270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building 2007-07-01 Matsuyama Panorama

is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 505,948 in 243,541 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 1,200 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Matsuyama is located in central Ehime Prefecture, facing the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

to the north, the mountains of the Takanawa Peninsula to the north and east, and the Saragamine Mountain Range, an extension of the

Shikoku Mountains The Shikoku Mountains () are a mountain range that runs from east to west in the central part of the Shikoku in Japan. The length of the mountain range is about . The highest peak in the mountain range is Mount Ishizuchi. References

{ ...

, to the south. It is located on the northeastern portion of the Dōgo Plain. The city also includes the Kutsuna Islands, an archipelago of 29 islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

Neighbouring municipalities

Ehime Prefecture *

Imabari is a city in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 152,111 in 75,947 households and a population density of 360 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Th ...

* Kumakōgen * Masaki * Tobe * Tōon

Climate

Matsuyama has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'';

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

''Cf'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, and is heavier from April to July as well as in September.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Matsuyama grew steadily throughout the 20th century but has plateaued in the 21st and declined somewhat in the 2010s.

History

The area of Uwajima was part of ancient

Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

Dōgo Onsen is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the ...

was already famous in the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

, and

Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to: * Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Has ...

visited the spa in the year 596. It is also mentioned in passing in ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

''. At the end of 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, Kōno Michinobu supported

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

against the

Heike clan The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named af ...

during the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

and was awarded with a position as ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'' of Iyo Province. In the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the clan made their stronghold at Yuzuki Castle, near Dōgo Onsen, and developed the port of Mitsuhama to the west to link the area to

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

. The clan was conquered by

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

during his invasion of Shikoku, and later the area became part of

Iyo-Matsuyama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Matsuyama Castle, and was ruled throughout most of its history by the '' shinpan ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. A ''

jōkamachi The were centres of the domains of the feudal lords in medieval Japan. The ''jōkamachi'' represented the new, concentrated military power of the daimyo in which the formerly decentralized defence resources were concentrated around a single, cent ...

'' developed around Matsuyama Castle, and this is the core of the modern city. The city was established with the creation of the modern municipality system on December 15, 1889. The city was bombed on July 26, 1945, in the final stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with 251 civilians killed and over 55% of the city area destroyed. In the twentieth century, various

mergers Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

joined Matsuyama with neighboring towns of Dōgo, Mitsuhama, and other townships, aided by

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

, creating a seamless modern city that now ranks as the largest in Shikoku. On October 1, 2018, Matsuyama absorbed the city of Hōjō, and town of Nakajima (from the former Onsen District).

Government

Matsuyama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 42 members. Matsuyama, together with Kumakōgen, contributes 16 members to the Ehime Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is split between Ehime 1st district and Ehime 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Matsuyama is a major regional commercial center. Key industries include agriculture represented by

mandarin orange A mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the ...

s, tourism centered around Dōgo Onsen and Matsuyama Castle, and manufacturing centered on chemical fibers. Industrial areas spread along the coast near airports and harbors, including the Teijin Group's largest production base, and factories of Miura (

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

manufacturer), Iseki (

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

and engine equipment), Hatada Ichiroku (Japanese style

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

), Poem, a food processing division of Pom (Ehime Drink Company), and the

retailing Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesal ...

companies Fuji and Daiki all have their headquarters in Matsuyama.

Education

Universities and colleges

Ehime University is a List of national universities in Japan, Japanese national university in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The university has one of the largest student populations in the Shikoku, Shikoku region. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Ai ...

* Matsuyama Junior College * Matsuyama Shinonome College *

Matsuyama University is a private university in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and ex ...

St. Catherine University St. Catherine University (St. Kate's) is a private Catholic university in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was established as one of the first institutions of higher learning specifically for women in the Midwest and was known as the College of St. C ...

Primary and secondary education

Matsuyama has 62 public elementary schools and 31 public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has seven public high schools operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education, including the Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Central Senior High School and the Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School and two national high schools operated by Ehime University. There are two private combined middle/high schools and 11 private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

International schools

Matsuyama has one Korean school (Chōsen gakkō), the .

Transportation

Airports

Matsuyama Airport is an airport located west-southwestAIS Japan
of the center of

, with flights to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, and various other cities.

Railways

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

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 ...

