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The largest city in Shikoku. Jingling trolley cars for
sightseeing carry tourists through Matsuyama castle town.
Located in
the center of Ehime and facing the Sea of Iyo in the Seto Inland Sea, Matsuyama
is the largest city and the center of administration and economy on Shikoku. The
city is also an important junction with railways and bus services extending from
JR Matsuyama Station and Matsuyama-shi Station (Iyo Line) to various places
inside and outside the prefecture.
On the
hill in the center of the city stands Matsuyama Castle, the symbol of the town.
The castle and its surrounding area as a whole constitute a historic site park.
A 6-minute ride on a ropeway and lift takes you up to the mountain's top, where
the ridge has been leveled. From the terminal of the lift, there is an ascent
path to the castle and its tower. If you go up the steep wooden stairway to the
top floor in the castle tower, the panoramic view includes Mt. Ishizuchi-yama
and the Sea of Iyo.
Convenient for making a round of the sightseeing spots in the city are
the trolley cars, nicknamed "ting-ting densha," that run in all directions to
serve the citizens of Matsuyama as a daily means of transportation. Having
everything to make you feel idyllic, from the orange matchbox style to the
wooden-made interior with velvet-covered seats, the driver's uniform, and the
ting-ting sound as alighting signal, the trolley car gives you a comfortable
ride, not to mention the exhilaration of going right through the middle of a
busy street. In addition, the steam train that ran for 67 years from 1888, and
which people in "Bocchan (Young boy)," a novel written by one of Japan's great
literary figures Soseki Natsume, used, was renovated in 2001. It is now called
the "Bocchan Train," and this steam train running around and blowing a whistle
is loved by many tourists.
The bridge linking Shikoku and other islands with Honshu,
surrounded by the islands of the Seto Inland Sea.
The
Nishi-Seto Expressway, also known as the Seto-uchi Shimanami-Kaido (highway
above sea), was opened to traffic on 1 May 1999. The bridge connects Onomichi
City in Hiroshima and Imabari City in Ehime, as well as six islands (namely
Mukai-shima, Inno-shima, Ikuchi-jima, Omi-shima, Hakata-jima, and O-shima
islands) within the Geiyo Islands situated near the center of the Seto Inland
Sea. The completion of the Shimanami-Kaido has made Ehime more easily accessible
from Honshu and driving through the Geiyo Islands possible. The highway also
allows passage by bicycle and on foot. |