Mt. Ishizuchi Shimanami Kaido

The island of Shikoku is the smallest of the four major islands of Japan, with an area of about 20,000 square kilometers. It has a mild temperature ranging from 5°C to 27°C and faces the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Seto Inland Sea to the north. Three extensive bridge systems link Shikoku to the main island of Honshu.

Ehime Prefecture, with a population of about 1,500,000, is the largest of the four prefectures on Shikoku. It is bordered on the north and west by the Seto Inland Sea National Park with hundreds of small islands covered by green pine trees. The prefecture is protected from typhoons and extremes of hot weather by the Shikoku Mountain Range in the south. The latter contains the sacred mountain, Ishizuchi-san, 1,982 meters high, which is the highest mountain in western Japan. Shikoku is also noted for the 1,300 km pilgrimage of 88 sacred temples related to the great Buddhist priest and scholar, Kobo-Daishi.

Matsuyama is the largest city on Shikoku, the capital of Ehime Prefecture and the home of Ehime University. It has an international airport which is connected to Osaka and Tokyo by about 30 flights a day. The city can also be easily reached by train, bus, ferry or hydrofoil. With a population of half a million, it is a calm, regional center with a famous hot spa. In the center of the city sits Matsuyama Castle 132 meters above sea level. Dogo Hotspring Spa, located in the northeast corner of the city, has a history of over 3,000 years; it is said to be the oldest hot spring spa in Japan. Matsuyama is also one of the few cities left in Japan to have streetcars.