Dogo Onsen

Background

Dogo Onsen is in Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, and its central facility is the Dogo Onsen Honkan. The Honkan is a three-story wooden building, and the time drum in the Shinrokaku turret on its roof sounds once each at opening time in the early morning, at noon, and in the evening. It has two public baths, Kami no Yu and Tama no Yu, and you can also visit Yushinden, the only bath in Japan reserved for the imperial family. Enlarged and rebuilt many times and made up of several linked buildings, the Honkan has an interior as complex as a maze, and it is said to be one of the models for the bathhouse in the film Spirited Away. Dogo Onsen is said to have a history of about 3,000 years and is called Japan's oldest hot spring; pottery and stone arrowheads from the middle Jomon period, about 3,000 years ago, found in the Kanayama strata are regarded as the basis for this claim. The Honkan's Kami no Yu main building was completed in 1894, the Yushinden and Tama no Yu building in 1899, and the south wing and entrance wing in 1924; the four buildings were designated National Important Cultural Properties in December 1994. From January 15, 2019, the Honkan underwent preservation and repair work while staying open, and the whole building resumed full operation on July 11, 2024.

Local customs

• Bathe in Kami no Yu or Tama no Yu, rest in the second- and third-floor rest rooms, and visit the imperial bath at Yushinden
• take the first morning bath as the time drum sounds
• stroll the Dogo shopping street in yukata and stop by Tsubaki no Yu, which uses the same spring source, and the annex Asuka no Yu, opened in 2017
• ride the Botchan train between Dogo and central Matsuyama.

Travel tips

• The Honkan, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu charge differently for each combination of bath and rest room
• fees are at the usual hot-spring level, and details follow official information. The baths close on the year-end cleaning day, and other opening arrangements follow official announcements. Bathing suits every season: spring cherry blossoms are ideal for strolling the hot-spring town, a summer evening walk through the shopping street in yukata has real charm, and a bath on a cold winter day has its own appeal, but temperatures vary widely, so bring a light jacket for summer evenings and dress warmly in winter
• flowering times and event schedules depend on the year.
• Take the Iyo Railway city tram Jonan Line to Dogo Onsen Station, then walk about 5 minutes
• from Matsuyama Airport, the airport bus takes about 40 minutes to the Dogo Onsen Station area
• from the city center you can also ride the Botchan train, with schedules subject to official information.