{"id":20471,"date":"2018-11-12T09:16:10","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T09:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkerten.com\/wordpress\/?p=20471"},"modified":"2018-11-16T13:41:07","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T13:41:07","slug":"japan-shikoku-thousand-years-olds-hot-springs-dogo-onsen-honkan-botchan-natsume-soseki-at-matsuyama-top-16-things-not-to-be-missed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkerten.com\/wordpress\/2018\/11\/japan-shikoku-thousand-years-olds-hot-springs-dogo-onsen-honkan-botchan-natsume-soseki-at-matsuyama-top-16-things-not-to-be-missed\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Shikoku : Thousand Years olds Hot Springs – Dogo Onsen Honkan & “Botchan” Natsume Soseki at Matsuyama. Top 16 things not to be missed!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matsuyama city Ehime Prefecture Shikoku\u00a0\u677e\u5c71\u00a0\u611b\u5a9b\u770c\u00a0\u56db\u56fd<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Matsuyama is the largest city in Shikuko island and also the capital of Ehime Prefecture. Tourists from everywhere rushed here to take a bath in the oldest hot springs – Dogo Onsen<\/strong> and visit the Botchan Train<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Dogo Onsen\u00a0\u9053\u5f8c\u6e29\u6cc9<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The wooden public bathhouse is oldest bathhouse in Japan, date from 1894. What make Dogo Onsen stand out from the rest of the public bathhouse is it has a “Yushinden” for the Imperial family.<\/p>\n

Dating from the Meiji period, the wooden bathhouse was visited by the Imperial family on various occasions. It was well-loved by the locals and one of them was the great Japanese novelist, Natsume Soseki \u590f\u76ee \u6f31\u77f3, who wrote the masterpiece, \u201cBotchan\u201d.\u00a0 Now locals love to\u00a0make a pilgrimage to Dogo Onsen.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Public bath place for women in RED<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Legend of the Egret\/White Heron<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you walked around Dogo Onsen, you see\u00a0the symbol used is egret or white herons displayed at the paper sliding door or at the noren\/Japanese dividers hung between rooms. According to legend, one of the wounded egret found a hot spring here and socked his wounded feet in the hot water and recovered and became well and flew away happily. People started to soaked in the hot spring and their health too improved and the news spread and the hot spring became popular.<\/p>\n

Public bath place for men in BLUE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

3. What is Yushinden?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The only bathing room in Japan reserved for the imperial family, built in 1899. It was modeled after the architectural style of the Momoyama Period, which was the last phase of the Sengoku Period in the 16th century.\u00a0 This is now a museum at the higher floor.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

The wood and stone used are high-quality and the gold leaf and images on the walls are partitions are fascinating to view. But what’s most impressive is the careful work done with exceptional attention to details<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a separate entrance (above picture) which is different from the public entrance for the Imperial family when they wanted to visit Dogo Onsen back in the olden days.\u00a0 There are also egrets at the sliding doors (see below).<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Botchan – Natsume Soseki<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Botchan is a famous novel that is read by every Japanese in Japan during their school year. I learn about Botchan when I was studying in Japan. The story is based on Natsume Soseki who is the author of Botchan own personal experience as a teacher in Matsuyama city in Shikuko. He was born in Tokyo but first time living outside Tokyo, to a countryside in Shikoku so he experience a lot of difference in the countryside of Japan. Natsume Soseki is one of the most famous author in the Japanese literature.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

View from the top floor of Dogo Onsen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Tama no Ishi – another Legend in Dogo Onsen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tama no Ishi is located outside of the building of Dogo Onsen.\u00a0 The big stone here has another legend for Dogo Onsen. Long long time, there are two gods called Okuninushi no Mikoto\u00a0\u5927\u56fd\u9b42\u547d and Sukunahikona no Mikoto \u5c11\u5f66\u540d\u547d. Sukunahikona no Mikoto had a bad illness so Okuninushi no Mikoto made Sukunahikona no Mikoto to soak in the hot spring and became well again. At the same time, his footprint was left and here is now a big stone called “Tama no Ishi”.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Animate by\u00a0Hayao Miyazaki\u00a0\u5bae\u5d0e \u99ff – Spirited Away\u201d (\u5343\u3068\u5343\u5c0b\u306e\u795e\u96a0\u3057) – observe the green rooftop!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There is another thing about Gogo Onsen that you may notice is the green rooftop and the special shape that you will see in many of the houses from Hayao Miyazaki’s animation – “Spirited Away”.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n

Entrance tickets for Dogo Onsen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you look at the entrance ticketing system you may get a shock as it is quite complicated as there are different package for you to choose from. From usual to comprehensive package which include access to a private tatami room on the third floor for relaxation with “Botchan Dango” sweets plus rental of Japanese bath robe\/yukata.<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/a><\/p>\n