is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...

. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km² (2,191

sq mi The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is an are ...

). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast,

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the nort ...

to the east, and Kōchi Prefecture to the southeast. Matsuyama is the capital and largest city of Ehime Prefecture and the largest city on Shikoku, with other major cities including Imabari,

Niihama 270px, Niihama City Hall 270px, Aerial View of Central Niihama is a city located in the eastern part of Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 115,824 in 57781 households and a population density of 490 persons per ...

, and Saijō. Notable past Ehime residents include three Nobel Prize winners: they are Kenzaburo Oe (1994

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 ...

), Shuji Nakamura (2014

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

), and

Syukuro Manabe is a Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist who pioneered the use of computers to simulate global climate change and natural climate variations. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Klaus Hasselmann and Giorg ...

(2021 Nobel Prize in Physics).

History

Until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, Ehime Prefecture was known as Iyo Province. Since before the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, the area was dominated by fishermen and sailors who played an important role in defending Japan against pirates and Mongolian invasions. After the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara ( Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, the Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' gave the area to his allies, including

Katō Yoshiaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period who served as lord of the Aizu Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of the ''shichi-hon ...

who built

Matsuyama Castle Matsuyama Castle (松山城; -jō) is the name of several castles in Japan: * Bitchū Matsuyama Castle, Takahashi, Okayama (former Bitchū Province) * Matsuyama Castle (Iyo) is a "flatland-mountain"-style Japanese castle that was built in 160 ...

, forming the basis for the modern city of Matsuyama. The name Ehime comes from the '' kuniumi'' part of the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperi ...

'' where Iyo Province is mythologically named Ehime, "lovely princess". In 2012, a research group from the University of Tokyo and Ehime University said they had discovered rare earth deposits in Matsuyama.

Geography

Located in the northwestern part of Shikoku, Ehime faces the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...

to the north and is bordered by Kagawa and Tokushima in the east and

Kōchi Kochi is a city in Kerala, India. Kochi or Kōchi may also refer to: People * Kochi people, a predominantly Pashtun nomadic people of Afghanistan * , a Japanese surname: ** Arata Kochi (born 1948 or 1949), Japanese physician and World Health Org ...

in the south. The prefecture includes both high mountains in the inland region and a long coastline, with many islands in the

. The westernmost arm of Ehime, the Sadamisaki Peninsula, is the narrowest peninsula in Japan. As of 31 March 2020, 7 percent of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Ashizuri-Uwakai and

Setonaikai The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to O ...

National Parks; Ishizuchi Quasi-National Park; and Hijikawa, Kinshako, Okudōgo Tamagawa, Sadamisaki Hantō-Uwakai, Saragamine Renpō,

Sasayama , formerly known as , is a city in the central eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,050 in 17523 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geograph ...

, and Shikoku Karst Prefectural Natural Parks.

Cities

Eleven cities are located in Ehime Prefecture:

Towns and villages

These are the towns in each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Mergers

Former districts: * Uwa District (historical) * Uma District * Shūsō District * Onsen District

Economy

The coastal areas around Imabari and Saijō host a number of industries, including dockyards of Japan's largest shipbuilder, Imabari Shipbuilding. Chemical industries, oil refining, paper and cotton textile products also are a feature of the prefecture. Rural areas mostly engage in

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

industries, and are particularly known for citrus fruits such as ''mikan'' (

mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of Orange (fruit), orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of ...

), iyokan and

cultured pearl Cultured pearls are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Just as the same as natural pearls, cultured pearls ...

s. Ikata Nuclear Power Plant produces a large portion of Shikoku Electric Power.

Education

Universities and colleges

National

* Ehime University

Prefectural

Ehime Prefectural University of Health Science is a public university in the town of Tobe, Ehime Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by t ...

Private

* St. Catherine University * Matsuyama University * Matsuyama Shinonome College (

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...

