is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km² (2,191

sq mi The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is an are ...

). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tokushima Prefecture to the east, and

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

to the southeast.

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan and also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243541 househo ...

is the capital and largest city of Ehime Prefecture and the largest city on Shikoku, with other major cities including Imabari, Niihama, and Saijō. Notable past Ehime residents include three Nobel Prize winners: they are Kenzaburo Oe (1994 Nobel Prize in Literature),

Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese-born American electronic engineer and inventor specializing in the field of semiconductor technology, professor at the Materials Department of the College of Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and is rega ...

(2014 Nobel Prize in Physics), and Syukuro Manabe (2021 Nobel Prize in Physics).

History

Until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Ehime Prefecture was known as

Iyo Province was a province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa to the east, and Tosa to the south. Its abbreviated form name was . In te ...

. Since before the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, the area was dominated by fishermen and sailors who played an important role in defending Japan against pirates and Mongolian invasions. After the Battle of Sekigahara, the Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

'' gave the area to his allies, including Katō Yoshiaki who built Matsuyama Castle, forming the basis for the modern city of

. The name Ehime comes from the '' kuniumi'' part of the '' Kojiki'' where Iyo Province is mythologically named Ehime, "lovely princess". In 2012, a research group from the University of Tokyo and Ehime University said they had discovered rare earth deposits in Matsuyama.

Geography

Located in the northwestern part of Shikoku, Ehime faces the Seto Inland Sea to the north and is bordered by Kagawa and Tokushima in the east and Kōchi in the south. The prefecture includes both high mountains in the inland region and a long coastline, with many islands in the Seto Inland Sea. The westernmost arm of Ehime, the

Sadamisaki Peninsula The is the westernmost part of the island of Shikoku, covered by the town of Ikata, Ehime Prefecture and home to the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant. It is sometimes referred to as the "Misaki Peninsula." This landmass juts out in a straight line fro ...

, is the narrowest peninsula in Japan. As of 31 March 2020, 7 percent of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Ashizuri-Uwakai and Setonaikai National Parks; Ishizuchi Quasi-National Park; and Hijikawa, Kinshako, Okudōgo Tamagawa, Sadamisaki Hantō-Uwakai, Saragamine Renpō, Sasayama, and Shikoku Karst Prefectural Natural Parks.

Cities

Eleven cities are located in Ehime Prefecture:

Towns and villages

These are the towns in each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Mergers

Former districts: * Uwa District (historical) * Uma District * Shūsō District * Onsen District

Economy

The coastal areas around Imabari and Saijō host a number of industries, including dockyards of Japan's largest shipbuilder,

Imabari Shipbuilding is a major Japanese ship building, marine engineering, and service company headquartered in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is Japan’s largest shipbuilder both in terms of tonnage and sales revenue, with design, research, construct ...

. Chemical industries, oil refining, paper and cotton textile products also are a feature of the prefecture. Rural areas mostly engage in agricultural and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

industries, and are particularly known for citrus fruits such as ''mikan'' (

mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-colou ...

), iyokan and cultured pearls.

Ikata Nuclear Power Plant The is a nuclear power plant in the town of Ikata, Ehime, Ikata in the Nishiuwa District, Ehime, Nishiuwa District of Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is the only nuclear plant on the island of Shikoku. It is owned and operated by the Shikoku Elect ...

produces a large portion of Shikoku Electric Power.

Education

Universities and colleges

National

Ehime University is a Japanese national university in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The university has one of the largest student populations in the Shikoku region. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Aidai was established in May 1949 among many other ...

Prefectural

* Ehime Prefectural University of Health Science

Private

* St. Catherine University * Matsuyama University *

Matsuyama Shinonome College is a private women's college in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by ...

(

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

)

Senior high schools

Prefectural

Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Central Senior High School , abbreviated as or MCHS or MCH, is a public Education in Japan, high school located in Ido-machi, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan established in 1986 and opened in 1987 as the newest prefectural academic high school in Ehime ...

* Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School * Ehime Prefectural Mishima High School * Ehime Prefectural Uwajima Fisheries High School

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Ehime. Football (soccer) * Ehime F.C. * FC Imabari Baseball * Ehime Mandarin Pirates Basketball * Ehime Orange Vikings

Culture

The oldest extant hot spring in Japan,

Dōgo Onsen is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. History Dōgo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, with a history stretching back over 1000 years. The springs are mentioned in the Man'yōs ...

, is located in Matsuyama. It has been used for over two thousand years. These are television shows and movies set in Ehime Prefecture. * ''

Tokyo Love Story is a Japanese manga written by Fumi Saimon. It was published by Shogakukan in ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1989 to 1990 and collected into 4 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ''Tokyo Love Story'' was adapted into a Japanese television drama in 1991 which ...

''is a story with characters are from Ehime Prefecture. Therefore, a lot of shooting was done in Ehime. Baishinji Station is famous for being filmed. * '' Shodō Girls '' was made based on the true story of a high school student in Shikokuchūō. A member of the calligraphy club began doing

Performance calligraphy Performance calligraphy (書道パフォーマンス) is a kind of Japanese calligraphy combining traditional calligraphy with J-pop music and dance. It is a team activity, performed on large canvases. Performance calligraphy is gaining popularit ...

at shopping malls and events to liven up the local region. After that, the

Shodō also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

Performance Koshien ( 書道パフォーマンス甲子園) was held in 2008. * '' Botchan ''is a novel written by

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

. It was based on his experience in Matsuyama. Movies, dramas, and manga are published based on the novel. Botchan Ressha and

Botchan Stadium The is a multi-purpose stadium in Matsuyama Central Park, Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan. It is currently used mostly for baseball matches. The stadium holds 30,136 people. The nickname is "Botchan Stadium". It is named after well-known n ...

are associated with this. * '' Saka no Ue no Kumo '' is written by

Ryōtarō Shiba , also known as , was a Japanese author. He is best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the r ...

