Ehime

Ehime stretches along the north-west of Shikoku from the Inland Sea islands to the ria coast of the Uwa Sea, with the high Ishizuchi range along its southern border. It is the most populous prefecture of Shikoku, and Matsuyama, its capital, is the island's largest city. Traditionally it is divided into three areas: Tōyo in the east, Chūyo around Matsuyama and Nan'yo in the south-west.

Ehime is synonymous with citrus: terraced groves of mikan and newer varieties cover the coastal slopes. Its cultural landmarks include Dōgo Onsen, one of Japan's oldest hot springs, the original keeps of Matsuyama and Uwajima castles, and the literary world of Masaoka Shiki and Natsume Sōseki's Botchan. The islands of the Geiyo archipelago, once the domain of the Murakami sea clans, are crossed by the Shimanami Kaido from Imabari to Onomichi.

The prefecture has a strong industrial base in Imabari's shipyards and towel mills, Niihama's copper-based chemical industry and Shikokuchūō's paper mills. For pilgrims, Ehime's 26 henro temples, from Kanjizai-ji to Sankaku-ji, form the "dōjō of enlightenment".

The name comes from the Kojiki, which describes the island of Shikoku as having four faces, each with the name of a deity; the face of Iyo is called Ehime, "lovely princess". The name was chosen for the prefecture in 1873.

Ehime corresponds to the province of Iyo, which in the Edo period was divided among eight domains, including Matsuyama (Hisamatsu-Matsudaira), Uwajima (Date), Ōzu (Katō), Imabari and Saijō. After the abolition of the domains, Ishizuchi and Kamiyama prefectures were merged into Ehime in 1873. Kagawa was attached to it from 1876 to 1888.

The Median Tectonic Line runs along the north coast, and south of it the Ishizuchi Mountains rise steeply to Ishizuchi-san, at 1,982 metres the highest peak in western Japan. The Dōgo plain around Matsuyama and the Dōzen plain around Saijō and Niihama are the main lowlands. In the far west, the Sadamisaki peninsula reaches some 40 kilometres towards Kyushu, Japan's longest narrow peninsula.

The Uwa Sea coast in the south-west is a drowned ria landscape of bays used for pearl and fish farming, part of Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park. To the north, the Geiyo islands lie in the Setonaikai National Park. Inland, the Hiji River winds through Ōzu, and the Shikoku Karst limestone plateau lies on the Kōchi border.

The Inland Sea coast has a mild, relatively dry climate well suited to citrus. The Nan'yo region in the south-west is warmer and wetter, while the Ishizuchi range receives heavy snow in winter. Ōzu is known for the arashi, a cold wind that pours down the Hiji River valley with morning fog on autumn and winter days.

Dōgo Onsen appears in the earliest chronicles and fudoki as a spa visited by emperors. In the medieval period the Kōno clan ruled much of Iyo from Dōgo, while the Murakami sea clans of Noshima, Kurushima and Innoshima controlled the Inland Sea routes. The Ōyamazumi Shrine on Ōmishima, dedicated to the god of mountains and seas, received arms and armour from warriors, and today holds a large part of Japan's designated historic armour.

After 1600 Katō Yoshiaki built Matsuyama Castle and Tōdō Takatora built Imabari Castle; from 1615 a branch of the Date family ruled Uwajima. In the Meiji era the Iyo Railway of 1888 became Shikoku's first railway, and the Besshi copper mine at Niihama grew into the foundation of the Sumitomo group. Matsuyama held Russian prisoners of war in 1904–1905. The Shimanami Kaido linked Imabari with Honshu in 1999.

Ehime prides itself on literature: Masaoka Shiki, the reformer of haiku, was born in Matsuyama, the city holds a haiku culture visible in post boxes for poems, and Sōseki's Botchan has made the city and Dōgo Onsen known to every Japanese reader. Festivals are especially vigorous in autumn, when the mikoshi of Matsuyama clash, the huge drum floats of Niihama are hoisted by teams of bearers and the danjiri of Saijō fill the streets.

In the south-west, the former Date domain of Uwajima has its own traditions: bullfighting in which bulls push against each other, and the giant demon-headed Ushi-oni floats. Crafts include Tobe-yaki porcelain and Ōzu washi.

Citrus is everywhere in Ehime, from the mikan of the terraced coast to juice, jellies and newer varieties. The Inland Sea and Uwa Sea supply sea bream, of which Ehime is one of Japan's leading farmers, and small fish ground into fish cakes. Imabari has its own fast-food culture of griddled yakitori and yakibuta rice.

Ehime has one of the most industrialised economies in Shikoku. Imabari forms Japan's largest shipbuilding and shipping cluster and is the country's largest towel-producing area; Niihama grew from the Besshi copper mine into a centre of non-ferrous metals and chemicals; and Shikokuchūō is Japan's leading paper-making city. Agriculture and aquaculture are equally important, led by citrus, farmed sea bream and pearls.