日本最古の温泉と文学の街――松山

[From February Issue 2012]

Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, is on a plain bounded to the west by Seto Inland Sea, and to the east by the Shikoku Mountains one of the highest mountain ranges in western Japan. Because of its unique geographic conditions, the city is rarely hit by typhoons or other natural disasters, and is blessed with a warm and mild climate. Matsuyama Castle is the symbol of the city and is located in its center. From the square at the top of the mountain 132 meters above sea level where the castle stands, you can enjoy views of the city, the mountains and the sea.

You can take a cable car or a lift to the top of the mountain. Matsuyama Castle is the largest castle in Shikoku. Although it was built before the Edo period, the castle has a keep (a central tower) and is one of only 12 such castles that remain in Japan today. The keep offers a 360-degree panoramic view. Within the castle you can try on a suit of armor, an attraction which is popular among tourists.

At the foot of Matsuyama Castle is “Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum.” The museum presents “Saka no Ue no Kumo,” a historical novel by SHIBA Ryotaro that depicts how Japan grew into modern nation during the Meiji period. As well as dealing with the Meiji period, the museum has exhibits that retrace the steps of the novel’s characters – AKIYAMA Yoshifuru, AKIYAMA Saneyuki and MASAOKA Shiki – in Matsuyama. In addition, it has interactive exhibits about the development of the town, giving visitors an opportunity to get a sense of the passage of time.

There are a number of sites in Matsuyama associated with the (aforementioned) three characters. They include “Akiyama Kyoudai Seitan-chi” – the birthplace of the Akiyama brothers, where Yoshifuru and Saneyuki used to live, and “Shiki-dou” (Shiki Hall), a reproduction of a house where Masaoka lived, which enable you to see how the three spent their childhood. What’s more, the streets around Matsuyama Castle are designed to match with the period that the novel “Saka no Ue no Kumo” is set in.

MASAOKA Shiki, was a great haiku poet, and brought baseball to Matsuyama. As he was an enthusiastic baseball player when the game was first introduced to Japan, Shiki used the pen name “No Ball,” which was derived from his childhood name “Noboru.”

A famous haiku by Shiki is, “Kaki kueba/ Kanega narunari/ Horyuji” (Eat a persimmon/ And the bell will toll/ At Horyuji). By producing a number of haiku related to baseball, such as, “Mari nagete/ Mitaki hiroba ya Haru no Kusa” (Throw a ball in an open space/ To see spring grass in the field), he contributed to popularizing baseball through literature. At a literary museum called Matsuyama City Shiki Memorial Museum, you can learn about Matsuyama’s traditional culture and literature through such anecdotes about Shiki.

Another famous figure in Matsuyama City – which is also known as the town of literature – besides Shiki is NATSUME Soseki. Shiki and Soseki were friends who discussed haiku together. The author of the novel “Wagahai wa Neko de Aru” (I Am a Cat), Soseki is considered to be such an influential figure, that his image was printed on 1,000 yen bills. His masterpiece “Botchan,” a story about a teacher who moves to Matsuyama from an urban area, introduces the city and is a work of deep profundity.

Operating in Matsuyama City is the “Botchan Train,” modeled on a small locomotive which appears in Botchan, and the “Madonna Bus,” a vintage bus with a front engine. The unusual sight of these classic vehicles driving about the modern city is refreshing and evocative of times gone by. Traveling around the city on these cute trains and buses allows you to enjoy their retro feel to your heart’s content.

Two kilometers northeast of Matsuyama Castle is Dogo Onsen, the largest tourist site in Matsuyama City, a spot which can be accessed by riding the Botchan Ressha. After arriving at the station, the train sits on display until its next departure, and is a popular spot for taking commemorative photos. The station building is designed to look like it did during the Meiji period, enabling you to take photographs in which it appears as if you had just traveled back in time.