. The main characters are

Akiyama Yoshifuru was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and is considered the father of modern Japanese cavalry. He was older brother to Vice Admiral Akiyama Saneyuki Biography Early life Born as the third son to a poor samurai in the Matsuyama Domain, ...

, Akiyama Saneyuki and

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...

, all of whom are from Ehime prefecture. It was broadcast on

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

as a TV drama. *''Koi wa Go・Hichi・Go！ ''（恋は五・七・五！）is set in

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

Koshien, which is actually performed. The shooting was done at a high school, university, and library in Ehime. The haiku of this movie was supervised by Itsuki Natsui, haiku poet from Ehime. * ''Destruction Babies ''( ディストラクション・ベイビーズ) is set in Ehime. This movie was made based on the true story that the director head from a person he met when he visited

. The director won an award at the

Locarno Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

in 2016, and the film was selected as semi-grand prix at the Three Continents Festival in 2016. * '' My-HiME'' is set in Ehime. There are major festivals in Ehime Prefecture. * Uwajima Ushi-oni Festival is held for three days, with a parade of many Ushi-oni walking around the city, a traditional

Uwajima 270px, Uwajma City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Uwajma city center 270px, Japan National Route 320 in Uwajma city center is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 70,440 in 35429 households and a ...

dance, a fireworks display, and a run on the final day. *Niihama Taiko Festival is the autumn festival in Niihama. The drum stand is lifted by about 150 men. It is one of the three biggest fight festivals in Japan. *The Matsuyama Autumn Festival includes a mikoshi event called ''Hachiawase'' (鉢合わせ) which takes place near

and

Isaniwa Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Enshrined are Emperor Chūai, Empress Jingū, and Emperor Ōjin. A number of its buildings and treasures have been designated Important Cultural Properties. History It is said that the ...

Hot Springs

These are Hot Springs in Ehime Prefecture. *

appears in the Nihon Shoki. This Hot Spring has three public baths: the main building, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu. *Sora to Mori is a combined warm bath facility. There are hot springs, restaurants, and body care. *Nibukawa Onsen is a hot spring located in Imabari. The source originates from the crevices of the Inugawa Valley in this hot spring town.

Language

Iyo dialect The of Japanese is spoken by people from Ehime Prefecture in Japan. The name is a remnant of the Ehime area's historical name, Iyo Province. Accents vary somewhat by geography within the prefecture. The southern area is particularly influe ...

is a Japanese dialect spoken in Ehime Prefecture. Nanyo is influenced by the Kyushu dialect, and Chuyo and Toyo are influenced by the Kinki dialect.

Museums

* Museum of Ehime History and Culture * Kaimei School

Transport

Railway

* Shikoku Railway (JR Shikoku) **

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...

Yodo Line The is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects Station, Shimanto, Takaoka District in Kōchi Prefecture and Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture. Its name comes from the ancient provinces of ( ...

Uchiko Line The is the name of a short section of railway line that was originally a branch line before a section of it was upgraded and became part of the Yosan Line. It connects in Uchiko, Kita District to in Ōzu, entirely in Ehime Prefecture on the ...

* Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu) **Gunchū Line **Takahama Line **Yokogawara Line **Matsuyama Inner Line

Road

Expressway

Matsuyama Expressway The is a national expressway in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The expressway is numbered E11 between Kawanoe Junction and Matsuyama Interchange and E56 between Matsuyama and Uwajima-Kita Interchanges under the MLIT's "2016 Proposal for Realization ...

*Tokushima Expressway * Takamatsu Expressway *Kochi Expressway * Nishiseto Expressway (also referred to as the Shimanami Kaidō) *Imabari Komatsu Road

National highways

*Route 11 *Route 33 (Matsuyama- Kōchi) *Route 56 (Matsuyama-Iyo-Uwajima- Sukumo- Susaki-Kōchi) *Route 192 (Saijyo-Shikoku Chuo- Yoshinogawa- Tokushima) *Route 194 *Route 196 *Route 197 *Route 317 (Matsuyama-Imabari- Onomichi) *Route 319 *Route 320 *Route 378 *Route 380 *Route 437 *Route 440 *Route 441 *Route 494 (Matsuyama- Niyodogawa-Susaki)

Ports

*Kawanoe Port *Niihama Port - Ferry route to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

*Toyo Port - Ferry route to Osaka *Imabari Port - Ferry route to

Innoshima is an island and former city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The island is located within the Geiyo Islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The city was founded on May 1, 1953. , the city had an estimated population of 27,465 and a population density o ...

, Hakata Island, and international container hub port *Matsuyama Port - Ferry route to Kitakyushu, Yanai, Hiroshima,

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan ...

, and international container hub port *Yawatahama Port - Ferry route to Beppu, Usuki *Misaki Port - Ferry route to Oita *Uwajima Port

Airport

Matsuyama Airport is an airport located west southwestAIS Japan
of Naoki Kuwata (born 1977), actor and model

International sister cities / Economic exchange counterparts

Ehime Prefecture is making use of its long tradition of involvement with people overseas through international exchanges in areas such as the economy, culture, sports and education. * Dalian ( China) * Liaoning ( China) *

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

) *

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

( Australia) *

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

( Australia) *

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

(

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

)

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

.
OCLC 58053128

External links

* {{Authority control Shikoku region Prefectures of Japan