A Weekend at Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama

March is just around the corner and that means an end to the cold and the ability to go out doors a lot more. Even though it has been pretty warm lately, I’m looking forward to getting a bit more active outside soon. This past weekend I took a ferry with Asuka, Rob and Jacky to the Matsuyama in Shikoku. I went to Matsuyama last year, which was my first trip when I was here in Japan, but I didn’t mind going again as no one else had been. (Picture Below: Me and Rob hanging off a gate)

We took the ferry Saturday morning and arrived in Matsuyama a bit before noon. We went straight to Dogo Onsen area, known as the oldest Onsen or Hot spring in Japan. We dropped off our bags and just explored the neighbouring area.

A big thing in Japan is clocks, don’t’ ask me why, it just is. Not just any clocks mind you, but European type clocks that expand, playing music and having little figures dancing around. Dogo onsen is not impervious to this craze and they have a pretty nice wooden clock that strangely enough has men bathing in an onsen and various figures dancing around the sides. (Picture Below: Me ringing the bell for good luck after a donation)

We managed to also visit a few temples and shrines in the area, including this one that had a huge hike up to the top. Rob and I decide to race up to the top. The temple was pretty much the norm for most Japanese temples, but it looked really nice as it had been recently restored and the colors inside were really vibrant.

We also visited the local park where the Plum blossoms had just bloomed. We spent a few hours playing on the swings and hiking up this little hill where a small castle use to be. We managed to burn ourselves out pretty good and we all looked forward to returning to the hotel and entering the onsen.

At night we checked into our Hotel which is a traditional Ryokan. We took a dip in the onsen in the hotel then sat down and had dinner. Ryokan’s have a set Japanese meal that accompany your stay, so we had our full course meal then pretty much went straight to bed as we were stuffed and tired.

The next day, we went straight to Dogo Onsen and had a soak in the bath. The building was built in 1894 but the onsen water source is thought to have existed for over 1500 years. (Picture Below: The front of Dogo Onsen)

After Dogo Onsen, we made went to Matsuyama Castle one of the last original castles in Japan, it's one of the larger and more impressive ones. In fact, I tend to like Matsuyama-jo more then the better known Himeji-jo. We actually ran into a local Kure JET Hessen and her boyfriend and spent the remainder of the day with them checking out the castle. They are from Canada too, so we had a good chat about things back home.

We had a good time walking around the castle grounds and exploring the inside levels of the castle. After grabbing some lunch, we took the two hour ferry back home. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend trip with good food and sights. Well, it's definitely going to be a busy few months ahead with a lot more travel before I finish up my time here. (Picture Below: The sunset from our ferry back to Hiroshima)

Japanese Factoid #43- As most of you know, I love sweets and Japan is a great place to meet this need, as they love their sweets even more then Canadians I think. Japan has a greater variety of sweets with different types of pastries and cakes. A favourite of mine is Dango. Dango is made from mochi flour and in Matsuyama, they have something called the Botchan Dango, named after a famous book by author Soseki Natsume. Botchan Dango has 3 flavours and colors, one is coloured by red beans, the second by eggs, and the third by green tea. We bought a massive size one and chowed it down in our room.