* - - - - - - - - - - IYOTETSU logo

Iyotetsu The , commonly known as Iyotetsu, is the main transport provider in Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan. The company operates railway, tram, and bus lines, and also has many subsidiaries, which include a bank, department stores, travel agencies, a ...

Takahama Line The is a 9.4 km railway line owned by Iyotetsu. The line connects Matsuyama with the port town of Mitsuhama in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The line runs in the northwest direction from Matsuyama City Station, terminating at Takahama Station. ...

* - - - - - - - - - IYOTETSU logo

Yokogawara Line The is a 13.2 km railway line owned by Iyotetsu. The line connects Matsuyama with Tōon, Ehime, Tōon in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The line runs eastwards from Matsuyama City Station, terminating at Yokogawara Station. History The line opened t ...

* - - - - - - - - IYOTETSU logo

Gunchū Line The is a 11.3 km railway line owned by Iyotetsu. The line connects Matsuyama with Iyo, Ehime, Iyo in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The line runs southwards from Matsuyama City Station, terminating at Gunchū Port Station. The line used to be owned ...

* - - - -

Trams

Iyo Railway also operates a system of trams and buses that serve as the city's main modes of public transportation. Matsuyama is one of the few Japanese cities that did not do away with its original

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

system, which has been continually operated since 1887. * Jōhoku Line: Komachi — Heiwadōri 1 *

Jōnan Line The is a light rail line owned by Iyotetsu. The line is composed of a main line between Dōgo Onsen and Nishi-Horibata and a branch line between Heiwadōri 1-chōme and Kamiichiman. The two lines runs entirely within the city of Matsuyama, Eh ...

: Dōgo Onsen — Nishi-Horibata, Kamiichiman — Heiwadōri 1 * Honmachi Line: Nishi-Horibata — Hommachi 6 *

Ōtemachi Line The is a 1.4 km light rail line owned by Iyotetsu. The line runs entirely within the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Operations The line is electrified with overhead lines and is double-tracked for the entire line. Three light ...

: Nishi-Horibata — JR Matsuyama Station — Komachi * Hanazono Line: Matsuyama City Station — Minami-Horibata

Highways

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 o ...

* * * * * * * *

Ports

* Port of Matsuyama, with regular ferry service to

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

and regular night ferries to

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū is a Wards of Japan, ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the north part of what used to be Kokura City before the merger of five cities to create the new city of Kitakyūshū in 1963. JR Kyūshū's Kokura Station is ...

, and several other destinations. Also, a

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

service exists between

and a few other destinations.

Sister cities

In addition to on friendship city, Matsuyama has three

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

, as designated by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of facilitating partnerships between communities within the United States and other countries by establishing sister cities. Sister cities are agreements of ...

: *

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany *

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 1940. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to a South Korean naval b ...

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

, South Korea *

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States *

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, friendship city since 2016

Local attractions

The city is known for its

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

(

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

), among the oldest in Japan, and is home to the Dōgo Onsen Honkan, a Meiji Period wooden public bathhouse dating from 1894. A second favorite tourist spot is Matsuyama Castle. Eight of the eighty-eight temples in the

Shikoku Pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, ...

are in Matsuyama. Buddhist temples in Matsuyama include Ishite-ji (石手寺), Taisan-ji (太山寺), and Jōdo-ji (浄土寺), all dating back to the 8th century, although the oldest surviving buildings are from the early 14th century, as well as Hōgon-ji (宝厳寺), Taihō-ji (大宝寺) and Enmyō-ji (円明寺). Shrines of the city include Isaniwa Jinja (伊佐爾波神社), built in 1667. The

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

poet

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 ...

lived in Matsuyama. His house, now known as the Shiki-do, and a museum, the Shiki Memorial Museum, are popular attractions, and the centerpieces of the city's claim as a center of the international haiku movement. Other haiku poets associated with Matsuyama include

Kurita Chodō , was a Japanese Japanese poetry, poet of the Edo period (1600–1867), regarded as a leading figure in poetry world in Matsuyama former Iyo Province. Life Gotō Masanori, commonly called Teizō, was born in 1749 in Iyo Province, Iyo now Matsuya ...

, whose Kōshin-an was visited by Kobayashi Issa, Shiki's followers, Takahama Kyoshi and Kawahigashi Hekigoto, and

Taneda Santōka Taneda (written: 種田) is a Japanese surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form t ...