)

Senior high schools

Prefectural

* Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Central Senior High School *

Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School is a Japanese high school in Matsuyama, Ehime founded in 1878 as Matsuyama Middle School. History The high school was founded as Matsuyama Middle School in 1878. Although the school was founded during the Meiji period, it has earlier roots in ...

* Ehime Prefectural Mishima High School *

Ehime Prefectural Uwajima Fisheries High School is a public high school located in Meirinchō, Uwajima, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan established in 1945 as the . Overview Established in 1945, Ehime Prefectural Uwajima Fisheries High School has produced a large number of alumni. The school was es ...

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Ehime. Football (soccer) *

Ehime F.C. is a professional football club based in Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime Prefecture of Japan. After winning the JFL championship in 2005, the club now plays in . History The club was founded in 1970 as Matsuyama Soccer Club and rena ...

* FC Imabari Baseball * Ehime Mandarin Pirates Basketball * Ehime Orange Vikings

Culture

The oldest extant hot spring in Japan, Dōgo Onsen, is located in Matsuyama. It has been used for over two thousand years. These are television shows and movies set in Ehime Prefecture. * '' Tokyo Love Story ''is a story with characters are from Ehime Prefecture. Therefore, a lot of shooting was done in Ehime. Baishinji Station is famous for being filmed. * ''

Shodō Girls is a 2010 Japanese film. This film is based on the story behind the ''Shodō Performance Kōshien'', a performance calligraphy competition in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Directed by Ryuichi Inomata, this film stars actress Riko Narumi as the head o ...

'' was made based on the true story of a high school student in

Shikokuchūō is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,635 in 28876 households and a population density of 200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Shikokuchūō is the leading producer of pape ...

. A member of the calligraphy club began doing Performance calligraphy at shopping malls and events to liven up the local region. After that, the Shodō Performance Koshien ( 書道パフォーマンス甲子園) was held in 2008. * ''

Botchan is a novel written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is one of the most popular Japanese novels, read by many during their school years. The central theme of the story is morality, but the narrator serves up this theme with gener ...

''is a novel written by Natsume Sōseki. It was based on his experience in Matsuyama. Movies, dramas, and manga are published based on the novel.

Botchan Ressha The , or simply ''Botchan'', is a diesel-powered replica of a small-gauge steam locomotive installed in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan in 1888 as the original Iyo Railway, which was the first railway company in Shikoku and third in the nati ...

and Botchan Stadium are associated with this. * ''

Saka no Ue no Kumo , or "Clouds Above the Hill" is a Japanese historical novel by Shiba Ryōtarō originally published serially from 1968 to 1972 in eight volumes. A three-year NHK television special drama series based on the novel and also entitled '' Saka no U ...

'' is written by

Ryōtarō Shiba , also known as , was a Japanese author. He is best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the r ...

. The main characters are Akiyama Yoshifuru, Akiyama Saneyuki and Masaoka Shiki, all of whom are from Ehime prefecture. It was broadcast on NHK as a TV drama. *''Koi wa Go・Hichi・Go！ ''（恋は五・七・五！）is set in

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, ...

Koshien, which is actually performed. The shooting was done at a high school, university, and library in Ehime. The haiku of this movie was supervised by Itsuki Natsui, haiku poet from Ehime. * ''Destruction Babies ''( ディストラクション・ベイビーズ) is set in Ehime. This movie was made based on the true story that the director head from a person he met when he visited Matsuyama. The director won an award at the Locarno Festival in 2016, and the film was selected as semi-grand prix at the Three Continents Festival in 2016. * '' My-HiME'' is set in Ehime. There are major festivals in Ehime Prefecture. *

Uwajima Ushi-oni Festival is a festival and purification event held annually July 22–24 in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The festival derives from an incident in the 16th-century Japanese invasions of Korea, and includes an ''ushi-oni'' parade, Tōgyū, bull fighting ...

is held for three days, with a parade of many

Ushi-oni The , or gyūki, is a yōkai from the folklore of western Japan. The folklore describes more than one kind of ''ushi-oni'', but the depiction of a bovine-headed monster occurs in most. ''Ushi-oni'' generally appear on beaches and attack peopl ...

walking around the city, a traditional Uwajima dance, a fireworks display, and a run on the final day. *Niihama Taiko Festival is the autumn festival in

. The drum stand is lifted by about 150 men. It is one of the three biggest fight festivals in Japan. *The Matsuyama Autumn Festival includes a

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or wh ...

event called ''Hachiawase'' (鉢合わせ) which takes place near Dōgo Onsen and Isaniwa Shrine.

