Dogo Onsen

Dogo Onsen appears in Japan’s earliest chronicles and poetry collections, and emperors, poets and pilgrims have been coming to bathe ever since. Its centrepiece, the three-storey Dogo Onsen Honkan of 1894, was the first public bathhouse in Japan to be named an Important Cultural Property — a maze of stairs, tatami lounges and stone baths topped by a drum tower and a white heron.

Around it lies a compact, walkable resort: two more public bathhouses, a covered shopping arcade, free footbaths, a clock that puts on a puppet show every hour and dozens of ryokan and hotels. It is a district of Matsuyama, ten to fifteen minutes from the city centre by tram, so you can visit for an evening soak or stay the night and do it properly, in a yukata.

Dogo Onsen highlights

• Bathe in the Honkan, the grand old bathhouse that helped inspire the look of the one in Spirited Away.
• Compare it with the sleek Asuka-no-Yu annex and the no-frills locals’ favourite, Tsubaki-no-Yu.
• Wander the Haikara-dori arcade for Botchan dango, mikan soft-serve and Imabari towels.
• Catch the Botchan Karakuri Clock performing on the hour, with your feet in the free footbath beside it.
• Climb the 135 stone steps to vermilion Isaniwa Shrine.
• Stay in a ryokan with its own spring-fed baths and a multi-course local dinner.