre...

Ehime
Toon City

Toon City

Toon City, pronounced Tō-on, is a city in name only. There’s no built-up center to it at all, which may seem strange to peopl...

Ehime
Hojo

Hojo

Hojo is the northernmost part of Matsuyama. Once a separate municipality with the rank of ‘city’, it merged with Matsuyama in...

Ehime

Top Articles

Upcoming Ehime Events

Nanrakuen Plum Festival 2025

Nanrakuen Plum Festival 2025

Kim

Each year from around late January through to early March, Ehime's Nanrakuen Garden is home to a plum festival which showcase...

Ehime

Where to eat in Ehime

Umi to Cafe 19

Umi to Cafe

Kazumi Shigematsu

On Kashima Island in Japan's Ehime prefecture awaits a quirky and rustic cafe and rest area, where you can relax the day away.

Ehime

Places to stay in Ehime

Furuiwayaso

Furuiwayaso

Ekaterina Bespyatova

Furuiwayaso offers basic accommodation with hot spring bath in a remote mountainous part of Ehime Prefecture. It's close to I...

Ehime

Latest Ehime Reports

Nanrakuen Azalea Festival

Nanrakuen Azalea Festival

Kim

Each year from around mid to late April, Ehime's Nanrakuen Garden hosts a festival to celebrate the color of around 32,000 az...

Ehime
Memorable Matsuyama

Memorable Matsuyama

Arlene Bastion

Matsuyama has a lot of impressive and memorable attractions, but what prevails is really its air of unpretentious simplicity.

Ehime
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About Ehime

Ehime
Okinawa Nagasaki Fukuoka Saga Kumamoto Kagoshima Miyazaki Oita Ehime Kochi Tokushima Kagawa Yamaguchi Hiroshima Okayama Tottori Shimane Hyogo Kyoto Osaka Wakayama Nara Shiga Mie Fukui Ishikawa Toyama Gifu Aichi Nagano Shizuoka Niigata Yamanashi Kanagawa Tokyo Saitama Gunma Tochigi Chiba Ibaraki Fukushima Miyagi Yamagata Iwate Akita Aomori Hokkaido
Region Shikoku
Island Shikoku
Capital Matsuyama
Population 1,431,493
Area 5,676.10 sq. km

Located in northwestern Shikoku and bordering the Seto Inland Sea, Ehime Prefecture (愛媛県, Ehime-ken) is surrounded by nature - visitors can enjoy great views of the Inland Sea coast and the Seto Inland Sea National Park. 

Many tourists also flock to Ehime to visit Dogo Onsen, arguably the most storied hot springs in Japan, as well as the historical Matsuyama and Uwajima castles. In fact, Ehime has five of Japan’s “Top 100 Castles,” the most of any prefecture (tied with Hyogo and Nagano).

The capital city of Matsuyama is perhaps most famous for being the scene of Natsume Soseki’s Botchan, one of Japan’s most beloved novels. As a result, many attractions in the city bear its name, such as the Botchan Train. 

Around Ehime

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