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.
A three-story wooden bathhouse that is a national Important Cultural Property and still in daily use, with a drum on the roof that is struck three times a day. Pay a little more and you can rest upstairs after your bath in a cotton robe with tea and a sweet, and one course includes a look at a private bath built for the imperial family. It gets crowded, so check for numbered tickets at the entrance.
A low bathhouse in the middle of the Dogo shopping arcade, where local people drop in, with granite baths fed by the same spring as the main bathhouse. The water pours from a yugama, a traditional stone spout. Soap and shampoo are not provided, so bring your own; towels are sold at the counter.
The newest of the three, built in the style of the Asuka period about 1,400 years ago, with a large indoor bath and an open-air bath that the main bathhouse does not have. Ehime crafts fill the building, from painted tile murals to woodwork, and you can rest in a tatami hall with tea and a sweet. The special private baths need booking, but the regular baths do not.