Matsuyama Dogo Funaya onsen

We stayed the night in Matsuyama at the Dogo Funaya onsen. We booked a Japanese style room, but opted out of the dinner since it was unlikely the children would handle a traditional teishoku course. We were given a thorough tour and explanation of the room, then we dropped our bags and went to explore the area. 

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The main point of interest nearby in the evening was the local shopping arcade. My goal was to try the specialty mikan cheesecake...but the store was closed on Tuesdays. With tremendous sorrow, a heavy heart, and an empty belly, we carried on. 

The other other main point of interest in the area is Dogo Onsen. It is an old, traditional bath house that apparently served as the inspiration for the interior in Spirited Away. 

We grabbed some dinner in the area, then settled into our rooms. My main objective was to check out the hot springs in the hotel. The granite room was open to men in the evening, so I visited there. Rowan joined me, and we luxuriated in several of the baths together for about an hour. We tried the tepid pool first, then the warm indoor pool, followed by two outdoor pools. Thoroughly luxuriated, we returned to our rooms to sleep. The next morning the baths opened up at 5 am, so I headed down to check out the Hinoki bath. Similar layout of baths, but the hinoki room also included a sauna. Of the two, I definitely enjoyed the granite room best. 

The stay included breakfast, and it was fancy! But sadly I didn't grab any photos! Rowan declared that onsen ryokan were the best, and we should stay at one every night. 

After breakfast we visited a couple of the local shrines and got a photo of Dogo onsen in the daylight. 

Originally we were going to visit Hiroshima directly, but I read conflicting information as to whether we could simply walk onto the ferry or not. Deciding on simplicity, we returned to Osaka via the way we came, never having once tasted a delicious mikan no-bake cream cheese cake. 

Matsuyama Castle

 Our visit to Matsuyama came about entirely by error. When trying to psych the kids up for places to see in Japan, I had looked up Matsuyama instead of Matsumoto. And it looked amazing! And the kids really, really wanted to go. 

It's an original castle, one of around 12 remaining in Japan, so it ticked some boxes for me, as well. The downside was...it's on Ehime, an island separated from the mainland by the Seto Inland Sea. Getting to Matsuyama from Osaka is a minimum 4 hour trip. There wasn't really a feasible way to get to and from the castle in a single day and still explore the area. 

Then, by stroke of fortune, I happened to win a bursary through my employment. It was enough to defray most of the costs of staying at a ryokan in Matsuyama. And had the added benefit of letting the kids experience the whole 'ryokan' experience, which we otherwise would not do with our month-long house rental. It was set!

And so Tuesday we packed an overnight bag and began our long journey to Matsuyama. The train ride was the longest of the trip for the kids, but after the flight, it seemed fast and luxurious. The scenery was gorgeous as we travelled along and we spotted some very interesting sites along the way. 

Arriving in Matsuyama station, we stowed our bags in a locker, and began the hike up Matsuyama. First, we explored the third bailey - it features an elaborate garden in spring, but it was winter still. We saw the gardeners making preparations for planting. Regardless, it was an interesting spot to visit. 

Then, we had to climb the mountain. There is a ropeway and/or chairlift option to the middle peak, but it was on the other side of the park. Because we had walked over from the station, we were on the wrong side of the mountain to use it. And so, we had the choice - walk around the mountain, or walk up it. We decided to walk up it.

It turns out reaching the ropeway top is the halfway point. So we walked some more. And some more. And some more. We eventually reached the castle gates. Whereupon we had another 15 minutes of walking to get into the castle. But it was totally worth it. 

This castle is amazing. Soooo amazing. 

In many ways, it was similar to Matsumoto castle, in that it's still largely in its original shape, so what is on display is the castle itself. There is the usual assortment of historical artifacts along the interior route: ceremonial robes, swords, paintings, rice scoops, and so on. But they were simply window dressing to the castle itself. The architecture itself, the woodworking details, the elaborate clay tiles, the fantastic stone drops and murder holes...all were very much at the forefront of the display.

Ice cream tally: 7

Osaka aquarium

We had genuinely warned our children that adventures feature lots and lots of walking. But like all good children they rolled their eyes, knew better and simply ignored our sagacious wisdom. Then complained that their feet were tired. Why, we had hardly done more than 18,000 steps (mostly uphill) the day previous, and already they were fatigued? 

Our tentative plan had been to visit Miyajima and Iwakuni on Monday, but given the mumbles and grumbles of the assembled persons and their dire lack of footly fortitude, we opted instead to visit Osaka aquarium. It was the thing the kids were most looking forward to on this trip, and it was super close by, so we wouldn't have to activate our rail passes yet. 

I feel like the aquarium had changed somewhat from our first foray here, but it has been 18 years since we last visited. I may simply be misremembering. Regardless, it remains impressive. 

We opted to purchase the audio guides for the children, which purported to provide additional audio details about exhibits. Alas, it was wasted on my children, whose knowledge of marine biology is uncannily deep thanks to our very competitive games of 20 questions. Locke dutifully listened to all the audio guide had to provide, but I think he had more fun playing with the guide itself, as opposed to the superficial information it provided. 

What I found particularly enjoyable about this visit was the maturity level of my kids. When we visited zoos and aquariums while they were younger, they would try to see as much as possible, as quickly as possible. This time, they were content to stop and watch exhibits for considerable time before moving on. It made for a leisurely and enjoyable experience. 

All in all we spent three or four hours at the aquarium, then finished with a visit to the cafe. We all decided to try to 'eel' hot dogs. 

Upon completion, the kids immediately asked if we could go visit again before we head home. And I suspect we will. 

Ice cream tally: 4