| Matsuyama, Ehime |
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Matsuyama (松山市; -shi) is the capital City of Ehime Prefecture on the Shikoku island of Japan . It is located on the northeastern portion of the Dogo Plain . Its name means "pine hill." The city was founded on December 15 , 1889 . The city is famous for Hot Springs ( Onsen ) and is home to Dogo Onsen , the oldest hot spring bath house in Japan. A second favorite tourist spot is Matsuyama Castle . Eight of the eighty-eight temples in the Shikoku Pilgrimage are in Matsuyama. Matsuyama is one of the Japanese cities that did not abolish their Street Car systems. The famed novel Botchan by Natsume Sōseki is set in Matsuyama. As a result, there are numerous sites and local named after the main character, including Botchan Stadium, the Botchan Densha (an antique train that runs on the streetcar route), and Botchan dango. The Haiku poet Masaoka Shiki lived in Matsuyama. His house, now known as the Shiki-do, and a museum, the Shiki Kinenkan, are popular attractions, and the centerpieces of the city's claim as a center of the international haiku movement. The Matsuyama Declaration of 1999 proposed the formation of International Haiku Research Center, and the first Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards were given in 2000. Recipients have included Yves Bonnefoy (2000), Cor Van Den Heuvel (2002) and Gary Snyder (2004). Matsuyama Airport has regular flights to Tokyo , Osaka , and other major Japanese cities and selected international destinations, including Shanghai . There is regular ferry service to Hiroshima and regular night ferries to Kobe , Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu , and sevaral other destinations. Matsuyama is home to several universities, including Ehime University, which is part of the Japanese National University system, and Matsuyama University, a private university. On January 1 , 2005 , the city of Hojo and the town of Nakajima (from the former Onsen District ) merged with Matsuyama. As of this merge, the city has an estimated Population of 512,982 and a Density of 1196 persons per Km² . The total (merged) area is 428.86 km². SISTER CITIES Matsuyama has three Sister Cities , as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI) : EXTERNAL LINKS
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