Mima Town 三間町

Description

Mima-cho is a small community known for growing rice, nestled in between the slightly larger towns of Kihoku, Yoshida and Uwa, on the west side of Ehime. The town has a population of about 6,500.


Location / Access / Transport

  • By train: from Uwajima – 15mins by local JR. The main station in Mima is Muden (務田) & Iyo-Miyanoshita (伊予宮野下).
  • By car: 15mins from Uwajima station

Shopping

  • Small A Co-op supermarket
  • Two liquor shops

Dining Out

  • Several small coffee shops in the center of town
  • Tougyu – Korean BBQ restaurant

Tourism / Festivals / Highlights

  • Two of the 88 temples
  • Interesting historical places
  • Illumination at park in winter


Tsushima Town 津島町

Description

Tsushima is a town with a population of about 13,000. It is famous for both pearl and fish farming.


Location / Access / Transport

  • 20 minutes by car, south of Uwajima
  • Local buses run very frequently from Uwajima, taking around 30 minutes. No train line.

Shopping

  • Rich supermarket

Dining Out

  • Je Taime café/restaurant, great buffet on Sunday morning and good food/cakes

Leisure

  • Tsushima hot spring
  • Nanrakuen Park – beautiful park famous in the area. Nice for weekend walks.

Tourism / Festivals / Highlights

  • Small Ushioni Festival
  • Shirauo – People gather to eat small fish alive! A definite culinary adventure.


Uwajima City 宇和島市

Description

Uwajima is one of the larger cities in southern Ehime with a population of about 90,000.

Website – http://www.city.uwajima.ehime.jp (Japanese)


Location / Access / Transport

Uwajima is south of Matsuyama, on the west coast of Shikoku.

  • By train: (to/from Matsuyama by express or tokkyu) – 1hr 20mins, /2950
  • By bus: (to/from Matsuyama) – 2hrs, 1750, hourly. Buses from Matsuyama continue on to Ainan.
  • By car: (to/from Matsuyama) – under 2 hours on the expressway.

Shopping

  • Shotengai (shopping arcade, 5 minutes right of the train station) has lots of quirky shops:
    • Doux sells a range of gifts
    • Grand has western music and a wide range of video games
    • There is a good stationary shop near to Grand (same side).
    • Shinbashi supermarket has a great 100yen shop on the 4th floor.
    • Other shops sell various items – Japanese sweets, Kimono and accessories, hats etc.
  • Kita Fuji: A bit of a walk north of the station, (follow Route 56 towards Yoshida), this huge superstore sells everything – food, decent clothes, stationary, video games, bedding etc.
  • Ebisu Fuji: 5 minutes right of the station, this is much smaller than Kita Fuji but sells similar things – try upstairs for kids.
  • 2 floor 10yen store 5 minutes right of the station (around the corner on R56).
  • Oasis hair salon: great place for a hair cut. Hidemi, the owner, speaks some English. Near the castle opposite Dynamite.
  • Plenty of souvenir shops located near the station.
  • Large ‘Sunshine’ supermarket near to Higashi High School (100yen shop upstairs), and a huge RICH supermarket on the way out to Tsushima.
  • Uniqlo (past RICH on the way to Tsushima) has good western sized clothes at reasonable prices. Take a bus or drive there.

Dining Out

  • Gusto – fast food at reasonable prices (R56 towards Tsuhima)
  • Joyfull x2 – again, cheap fast food (both on R56 towards Tsuhima)
  • McDonalds x2 (one near Kita Fuji and one under the overpass)
  • KFC (Kita Fuji)
  • Mr Donuts (Kita Fuji)
  • Gourmet Avenue (5 mins walk, turn right from the station):
    • Donto – good, inexpensive Japanese food (also near Kita Fuji)
    • Shinatora ramen – noodles in broth
    • Janjaka yaki-niku – excellent Korean BBQ and other dishes
  • Hareya conveyor belt sushi and yaki-niku (under the overpass). Great food and 100yen beer on Friday nights.
  • Sagano Onsen restaurant. 50yen beer on Thursday nights.

Leisure

  • Sagano Onsen – in the mountains, turn left at the big onsen sign going out towards Tsushima
  • Bowling alley and swimming pool, at Coa hotel towards Mima
  • Various sports; gym at Uwajima Sports Center.

Nightlife

  • Karaoke:
    • ‘Voice’ in the Shotengai is the best option.
    • ‘Jungle’ near the station is good for large groups.
    • ‘Sing a Song’ is near the castle.
  • Bars:
    • ‘Red Boots” is about a block from the top of the shopping arcade. It features U.S. memorabilia and offers some decent food.
    • ‘Hvala’ – friendly sports bar with big TV screen showing various sports (especially English soccer), opposite the bus center.
    • There are plenty of other good bars around, but beware of the ubiquitous hostess bars (usually very small with dodgy names and neon signs) who will charge you a small fortune just for sitting down!

Tourism / Festivals / Highlights

  • Taga Jinja – very famous (and phallic!) fertility shrine and museum – prepare to be shocked! Cross the bridge in front of Warei shrine and turn left. 5 mins walk. Museum entry fee is 800yen, though entry to the shrine is free.
  • Warei Shrine – large, beautiful shrine behind the station on R56 complete with gardens.
  • Gaiya Festival on 22nd-24th July every year. Modern and traditional dancing, amazing fireworks and Ushioni (demon-cow) parades.
  • Uwajima Castle – small, beautiful unreconstructed castle on a hill in the middle of Uwajima.


Yoshida Town 吉田町

Description

Yoshida is home to about 12,000 people, and is surrounded by mountains on one side, and water on the other.

Location / Access / Transport

Yoshida is located half-way between Uwa and Uwajima on Route 56.

  • By train: twice daily limited express train from/to Matsuyama; hourly local train service from/to Yawatahama
  • By bus: extensive bus service from/to Uwajima and Johen, and also from/to Matsuyama.
  • The Overnight bus from/to Osaka also stops in Yoshida.

Shopping

  • Fuji Grand on Route 56; supermarket; clothing/stationary shops; small electronics store; French bakery; fresh fruit/vegetable stalls; Mini DIK (hardware); Bobson denim factory outlet

Dining Out

  • Tandoor – excellent Indian cuisine, world famous in southern Ehime. Located between Yoshida and Uwa.
  • Chinese restaurant that serves an excellent stir-fry of mixed Asian greens and pretty decent ramen
  • Udon
  • Italian (that serves Japanese style Italian food, mainly spaghetti)

Leisure

  • Extensive sports centre including indoor and outdoor pool with a waterslide

Nightlife

  • Small karaoke corner and apparently a pretty good pub on the main street

Tourism / Festivals / Highlights

  • Stunning scenery, mikan mountains and Yoshida Bay make for a pretty awesome bike around and out of town
  • The Old Town – a small village with houses set up as they were in the olden days (like an interactive museum encasing a selection of old tools, antique pottery and old sea faring artifacts)
  • Annual combined elementary schools Halloween party is yet to be rivaled with a record 525 students attending in 2006!