Ehime

Ehime has 37 onsen areas and 192 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), with more than 1.55 million overnight stays a year. The star is Dogo in Matsuyama, said to have been visited by Prince Shotoku in 596; its three-storey wooden Honkan of 1894 was the first public bathhouse to be named an Important Cultural Property. Dogo, Hondani and Nibukawa have long been known as the 'three baths of Iyo'.

Main onsen areas

Most spas gather in and around Matsuyama: besides Dogo there are Okudogo, the Higashi-Dogo group and Gonge. Nibukawa lies in the hills of Imabari, Saijo has Hondani and Yunotani, Kumakogen has Furuiwaya, and Tatara is on Omishima along the Shimanami Kaido.

Characteristic spring types

Simple springs are the most common in our records, followed by chloride springs. Dogo blends 18 sources at a distribution station and serves alkaline simple water at about 42°C with nothing added and no heating. Nibukawa is a simple spring, said to contain radon, whose 22°C source is heated for bathing. Cold mineral springs are common too, such as Furuiwaya and Besshi.

Reachable by public transport

Dogo is about 25 minutes from JR Matsuyama by Iyotetsu tram; from the terminus at Dogo-onsen Station the Honkan is about five minutes' walk. The airport limousine bus from Matsuyama Airport takes about 43 minutes. Nibukawa is about 30 minutes by Setouchi bus from Imabari on the JR Yosan Line.

For solo travellers

Dogo sits inside Matsuyama and is on the tram line, so day trips and solo stays are both easy, and the Dogo shopping arcade (Haikara-dori) is full of places to eat. At Nibukawa, the city-run Seseragi Koryukan takes day bathers.

Food & culture

Dogo's story begins with a white heron healing its leg in the water, and the spa appears in the Manyoshu poetry anthology and The Tale of Genji. Natsume Soseki's year as a teacher in Matsuyama in 1895 fed his novel Botchan, and the Honkan keeps a 'Botchan room' on its third floor. Nibukawa served the Imabari domain as a cure spa in the Edo period, and pairs well with Imabari's local dish of roast pork and egg on rice.