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.
Rebuilt in 1894, it became the first public bath in Japan named an Important Cultural Property, and it fully reopened in 2024 after years of repairs. Soak in the stone baths, then change into a yukata and rest with tea and a sweet in the second-floor hall. On holidays, expect a wait.
A newer bathhouse, opened in 2017 and built in the style of 7th-century Japanese architecture, with bathroom walls decorated in Tobe porcelain and other Ehime crafts. Rest with tea in the second-floor hall, and compare it with the Honkan.
The shop said to have created Botchan dango, skewers of three dumplings in green, yellow and brown. They are named after Botchan, a classic novel set in Matsuyama whose hero eats dango and bathes at Dogo. Sit down inside with dango and tea after your bath.
A covered arcade from Dogo Onsen Station to the Honkan, lined with souvenir and snack shops. Stroll in your yukata with freshly fried jakoten, a fish cake made from small whole fish, or a glass of Ehime mikan juice.
Climb 135 stone steps to a vermilion shrine with a view over the rooftops of Dogo. The steps are steep, so go before your bath rather than after.