Botchan: Matsuyama and Dōgo Onsen

Botchan reaches Shikoku by steamer, and a clerk tells him this is where he gets off. The shore looks to him "like a fishing village about the size of Omori". He wouldn't stay in such a hole, he thinks, but he has to get out. The novel does not name the landing. Mitsuhama is where the Iyo Railway's first line began, so the pin marks that harbour district.

Precisión del lugar: The novel doesn't name the landing; the pin marks Mitsuhama, where the Iyo Railway line to Matsuyama began.

From the harbour Botchan takes the little Iyo Railway into town. In his words the train "looked as dinky as a matchbox": the whole ride took no more than five minutes, and the fare was only three sen. Since 12 October 2001 Iyotetsu has run a diesel-powered replica, the Botchan Ressha, named after the novel.

Precisión del lugar: The novel doesn't name the stations of the ride; the pin marks Dōgo Onsen Station, where the replica Botchan Ressha runs today.

Para el visitante: The Botchan Ressha replica runs on Iyotetsu's Matsuyama lines; check its timetable.

On his first morning the principal begins a long lecture on the spirit of education and expects him to be an example to the students. Botchan realises he is in a bad fix. Critics identify the school with today's Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School; his stay in Matsuyama lasts less than two months.

Precisión del lugar: The novel never names the school; critics identify it with this high school, and the pin marks that campus.

Dōgo Onsen is the one place Botchan likes in the area, and he bathes there every day. In the novel the bathhouse is a newly built three-story house, and a sign goes up there: "No swimming allowed in the tank." Dōgo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan and its public bathhouse, built in 1894 on three levels, remains popular.

Para el visitante: The public bathhouse is a short tram ride from central Matsuyama.

Late in the story the town holds a celebration, with long banners on the ground and fireworks overhead. A balloon floats up "over the pine trees near the castle tower" and falls inside the barracks compound. Matsuyama Castle, on its hill above the city, still has its tenshu, six watchtowers and several gates from the original castle.

Precisión del lugar: The scene is set in the town below; the pin marks the castle whose tower the novel mentions.

Para el visitante: A 20-minute walk from JR Shikoku Matsuyama Station.