. Santoka's house, known as Isso-an, is also a tourist attraction and is periodically open to the public. The Matsuyama Declaration of 1999 proposed the formation of the International Haiku Research Center, and the first Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards were given in 2000. Recipients have included

Yves Bonnefoy Yves Jean Bonnefoy (24 June 1923, Tours – 1 July 2016, Paris) was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was a ...

(2000),

Cor van den Heuvel Cor Van den Heuvel (March 6, 1931 – September 12, 2024) was an American haiku poet, editor and archivist. Biography Van den Heuvel was born in Biddeford, Maine, and grew up in Maine and New Hampshire. He spent most of his life in New York Ci ...

(2002) and

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

(2004). The famed novel ''

Botchan is a novel written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is one of the most popular Japanese novels, read by many during their school years. The central theme of the story is morality, but there are generous amounts of humor and sarc ...

'' by

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of Br ...

is set in Matsuyama. As a result, there are numerous sites and locales named after the main character, including Botchan Stadium, the Botchan Ressha (an antique train that runs on the city's tramway), and Botchan

dango is a Japanese dumpling made with regular rice flour and glutinous rice flour. They are usually made in round shapes, and three to five pieces are served on a skewer, which is called . The pieces are eaten with sugar, syrup, red bean paste, a ...

. Matsuyama also figures in several works by

Shiba Ryōtarō Shiba may refer to: *Shiba Inu, a breed of dog *Shiba clan, Japanese clan originating in the Sengoku period * Shiba Inu (cryptocurrency), a decentralized cryptocurrency Geography *Shiba, Tokyo, a former ward of Tokyo, Japan *Shiba Park in Tokyo * ...

, notably his popular novel, '' Saka no Ue no Kumo'' louds Above the Hill(1969). In anticipation of the upcoming

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

Taiga drama is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white ''Hana no Shōgai'', starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regul ...

adaptation of ''Saka no Ue no Kumo'', a Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum was established in 2007. Matsuyama was also the setting of a 1907 novel about the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, ''As the Hague Ordains'', by American writer Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore. Matsuyama figures in the novel because the city housed a camp for Russian prisoners during the war. A Russian cemetery commemorates this important episode in Matsuyama history. The

is also remembered in Matsuyama because of the contributions of two Japanese military leaders, the Akiyama brothers, Akiyama Saneyuki and Akiyama Yoshifuru, who were born in the city. Matsuyama has several important museums. The Museum of Art, Ehime is the city's main art museum, its collections emphasizing the works of regional artists. The Shiki Memorial Museum is a museum that focuses on the life and work of

, with special attention to his contribution to

. The Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum features exhibits connected with the novel and television series. There is a

Juzo Itami , born , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films (one short and ten features), all of which he wrote himself. He is the namesake of the Juzo Itami Award, founded in 2009 to honor his legacy. Early life ...

museum dedicated to the film director. Products (

meibutsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term most often applied to regional specialties (also known as ). can also be applied to specialized areas of interest, such as , where it refers to famous tea utensils, or Japanese swords, where it refers to sp ...

) of Matsuyama include

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

s and Botchan

. In the 17th century, the lord of Matsuyama castle Sadayuki Matsudaira (松平定行) introduced the process of tart-making, originally brought to Japan by the Portuguese, to Matsuyama. At first it was a Castella with jam. According to legend Sadayuki made some changes, such as adding

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or ...

. Now there are many kinds and makers of tarts in Matsuyama; some add

yuzu Yuzu (''Citrus'' × ''junos'', from Japanese language, Japanese or ; ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of China, Chinese origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though it has also recently been grown in New Z ...

paste or

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

to the red bean paste. In addition to tarts, Botchan dango is also a product of Matsuyama. Botchan dango was named after the novel ''

'' by

. It consists of three bean paste beads of three flavors,

matcha is a finely ground powder of green tea specially processed from shade-grown tea leaves. Shade growing gives matcha its characteristic bright green color and strong umami flavor. Matcha is typically consumed suspended in hot water. Matcha ori ...