Once you get off at Dogo Onsen Station, you enter the world of Botchan. At the square in front of the station, you are greeted by a huge red automaton clock called “Botchan Karakuri Dokei” (Botchan Automaton Clock). The automaton works once every hour (once every half hour during the tourist seasons), and the characters from Botchan make their appearance dancing merrily. Tour guides dressed as Botchan and Madonna are popular among tourists, as are rickshaws.

With a history spanning over 3,000 years, Dogo Onsen is said to be the oldest hot spring in Japan. Dogo Onsen Honkan (main building) is one of the buildings on which “Spirited Away” – an animation film directed by MIYAZAKI Hayao – was modeled. Twelve locations in the area, including inns, offer free footbaths, where visitors can easily take time out from sightseeing by enjoying Dogo’s hot spring waters. Taking a footbath is the best way to rest your legs after walking around Dogo.

When you have become tired and hungry from walking around, we recommend a pot of nabeyaki udon, a specialty of Matsuyama. Served in the pot in which it has been cooked, nabeyaki udon features a rather sweet soup peculiar to Matsuyama. Cooked in a pot for one person, the noodles absorb the flavor well. A little soft and without koshi (firmness or elasticity), these udon are also called “koshinuke udon” (koshi-less udon).

Matsuyama is a city in which the old, in the form of hot springs, a castle and classic literature, co-exists with the modern. Traditional crafts that have been passed down through the generations are still practiced today. These crafts include “Iyo-kasuri,” a method of dying cloth a natural indigo hue, and “Tobe-yaki” a kind of pottery which has its roots in Tobe-cho in the southern part of Matsuyama City. At Mingei Iyo-kasuri Kaikan and Tobe-yaki Kanko Center, you can experience these crafts and make an item that is the only one of its kind in the world.

The flight to Matsuyama from Haneda Airport in Tokyo takes about one and a half hours. If you take the Shinkansen from JR Tokyo Station and then a special express train, it takes about six hours and ten minutes. Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen are ten to 20 minutes’ drive from the airport and the station. The Botchan Train is available for traveling between major tourist spots.

Matsuyama Convention and Visitors Bureau

Text: HINATA Kunpei

[2012年2月号掲載記事]

愛媛県松山市は西を瀬戸内海、東を西日本最高峰の四国山脈に囲まれた平野にあり、その独特の地理条件から台風などの自然災害も少なく、温暖でおだやかな気候に恵まれた土地です。中心部には松山のシンボルである「松山城」があり、標高132メートルの城山の頂上広場からは、松山の街や山から海までを望むことができます。

頂上へはロープウェイやリフトで行くことができます。松山城は四国で一番大きな城です。江戸時代以前に建てられた、天守(城の中心部)を有する城の一つで、このような城は日本で12ヵ所しか残っていません。天守からは360度の景色を見ることができ、大パノラマが楽しめます。鎧を自分で試着できるコーナーも観光客に人気です。

松山城の麓には「坂の上の雲ミュージアム」があります。近代国家として成長していく明治時代の日本の姿を描いた歴史小説「坂の上の雲」(司馬遼太郎著)を紹介しています。松山を舞台に描かれた主人公、秋山好古、秋山真之、正岡子規の足跡や、明治という時代に関する展示に加え、街作りに関するさまざまな活動を行い、訪れた人々が時の流れについて感じ、考える場を提供しています。

松山市内には主人公の3人に縁のある施設がいくつもあります。好古、真之が住んでいた「秋山兄弟生誕地」や正岡子規が過ごした家を再現した「子規堂」などがあり、3人が少年だった頃の生活の様子を肌で感じることができます。また、松山城周辺の町並みは「坂の上の雲」の時代に合わせたデザインになっています。

正岡子規は松山市が生んだ偉大な俳人で、松山に初めて野球(ベースボール)を伝えました。日本に野球が導入された最初の頃の熱心な選手でもあり、子どもの頃の名前「のぼる」をもじった「No ball」というペンネームも使っていました。

