Transfer From about €122 / group of 3 Private transfer: Matsuyama Airport ↔ Tobe
A private car between the airport and the pottery town of Tobe, priced per vehicle — no public bus runs this route directly.
Tobe
Ten kilometres south of Matsuyama, in a valley of persimmon orchards, the potters of Tobe have been turning local stone into everyday porcelain for close to 250 years.
Tobe-yaki is instantly recognisable: thick, slightly bluish-white porcelain, comfortable in the hand, decorated with bold brushwork in indigo — arabesques, grasses, simple bands. It was made to be used, and it is famously tough. Around eighty to a hundred kilns work in the town today, from family workshops keeping to the classic patterns to young potters experimenting with colour and form, and most welcome visitors to their showrooms.
Tobe is also where Matsuyama families spend their Sundays, because the prefecture’s large hillside zoo and a children’s park are here. With a bus every half hour or so from the city, it makes an easy half-day for anyone interested in craft — or travelling with small children.
Tobe highlights
- Browse thousands of pieces from every kiln under one roof at the Traditional Industry Hall.
- Paint your own cup or plate in indigo and have it fired and posted to you.
- Follow the pottery path set with ceramic tiles through the old kiln district.
- Meet the polar bear and the elephants at Tobe Zoo.
- Come for the spring or autumn pottery fair, when prices drop and the whole town turns out.
Plan your visit
Everything you need for Tobe
Tours & Tickets
Tours for Tobe: a real GetYourGuide airport transfer to Tobe, plus honest alternatives from Matsuyama. Pottery workshops are booked locally.
Read moreThings to See
What to see in Tobe: the Tobe-yaki kiln district, the Traditional Industry Hall, hands-on pottery painting studios, Tobe Zoo and the Children’s Castle park.
Read moreGetting There
How to get to Tobe from Matsuyama by Iyotetsu bus in about 45 minutes or by car in 30, and how to get between the pottery district and the zoo.
Read moreTravel Guide
Tobe travel guide: how to choose and buy Tobe-yaki, pottery workshops, the spring and autumn pottery fairs, visiting with children, day plans and FAQs.
Read moreWhen to Go
When to visit Tobe: the pottery festivals in April and November, comfortable seasons for the zoo, and a month-by-month table.
Read more Tours & tickets
Top experiences for Tobe
GetYourGuide lists one Tobe-related product, an airport transfer. Pottery painting and wheel-throwing sessions are booked directly with the studios. The other products shown are Matsuyama-based.
Transfer From about €122 / group of 3 
Private tour From about €158 Matsuyama customised private tour with a licensed guide
A government-licensed guide builds a half-day around your interests — the castle, Dogo Onsen, Ishite-ji or the arcades — travelling on foot and by tram.
Sake brewery From about €113 Matsuyama: Minakuchi sake brewery tour with tasting
Go behind the scenes at a long-established brewery near Dogo Onsen and taste a range of its sake with a guide.
Hotels & ryokan
Where to stay in Tobe
Tobe is so close to the city that there is little reason to sleep there, and it has almost no visitor accommodation. Stay in central Matsuyama or at Dogo Onsen and come out by bus or car.
Trip.com lists few or no properties in this destination itself, so the hotels below are in the nearest practical base.
ANA Crowne Plaza Matsuyama
Matsuyama’s best-known full-service hotel, on the main avenue below the castle with the tram stop outside and Okaido a short walk away.
Candeo Hotels Matsuyama Okaido
A modern hotel at the top of the Okaido arcade, steps from the castle ropeway, with a rooftop spa for guests.
Funaya
A historic Dogo ryokan with a celebrated stroll garden, long associated with literary and imperial guests, a few minutes from the Honkan.
Keep exploring
Destinations near Tobe
Matsuyama & central Ehime Matsuyama
Shikoku’s largest city: an original hilltop castle, vintage trams, haiku and the gateway to Dogo Onsen.
Matsuyama & central Ehime Dogo Onsen
One of Japan’s oldest hot springs, with a storybook wooden bathhouse at its heart and ryokan all around.
Mountains & eastern Ehime Kuma Kogen & Omogo Gorge
Ehime’s cool highlands: an emerald gorge at the foot of Mount Ishizuchi, cliff-side pilgrimage temples and the grassy ridges of the Shikoku Karst.
Ready to go?
Ready for Tobe?
Lock in a guide, a tasting or a day trip for Tobe now — most GetYourGuide bookings can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.