, egg, and red bean paste. Within the paste is contained

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

. Matsuyama is the site of a number of festivals, including the Dogo Festival, held in the spring, the Matsuyama Festival, held in August, and the Fall Festival, held in October, which features battling

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

Sports

The city is represented in the J. League of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

with its local club,

Ehime FC commonly known as Ehime FC (愛媛FC, ''Ehime Efu Shī'') is a professional Association football, football club based in Matsuyama, Ehime, Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime Prefecture of Japan. The club currently compete in J2 League, the s ...

. The Ehime Mandarin Pirates also represent the city in the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Shikoku Island League Plus.

Notable people from Matsuyama

* Kenta Abe, baseball player * Akiyama Saneyuki, admiral in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

* Akiyama Yoshifuru, general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

* Kotomi Aoki, manga artist * Ryō Aono, snowboarder * Sidney Gulick, missionary *

Harada Sanosuke was a Japanese warrior (''samurai'') who lived in the late Edo period. He was the 10th unit captain of the Shinsengumi, and died during the Boshin War. Background Harada was born to a family of ''chūgen (samurai), chūgen'', or low-ranking qua ...

, 10th unit captain of the

Shinsengumi The was a small secret police organization, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was ac ...

* Tomoko Honda, announcer *

Ippen 1234–1289 also known as Zuien was a Japanese Buddhist itinerant preacher (''hijiri'') who founded the branch of Pure Land Buddhism. Life Ippen was born at Hōgon-ji, a temple in Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture) on the island of Shikok ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

preacher *

, film director * Mansaku Itami, film director *

Masaru Kageura was a Japanese baseball player from Matsuyama, Ehime. An accomplished two-way player, Kaguera is one of two players ( Eiji Sawamura being the other) who was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame after being killed in World War II. Ka ...

, baseball player *

Katō Yoshiaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period; he served as lord of the Aizu Domain. As a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Katō fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and soon became known as one of the ''shich ...

, ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' *

, haiku poet * Chiaki Kusuhara, beach volleyball player * Loveli, fashion model and television personality * Kanako Murata, Professional mixed martial artist * Alan Shirahama, performer, actor, and DJ *

, poet *

Hideki Matsuyama is a Japanese professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is the first Japanese golfer to win a men's major golf championship the 2021 Masters Tournament. As of January 2025, Matsuyama has 20 worldwide wins, an Olympic bronze medal, t ...

, golfer * Yōko Matsuyama, actress * Yasuyuki Muneta, judoka *

Riki Nakaya is a Japanese judoka. He is a two-time lightweight world champion and an Olympic silver medalist. He was also a finalist at the 2015 World Championships. Personal life Nakaya began judo in kindergarten, following his older brother. Nakaya ma ...

, judoka *

Kenzaburō Ōe was a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issue ...

, writer *

Nathaniel Rosen Nathaniel "Nick" Rosen (born June 9, 1948 in Altadena, California) is an American cello, cellist, the gold medalist of the 1978 International Tchaikovsky Competition, and former faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music and the Manhattan ...

, cellist * Mika Saiki, beach volleyball player * Koshiro Shimada, Figure Skater * Hisui Sugiura, graphic designer *

Kyoshi Takahama was a Japanese poetry, Japanese poet active during the Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was ; Kyoshi was a pen name given to him by his mentor, Masaoka Shiki. Early life Kyoshi was born in what is now the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Matsuyama ...

, poet *

Makoto Tamada (born November 4, 1976, in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a former Japanese professional motorcycle racer currently working as a rider instructor at Suzuka Racing School. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superb ...

, motorcycle racer * Tadao Tannaka, mathematician *

, haiku poet * Toshirō Tomochika, football player and politician * Reiko Tosa, athlete *

Tetsu Yano Tetsu Yano ( Japanese 矢野徹 ''Yano Tetsu''; October 5, 1923 – October 13, 2004) was a Japanese science fiction translator and writer. He began to introduce to Japanese readers the works of US science fiction writers in the late 1940s. ...

, writer

References

External links

Matsuyama City official website

Matsuyama City official website

An NPO that creates a friendly environment for foreigners

{{Authority control Cities in Ehime Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities

Climate

Demographics

History

Government

Economy

Education

Universities and colleges

Primary and secondary education

International schools

Transportation

Airports

Railways

Trams

Highways

Ports

Sister cities

Local attractions

Sports

Notable people from Matsuyama

See also

References

External links