[2025 Matsuyama Stay] Travel Guide for Yamatoya Honten (Updated Apr)

Matsuyama City, Ehime 🐥 Went to Dogo Onsen and stayed at Yamatoya Main Store 🐣 On the floor in front of the hot spring, they offer sake and snacks after the bath, which is fun and makes you feel like you're at a festival! There was a wide variety of snacks! The room was a little small, but it had a massage chair so I was able to relax! The hot spring had an open-air bath and the water was great ♨︎ There are also rooms with cypress baths!! 📍 Yamatoya Main Store 20-8 Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture 790-0842 ☎︎ 089-935-8880 #Domestic travel #Summer trip #Ehime #Dogo Onsen #Hot spring #Festival #Accommodation review #Gourmet

✅Must-see Matsuyama Castle: Built during the Warring States period, it is one of 12 remaining castle keeps in Japan. You can take the cable car up and down the east side of Matsuyama Castle for JPY 520 round trip, or you can take a one-way cable car ride and walk down in just 15 mins. Inside the castle, you can see historical materials, and from the castle keep, you can overlook the whole city and the Seto Inland Sea in the distance. ✅Must-see Dogo Onsen: One of the oldest hot springs in Japan, with a history of over 3,000 years, it is the inspiration for Yubaba's bathhouse in *Spirited Away*. In addition to bathing, you can also enjoy a free foot bath. The surrounding Dogo shopping street is very lively, and the Botchan Karakuri Clock at the entrance "transforms" every hour. 👍Most recommended: Baishinji Station: The station where Rika and Kanji broke up at the end of *Tokyo Love Story*. You can take the Iyo Railway from Matsuyama Station, and the journey takes 15 mins. Many fans come here to tie handkerchiefs in remembrance. 👍Most recommended: Isaniwa Shrine: With a thousand years of history, it is one of Japan's three great Hachiman-zukuri shrines. It is a 5-min walk from the Dogo Onsen Honkan, and the stone steps are a beautiful spot for photos. 👍Most recommended: Shiki-no-Oka Museum of Art: Designed by Tadao Ando, the theme is the eponymous masterpiece by Ryotaro Shiba. Food 🍲Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice): A specialty of Ehime Prefecture. Try the unique way of eating it: raw egg + broth + sea bream + rice. Recommended restaurants include "Matsuyama Taimeshi Akiyoshi," "Ganso Uwajima Taimeshi Marumizu," and others. 🍲Citrus Products: Matsuyama City has a variety of citrus juices, citrus ice cream, and more. "10 Factory" on Dogo Shopping Street is a good choice, and there's even a shop where you can "turn on the tap and get orange juice." 🍲Botchan Dango: Small rice cakes with red bean paste, egg, and matcha, perfect for dessert. 🍲Wagyu Charcoal Grill Bistro Tobi-gyu: The wagyu beef in this restaurant is of high quality and the meat is excellent. 🏨Luxury: SETOUCHI RETREAT by Onko Chishin, the hotel is like an art museum. 🏨Hot Spring Bathing: Beteiobrotsukiyo, Dogo Oyu, Dogo Onsen Hotel - Dogo Funaya, etc., offer excellent service and hot spring experiences. 🏨Upscale: Dogo Onsen Daiwa Yamatoya Honten, Koyugien Haruka Ryokan, convenient for shopping, with a high-class feel. 🚉Transportation Guide: For external transportation, you can fly to Matsuyama Airport, or choose to take a JR train, highway bus, or Seto Inland Sea ferry from surrounding cities. For transportation within the city, you can take the streetcar in Matsuyama City, which can reach most attractions. The fare is a uniform JPY 210, payable when you get off.

Yamatoya Honten is a historic hot spring inn located in the heart of Dogo Onsen, where you can enjoy a relaxing and luxurious time. The Japanese breakfast is a time to soothe your travel fatigue with dishes made with fresh local ingredients. After the bath, there is a sake bar where you can enjoy sake for free, perfect for relaxing after the hot spring. Here, you can enjoy the calm Japanese atmosphere with a glass of sake in hand✨ Drinking sake with snacks is the best🍶 📍Location: 19-23 Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture #0 Yen Travel February 2025

Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama is the oldest hot spring in Japan and the only exclusive bathhouse for the Japanese royal family. It is said to be the prototype of the bathhouse in 'Spirited Away', with a history of three thousand years. The Dogo Onsen Honkan is the iconic building of Dogo Onsen, built in 1894, a three-story wooden public bathhouse, which is a national important cultural property. In addition to the shopping street, there are various inns, hotels, etc. You can always see tourists who have finished the hot spring and are walking around in yukatas, eating. Only here, you feel that this dress is not out of place, just like seeing a bikini-clad beauty on the sunny beach, becoming part of the scenery. Matsuyama City also retains traditional trams, which are very nostalgic. If you are interested, you can also take a rickshaw and let the handsome guy take you around Dogo Onsen. Dogo Onsen is currently under renovation, surrounded by hoarding and steel frame structures. We visited the Honkan during the day, and at night we wandered through the alleys, found a pub with a strong atmosphere, drank slightly drunk, and then walked back to the hotel, slowly experiencing the ease and tranquility of Dogo Onsen.