Visiting or living in shikoku is somethng special , for this island has always been the spiritual sanctuary of the Japanese people. Noother place in Japan has been visited by so many generatins of people from all over the country.
They have often spent more than 60 days walking along the whole circuit of the eighty-eight temples that compose the longest, oldest and most popular piligrimage in Japan.
Even those who have arrived here in weariness of life, in unhappiness or weak health , have usually left the island whith a lighter heart, more enlifhtened, and in many cases in improved health.
Though today the island is quite accessible and traveling around it can be very hard to reach.
This pilgrimage circling the island is nationally kown as O-Shikoku-san, showing that "Dear old Shikoku Pilgrimage" is synonymous with this island and provides sanctuary to the soul of Japan. The scenes along the Shikoku Piligrimage correspond well to what Shikoku offers - the Seto Inland Sea, the Uwa-Kai Sea , the pacific Ocean , the green mountains that crown a large part of the island , cosy little towns and middle-sized cities that fringe the coasts.
Its climate is mind ; the seas are bountiful ; the land is fertile. Naturally local people have been content with their blesses island , even if it has remained underdeveloped sinse the 8th century . Until then the northern coast of Shikoku ws among the first areas to enjoy civilization in Japan, as proved by so many archaeological findings.
Remote as it was for many centuries , however , Shikoku did not stand aloof but observed movements on the Inland Sea as an arteyu of Japan's cultural, political amd economic development. On the oher hand, Shikoku's unque attractions such as the Shikoku Pilgrimage, Kompira worship and the Dogo Onsen Hot Spring spa have always drawn a lage number of people from the capitals and other parts of the main island of Honshu and Neughboring Kyushu.
Naturally those visitors brought something new with them each time , just as refugees and exilies from the capitals added color to the island 's history . they werw welcomed and something the culture they brought here was carefully preserved even long after being forgotten in its homeland - language, feativals , arts and techniques. Thses cultural assets now peculiar to Shikoku have added another dimension rewarding travelers to this island.
A new type of attraction is Shikoku is the the fruit of modern technology that the waves of development have finally brought here in the 1980's and 90's - the colossal bridges connecting Shikoku with the main island, pleasure resorts, theme parks, museums, skyline drives and relatively inexpensive golf courses. So the charm of Shikoku can rightly be called an exquisite coexistence of tradition and modernity, nature and art.
Last but not least is a spiritual climate of Shikoku that has produced people like the father of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, who is often credited as a father of Japanese culture, the man who aired the idea of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, and two young men who turned out to be most instrumental in carrying out the modernization of Japan, opening Japan's door to the world as an independent nation. They were all rare cosmopolitans in Japan, opening Japan's door to the world as an independent nation. They were all rare cosmopolitans in Japanese history. There must have been something inspiring on this island.
We hope this guidebook will help you enjoy Shikoku, and Japan herself seen through Shikoku, finding inspiration of your own by traveling around this small but great island. Bon voyage!
Matuyama, the largest city in Shikoku, has dominated this atea since 1595, when Lord Kato arrived here. The castle he began to build seven yesrs later still looms over downtown Matsuyama as its definitive landmark.
A large stone monument at the left-hand corner of the JR Matsuyama station plaza as follows:
Come spring as of old
When such revenues of rice
Braced this castle town! shiki
This moment characterizes the nostalgic pride of haikuloving Matsuyama people, three out of ten of whom are said to be haiku poets.
Very few Japanese, haiku poets or not, can visit Matsuyama without remembering Shiki, a preeminent son of Matsuyama, who made this town what is called the hometown of Haiku (5-7-5 syllable verse).
Another nationwide attraction of Matsuyama is the fabld Dogo Onsen Hot Spring. The Dogo Onsen Honkan public Bathhouse of distinctive architecture can be fully experinced inside.
Ishite-ji Temple (No.51) near Dogo Onsen is one of the most impressive of the 88 Sacred of Shikoku. It is also known for a gripping supernatural legend deeply imbued with the origin of Shikoku Pilgrmage.