子規の俳句は「柿食えば 鐘が鳴るなり 法隆寺」が有名です。また「まり投げて 見たき広場や 春の草」など野球に関する俳句も数多く残していて、文学を通じて野球の普及に貢献しました。文学系博物館「松山市立子規記念博物館」では、そんな子規のことを通して松山の伝統文化や文学を学ぶことができます。

別名「文学の街」とも呼ばれている松山市において、子規と並んで有名な人物が夏目漱石です。子規と漱石は俳句を語り合った仲。漱石は小説「吾輩は猫である」の作者で、千円札のデザインにもなった人物です。漱石の代表作「坊っちゃん」は都会から松山に赴任してきた教師の物語で、松山市を紹介する上でとても関係の深い作品です。

松山市内の鉄道には坊っちゃんの作品に登場する小さな機関車を再現した「坊っちゃん列車」や、ボンネットバスをイメージした「マドンナバス」も走っています。近代化された街を走るクラシックな姿は、新しくも懐かしい不思議な光景。そのかわいらしい車両に乗って市内観光すれば、レトロな気分を満喫できます。

松山城から2キロほど北東には、松山市最大の観光地、「道後温泉」があり、坊っちゃん列車でも行くことができます。駅に着いたあとの坊っちゃん列車は、次の運行時刻までは駅前広場に展示され、人気の記念撮影スポットになっています。駅舎も明治時代を意識したデザインになっているのでタイムスリップしたような記念写真が撮れます。

道後温泉駅に降り立つと、そこは坊っちゃんの世界。駅前広場では赤く巨大な「坊っちゃんカラクリ時計」が出迎えてくれます。1時間に1回(観光シーズンには30分に1回)カラクリが作動し、坊っちゃんの登場人物たちが楽しげに踊りながら登場します。坊っちゃんやマドンナの格好をした観光ガイドや人力車も観光客に人気
です。

道後温泉は3千年の歴史を持つ、日本最古の温泉といわれています。「道後温泉本館」は宮崎駿監督のアニメーション映画「千と千尋の神隠し」のモデルにもなったといわれる建物です。また、周辺の旅館施設など12ヵ所で足湯を無料で提供している場所があるので、観光しながら手軽に道後の湯を楽しむことも可能。道後散策の休憩にもぴったりです。

歩き疲れてお腹が減ったら、松山名物、鍋焼きうどんがおすすめです。調理した鍋のまま提供される鍋焼きうどんは、松山独特の甘い味付け。一人前で煮込んでいるので麺にも味がよくしみわたっています。少しやわらかめでコシがないため、「コシ抜けうどん」とも呼ばれています。

松山は温泉、城、文学の、昔と現代とが上手に共存している街ですが、伝統工芸品にも現代に受け継がれているものがあります。天然藍染めの「伊予かすり」や、松山市の南、砥部町で生まれた「砥部焼き」などです。「民芸伊予かすり会館」や「砥部焼観光センター」で体験もできるので、世界に一つだけの作品が作れます。

松山までは、羽田空港から飛行機で約1時間30分、JR東京駅から新幹線と特急を利用して約6時間10分です。空港や駅から松山城や道後温泉までは車で10〜20分。各スポット間の移動には坊っちゃん列車も利用できます。

財団法人松山観光コンベンション協会

文:日向薫平

1 Comment

  1. Dee TAN

    We(6 persons) were in Matsuyama in February, 2014 and this is our first visit. All of us find Matsuyama very quaint, superbly clean and very pretty. We loved Matsuyama castle, Dogo Onsen and the little shops around it. The food was fabulous and the people very warm and friendly. However you do need to speak Japanese or have a translator as not much English is spoken. We went to Ichigo, the Shimanami coast and Tobe. It’s very beautiful and unspoilt.
    We are going to return to Matsuyama for another visit soon. By the way, we took 3 trains from Osaka airport and we found the rides very pleasant although a little bit long. The scenery from Okayama onwards is beautiful.

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