Matsuyama Dogo Nishiyu

Matsuyama Dogo Nishiyu is located in Matsuyama, the capital of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, adjacent to the legendary Dogo Onsen — considered Japan's oldest continuously operating hot spring, with origins attributed in ancient texts to over 3,000 years ago and with a connection to the imperial family stretching back to the Nihon Shoki chronicles, making Dogo not merely a famous onsen but a living heritage site of national mythology. The main building of Dogo Onsen Honkan, a magnificent multi-tiered wooden structure completed in 1894, is believed to have inspired Miyazaki Hayao's bathhouse design for the 2001 Studio Ghibli film 'Spirited Away' — one of the highest-grossing animated films in history — lending Dogo Onsen a global pop-cultural significance that has brought visitors from across the world to experience its historic wooden bathrooms and the layers of Japanese bathing tradition preserved within. Matsuyama Castle, haiku poet Masaoka Shiki's birthplace, and the city's distinctive literary and cultural heritage complete a destination of extraordinary depth.