Ehime Prefecture

Ride a Ferris wheel with see-through floors

A few Ferris wheels in Japan have see-through gondolas, cabins with clear floors and seats, so the city or the sea opens up right under your feet as you rise. Each wheel has only a handful of these cabins, so pick the see-through line at the boarding area and expect a short wait.

An onsen town with three public baths

Dogo Onsen, in Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku, is one of Japan's oldest hot spring towns, with three public bathhouses a short walk apart. Each is different: a wooden landmark from the 1890s, a granite bath on the shopping street, and a newer annex with an open-air bath. A combined ticket covers all three, and Dogo is about 25 minutes by tram from JR Matsuyama Station.

Sip coffee with your feet in a warm foot bath

An ashiyu is a foot bath: a shallow pool of warm water, often from a hot spring, where you sit and soak only your feet. At a foot-bath cafe you order a drink or a sweet and keep your feet in the water while you eat, a good rest after a day of walking. Several are at hot-spring inns, but anyone can drop in without staying, and rolled-up trousers are all you need.

Compare the waters of five hot spring towns

These are five of Japan's best-known onsen towns: Kusatsu, Gero and Arima, the classic three, plus Beppu, which has more hot spring water than anywhere else in Japan, and Dogo, one of the oldest. Each has its own water and a landmark at its heart, from wooden channels of steaming water to a bathhouse where you are buried in warm sand. They are spread across Japan, so pick the one that fits your route; Arima is the closest, about an hour from Osaka.

A bay town of raw sea bream and egg over rice

Uwajima, in the southwest of Ehime on the island of Shikoku, sits on a coast of deep inlets where sea bream (tai) are raised. Its tai-meshi is not the cooked fish-and-rice found elsewhere: slices of raw bream are stirred into a sauce of raw egg and soy and spooned over hot rice, said to be how fishermen ate it on their boats. Eat it at lunch, then climb to an Edo-period castle and walk a lord's garden; it is about an hour and a half from Matsuyama by limited express, so it suits a trip around Shikoku rather than a day from Osaka.

Ride a tram that shares the street with cars

Japan's trams, or streetcars, run down the middle of ordinary streets and stop at small platforms among shops and homes, so the ride shows you a city at street level. Buy a one-day pass, get off wherever something catches your eye, walk a little, and catch the next tram. Apart from the line in Tokyo, these are in cities you would visit on a longer trip, such as Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Hakodate.

An onsen town around a 130-year-old bathhouse

Dogo has been a hot spring town for some 3,000 years, and at its heart stands a three-story wooden bathhouse from 1894, said to be one of the models for the bathhouse in Spirited Away. After your bath, stroll the arcade in a yukata, a light cotton kimono, snacking on Botchan dango and fried fish cakes. It is 20 minutes by streetcar from central Matsuyama.

Ehime Prefecture

Drive past grazing cows on limestone highlands

Shikoku Karst is a high grassy plateau on the island of Shikoku, its slopes dotted with white limestone rocks, where cattle graze in the meadows from spring to autumn. Drive the ridge road between the pastures, pull over to watch the cows, and look out over row after row of mountains. You need a car, best rented in Matsuyama or Kochi, and the road is open only from April to late November, so check road conditions before you set out.

Ehime Prefecture

Cycle across the sea from island to island

The Shimanami Kaido links six islands of the Seto Inland Sea by bridges, about 70 km from Onomichi to Imabari, with a cycle path the whole way. Rent a bike and ride as far as suits you, resting by the sea, and drop it off at another official rental terminal if you like. Check the wind, the sunset and the terminals' closing times before you set off.

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