Matsuyama, Japan Nov.2-3, 2024
Dogo Onsen Bathhouse, Urban Legend, Taimeshi & Nabeyaki Udon
I went to Matsuyama, a castle town and the seat of Ehime prefecture in Shikoku, one of the four main land in the midst of torrential rain by extra-tropical storm with a hope it is getting better, which was proved right later. I woke up by 3 o’clock in the morning and left home by a bicycle to MM Motomachi Chukagai Station in a light rain. My partner and I got on the plane after a glass of beer at the Sakura lounge. The flight to Matsuyama usually takes a route to fly over Honmoku, Yokohama, my town. However, I was not able to see outside from the windows well because of heavy fogs and rain. We landed at Matsuyama before 9 o’clock. The rain got heavier around 11 o’clock by the time we were waiting in the line before a restaurant near Dogo Onsen. Water was being flooded on the road in the torrential rain. Many shops and restaurants near the bathhouse closed. But I was lucky that the restaurant opened at 11 o’clock. The restaurant serves Tai-meshi, sea bream sashimi over rice, one of Ehime’s local delicacies. You eat Sashimi of Sea bream on the rice with a beaten egg and soy based sauce. I liked the texture and the taste of the firm flesh in beaten yolk and the sauce. We avoided rain while eating at the restaurant. While rain got weak, we stood in the line to get a numbered ticket at the bathhouse’s ticket booth. They gave one to me asking my phone number to return. They called me after some thirty minutes. We bought tickets of JPY2,000 at the ticket booth, put our shoes in the shoe rack at the doorway. It looks really like an ordinary public bathhouse in your neighbor. Yes, it is a public bathhouse, but a national important property. They have two different bath rooms. You can take bath at those bathes and relax at the tatami-mat room with a cup of tea and a sweet cracker by that ticket. I bathed in the one on the first floor and the second on the second floor. The temperature of the water was good for me. The bath rooms were not crowded. I returned to the tatami room and relaxed ourselves with tea after we spent about half an hour in the bath. We left the bathhouse around 2 o’clock. We found the tram service had been suspended at the tram station. We decided to take a taxi to go to “Saka No Ueno Kumo” Museum or Museum of “Clouds over the hill”, archive of historical novel written by Ryotaro SHIABA (1923- 1996 ). The tax driver was in his 80’s. He was friendly and talkative. He told us about Matsuyama and his life happily behind the wheel. The museum displays a lot of pictures from Meiji period and materials about the Russo – Japanese war during 1904 and 1905. The author focused on the lives of the Akiyama brothers, military officers and Masaoka Shiki, a famous Haiku poet and depicted Japan through their live. They are all natives of this town. I read it in my late 20′ and remember I was impressed with the story very much. ”Saka No Ueno Kumo”, or “Clouds over the hill” evokes me mood of the era people climbed together toward the top of the hill passionately. We had no enough time to look those exhibitions closely this time. I want to visit and see them again.
We walked to Matsuyama Castle from the museum. At the ropeway station, we found the ropeway had been suspended after the torrential rain. We decided to return the way where we came towards Daidogai street and stopped by a souvenir shop. People of Ehime love oranges very much. POM juice is a household name. Everybody knows POM juice if you are living in Japan for a long time. They are from Ehime. The juice is 100% made by oranges harvested in the prefecture. “POM” was named for Nippon or Japan. The founding father of the company wanted to make the Juice products Number One in the nation. There is an urban legend People of Ehime love oranges so much that orange juice is supplied through waterworks at schools. This is of course not true but you can find a lot of shops we can try orange juice from the faucet. We enjoyed the orange juice from the faucet, too.
Matsuyama has a lot of delicacies like Taimeshi, Sea Bream Sashimi over rice; Jako ten, Fried fish cake; Nabeyaki Udon noodle; to name a few. Speaking of Nabeyaki, people would think Hot Udon noodle in clay pods. You can eat it anywhere in the country. However, Nabeyaki is served in an aluminum pot here. They use beef not pork, which is cooked with sugar and soy sauce like Sukiyaki. Matsuyama’s Abura-age, fried bean curds in the Nabeyaki Udon, are crispy and soaked in the flavor well. I’ve become a fan of this dish. The owner of the restaurant was friendly and spoke calmly. I felt he prepares the meal carefully with heart. Food I tried during this trip were good. (I had another version of Taimeshi, mixed rice at breakfast in the hotel.) I want to come back and try other foods I did not have and visit Saka No Ue No Kumo Museum again.
We will go to Mitsukoshi department store and buy some for our dinner. Tomorrow we will be going to Ozu town, Little Kyoto of Shikoku, and return to Yokohama by an evening flight.