Our detour takes us to Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. In its biggest city, Matsuyama, you’ll find one of the oldest bathhouses in the country, the Dōgo Onsen Honkan. It was built in 1894 and served as inspiration for the anime Chihiro.
You can reach Matsuyama Castle by cable car (or alternatively a chairlift). We also visited Dōgo Park and admired the Botchan Karakuri Clock, whose chimes depict a visit to a bathhouse.
Greetings to everyone back home in Germany… (“Zum schwarzen Keiler” = pub “The Black Boar”)
The regional train took us to the small towns of Uchiko and Uwajima today. The trains and stations here are only labelled in Japanese. You hardly get any tourists wandering out here anymore.
In Uchiko we visited the Uchiko-za, an old kabuki theatre from 1916. During the day you can explore the theatre, take a look backstage and check out the stage tech. The local History Museum recreates everyday situations from the 19th and 20th centuries using life-sized dolls.
The regional train ends in Uwajima. We took a quick look at the castle there before heading back to Matsuyama.
Japan’s small towns have their own special charm. The people here are really friendly, helpful and curious about their visitors. For us, that’s always a welcome excuse to leave the big cities behind every now and then.
Tomorrow we’re continuing our journey on the main route. Next stop: Ōsaka.
Today was another travel day, so there isn’t much to report. Arriving in Ōsaka, we visited our first Christmas market at the Umeda Sky Building. It imitates a German Christmas market down to the last detail. There are stalls with crêpes, pizza, mulled wine, beer, sausages and gift items. There’s a Christmas tree, a nativity scene, a carousel. They even thought of the weather, as it was raining just like back home. 😄
For dessert, we grabbed a cheesecake from Uncle Rikurō, a speciality in Ōsaka. The cakes are freshly baked right in front of the customers’ eyes.
A quick run-through of the must-see Ōsaka programme. We visited the Keitakuen garden, where we encountered a bit of autumn foliage colour once again. In the neighbouring Shitenno-ji temple, we were able to view a pagoda from the inside. Afterwards, we went to the food and entertainment strip Dotonbori in the Namba district and finished off our sightseeing at Ōsaka Castle.
Just before sunset, we took a look at the Umeda skyline with the Sky Building from the roof of the main station. After that, we admired the first winter illumination of this trip. On Midosuji Street, the trees are decorated with thousands of colourful fairy lights. The festival of lights stretches for several kilometres down the street all the way to Namba.
We really liked Ōsaka. Tomorrow, unfortunately, we’re already off to the last stop of our trip in the capital, Tōkyō.
