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Matsuyama

Matsuyama
松山市
Core city
From top left:Dōgo Onsen Honkan, Stone monument of Shiki Masaoka, Matsuyama Castle, Botchan train, The gate of Ishite-ji, Iyotetsu Matsuyama-shi Station, Gintengai Street
From top left:Dōgo Onsen Honkan, Stone monument of Shiki Masaoka, Matsuyama Castle, Botchan train, The gate of Ishite-ji, Iyotetsu Matsuyama-shi Station, Gintengai Street
Flag of Matsuyama
Flag
Location of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture
Location of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture
Matsuyama is located in Japan
Matsuyama
Matsuyama
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 33°50′N 132°46′E / 33.833°N 132.767°E / 33.833; 132.767Coordinates: 33°50′N 132°46′E / 33.833°N 132.767°E / 33.833; 132.767
Country Japan
Region Shikoku
Prefecture Ehime Prefecture
Government
 • Mayor Katsuhito Noshi (since December 2010)
Area
 • Total 428.86 km2 (165.58 sq mi)
Population (December 1, 2014)
 • Total 516,459
Symbols
 • Flower Camellia
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City hall address 4-7-2 Nibanchō, Matsuyama-shi, Ehime-ken
790-8571
Website www.city.matsuyama.ehime.jp/lang/en

Matsuyama (松山市 Matsuyama-shi?, Japanese: [màtsùꜜyàmà]) is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan and also Shikoku's largest city, with a population of 516,459 as of December 1, 2014. It is located on the northeastern portion of the Dōgo Plain. Its name means "pine mountain". The city was founded on December 15, 1889.

The city is known for its hot springs (onsen), among the oldest in Japan, and is home to the Dōgo Onsen Honkan, a Meiji Period wooden public bathhouse dating from 1894. A second favorite tourist spot is Matsuyama Castle. Eight of the eighty-eight temples in the Shikoku Pilgrimage are in Matsuyama.

Matsuyama was in medieval times part of the Iyo-Matsuyama Domain, a fiefdom of Iyo Province consisting mainly of a castle town, supporting Matsuyama Castle. There was a nearby village at Dōgo Onsen to the east and a port somewhat farther to the west at Mitsuhama providing a link to the Japanese mainland (Honshū) and Kyūshū.

Dōgo Onsen was already famous in the Asuka period, as Shotoku Taishi visited the spa in the year 596. It is also mentioned in passing in The Tale of Genji. The site of the former Yuzuki Castle is nearby.


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