Hot Springs

These are Hot Springs in Ehime Prefecture. * Dōgo Onsen appears in the Nihon Shoki. This Hot Spring has three public baths: the main building, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu. *Sora to Mori is a combined warm bath facility. There are hot springs, restaurants, and body care. *Nibukawa Onsen is a hot spring located in Imabari. The source originates from the crevices of the Inugawa Valley in this hot spring town.

Language

Iyo dialect is a Japanese dialect spoken in Ehime Prefecture. Nanyo is influenced by the

Kyushu dialect The dialects of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including Tokyo) and Western (including Kyoto), with the dialects of Kyushu and Hachijō Island often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the most di ...

, and Chuyo and Toyo are influenced by the Kinki dialect.

Museums

Museum of Ehime History and Culture is a history museum located in Seiyo, Ehime, Japan. The museum introduces mainly the history and folklore of Ehime prefecture in general, and the southern region of it in specific. History The museum was opened to the public in November 199 ...

Kaimei School is a school located in Seiyo, Ehime, Ehime, Japan, which was built in 1882, and is considered to be the oldest school in Shikoku. With its rare Giyōfū architectural style on kaimei school was designated as one of the important cultural pro ...

Transport

Railway

* Shikoku Railway (JR Shikoku) ** Yosan Line ** Yodo Line ** Uchiko Line * Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu) **Gunchū Line **Takahama Line **Yokogawara Line **Matsuyama Inner Line

Road

Expressway

* Matsuyama Expressway *Tokushima Expressway *

Takamatsu Expressway The is an expressway in the Shikoku region of Japan. The expressway is numbered E11. Overview The expressway is an important route connecting the greater Osaka area with Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa Prefecture. Beyond Takamatsu, the route f ...

*Kochi Expressway * Nishiseto Expressway (also referred to as the Shimanami Kaidō) *Imabari Komatsu Road

National highways

*Route 11 *Route 33 (Matsuyama-

) *Route 56 (Matsuyama-Iyo-Uwajima- Sukumo- Susaki-Kōchi) *Route 192 (Saijyo-Shikoku Chuo- Yoshinogawa- Tokushima) *Route 194 *Route 196 *Route 197 *Route 317 (Matsuyama-Imabari-

Onomichi is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. The city was founded on April 1, 1898. As of April 30, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 141,811 and a population density of 497.8 persons per km2. The total are ...

) *Route 319 *Route 320 *Route 378 *Route 380 *Route 437 *Route 440 *Route 441 *Route 494 (Matsuyama- Niyodogawa-Susaki)

Ports

*Kawanoe Port *Niihama Port - Ferry route to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

*Toyo Port - Ferry route to Osaka *Imabari Port - Ferry route to Innoshima, Hakata Island, and international container hub port *Matsuyama Port - Ferry route to

Kitakyushu is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one of ...

, Yanai, Hiroshima, Kure, and international container hub port *Yawatahama Port - Ferry route to

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

, Usuki *Misaki Port - Ferry route to Oita *Uwajima Port

Airport

* Matsuyama Airport

Notable people

* Naoki Kuwata (born 1977), actor and model

International sister cities / Economic exchange counterparts

Ehime Prefecture is making use of its long tradition of involvement with people overseas through international exchanges in areas such as the economy, culture, sports and education. *

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...

( China) * Liaoning ( China) *

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

) *

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

( Australia) *

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

( Australia) *

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

(

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

)

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the reti ...

.
OCLC 58053128

External links

* {{Authority control Shikoku region Prefectures of Japan