It was 150,000 koku.
Matsuyama-jo Castle
[By Streetcar]
Take the loop line in front of JR Matsuyama and get off at Okaido, and walk about 5 minuts to the "Ropeway" Station or past it to the Shinonome-jinja shrine stone steps.
[By Bus]
10 minutes' bus ride to Shinonome-jinja-mae or "Ropeway"-mae from JR Matsuyama (Oku-Dogo Onsen Kanko Bus bound for Oku-Dogo).
*To the hilltop: 15minutes' walk up the hillside past Shinonome-jinja Shrine st the end of the wide stone steps or 3 minutes by ropeway or chair lift from Ropeway Station.
The three-shoried main donjon and a subsidiary donjon fortifisd with several turrets and gates from a typical fort castle of the 17th century.The original buildings are gone except for Inui-mon Gate,some walls and ramparts.
The three-storied main donjon and a subsidiary donjon fortified with several turrets and gates from atyical fort castle of the 17th century. The original buildings are gone except for Inui-mon Gate,some walls and ramparts.
Recently the city has completed an extensive project to rebuild the entire castle. Great care was taken to employ the same techniques and materials as used in the original construcion; not one nail was used to fit all the wooden parts togethers.
Recently the city has completed an extensive project to rebuild the entire castle. Great care was taken to employ the same techniques and materials as used in the original construction; not one nail was used to fit all the wooden parts together.
The main donjon houses a large collection of swords, spears, armor, documents, works of art and calligraphy, and mementose mainly of the lords of the castle-the Katos, the Gamos and several genertions of the Matsudairas. Open daily. Admission: 260en.
The local enthesiasm for composing haiku dates back to 1674 when Lord Matudaira Sadanao come to govern this province. While in Edo (Tokyo), Sadanao had proved himself a distinguished haiku student of Kikaku, one of the foremost disciples of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), the poetic genius who virtually invented the classical Japanese haiku.
Peple in Matusyama took interest in the litrary art from their new lord brought to them and soon made haiku an outlet for artistic expression in their daily lives.In 1880 Japan's first haiku monthly was published in Matsuyama, with Masaoka Shiki's maternal grandfher among its editors.
In the 1890's Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) , who had been trying to bring Japanese literture more up-to-date in Tokyo as a student-turned-newspaperman, succeeded in originating a new stye of haiku by freeing it from formalism, while fighting a losing battle against tuberculosis. Befor his death at 35, he managed to establish new standards for waka (5-7-5-7-7 syllable verse) as well.
Soon Matsuoka produced many other poets who carried on Shiki's shasei realism as Japan's premier haiku poets throughout the modern period that followed, including Takahama kyoshi, Kawahigashi Hekigodo, Naito Meisetsu, Yanagihara Kyokudo and Ishida Hakyo. They in turn attracted such a large number of haiku poets to their hometown that Matsuyama was dubbed " the hometown of haiku. "
Shiki-do house on the ground of Shoshuzen-ji Temple behind Matsuyama-shi-eki Station is a replica of Shiki's house-a small house of a low-ranking samurai family. Shiki spent his first 16 years there until he set out for Tokyo to study.
The exhibition includes about a dozen paintings he did with the juice of herds and flowers his sister picked from the garden of his house in Tokyo where he was bedridden for the last seven years of short life. Open daily.Admission: 50
* 5 minutes' walk from Matsuyama-shi-eki Station.
Another house associated with Shiki is the Gudabutsu-an behind Bansuiso Art Museum. At the age of 27 Shiki returned to Matsuama, trying to recover from tuberculosis he had contracted five years befor, and he shard a two-storied cottage with Natsume Soseki, a friend from college in Tokyo. It was the house Soseki rented and named Gudabutsu-an after one of his pen nemes, Gudabutsu or Foolish Buddha. Soseki's portrait is now ubiquitous on the 1000 yen bill.
* 6 minutes' walk from Okaido on the streetcar loop line.
There are `haiku post ' boxes of various ahapes and sizes standing in many public places including Matsuyama-jo Castle. The forms to write your haiku, name and address, placed beside each post.
Here is an example of an English haiku that appeared in "A Collection by the Best Haiku of the Year" (the 20th volume) published by the City in June, 1989:
Dyes of blue and white
Glimmer in the looms so fast
Making summer cloth
Stephen L . John
This alludes to the
Iyo-gasuri kimono
cloth native to
this prefecture.
Taneda Santoka (1882-1940), a haiku nonconformist who cast aside all the rules including the 5-7-5 stllable structure, is also associated with Matsuyama. Santoka, an ordained Zen priest, after spending most of his life wandering all over the country as a begging monk, chose to settle in Matsuyama only to die 10 months later.
The humble cottage where he dwelt - Isso-an (A Blade of Grass Hermitage) is preserved north of Ehime University. His books and documents are also preserved in Shiki Memorial Museum.
A pop hail even in my iron bowl* ! Santoka
(Tetsu-bachi no naka nimo arare)
* A bowl used by a mendicant priest.
* 30 minutes' walk from Sekijuji Byoin-mae on the loop line.
* 5 minutes' walk from Kinuyama Station on Iyo-tetsu Takshima Line.
The museum house 2,300 items concerning this traditional art of Iyo-gasuri making -the indigo-dyeing and weaving peculiar to this former Iyo Province, designated as a National Folk Art by the government, and enjoying nationwide fame. It has a workshop to demonstrate the art and a shop to sell the products , as well. Admission free. Open daily except December 31 and January 1.
[From JR Matsuyama]
20 minutes by streetcar bound for Dogo Onsen.
[From the castle]
5 minutes by streetcar from the nearest station, Higashi Keisatsusho-mae bound for Dogo Onsen.
[From Matsuyama Kanko-ko port]
45 minutes by bus bound for Dogo Onsen.
Dogo Onsen , one of the oldest and best-know hot spring spas in Japan , was visited by several Emperors and Empresses, noblemen and noblewomen as early as the 5 th century.
Dogo Onsen, one of the oldest and best-known hot spring spas in Japan, was visited by several Emperors and Emperesses, noblemen and noblewomen as early as the 5th century.
From the Dogo Onsen Streetcar Terminal, 5 minutes' walk along the shopping arcade will bring you to an ornate Japanese-stye building, the Dogo Onsen Honkan, the main public bathhouse run by the city.
There are two baths-Kami-no-yu and Tama-no-yu. The former is more popular than the latter. Many local people visit Kami-no-yu every day, to enjoy meeting people as well as taking a bath.
To the Japanese people in general, hot springs are not only for healing physical ailments bus also for is supposed to be good for rheumatism, skin ddiseases, wounds and so on.
The drum-beating from the small pavilion on top of the main building is meant as an invitation. The first beating at 6:30 a.m. signals the opening of the house, followed by a second beating at noon. The last at 6:00 p.m. is for evening bathers. Open daily:
1st floor-Kami-no-yu (\250)
6:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
2nd floor-Kami-no-yu (\620)
6:30 a.m. -10:00 p.m.
Tama-no-yu (\980)
6:30 a.m. -10:00 p.m.
3rd floor -Tama-no-yu (\1240)
6:30 a.m. -10:00 p.m.
The carved white heron sur-mounting the pavilion roof is the symbol of Dogo Onsen.
Legeng says that long, long ago a wounded white heron was seen to bathe here as if it knew the healing effect of the hot spring.
Both Kami-no-yu and Tama-no-yu are drivided into men's and women's baths, and by different of service such as tea with cake, cotton kimono or private saloon.
The neighborhood of Dogo Onsen has many places of interest. Isaniwa-jinja Shirine, a gracious vermilion-lacquered building, built in 1667 by the then Matuyama lord, is one of the three best examples of Hachiman-zukuri architecture in japan.
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