Ehime
26 temples on 88-temple pilgrimage (temples 40-65), Dogo Onsen is Japan's oldest (3,000 years), top mikan producer. 2026: pushing UNESCO World Heritage for pilgrimage route.
Ehime exists on Shikoku's path to enlightenment. The 88-temple Shikoku Pilgrimage—a 1,200-year-old, 1,200km Buddhist circuit—passes through all four Shikoku prefectures, but Ehime hosts the most temples: 26 (temples 40-65), representing the "attaining enlightenment" phase of the spiritual journey. Some 150,000 pilgrims walk the route annually, spending 400,000 yen over six weeks if walking, less if busing or driving.
The pilgrimage intersects with older attractions. Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama has drawn visitors for 3,000 years—Japan's oldest hot spring, said to have inspired Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away bathhouse. Matsuyama Castle overlooks a city that served as provincial capital since feudal times. The Shimanami Kaido bridge route offers cycling across islands to Hiroshima, attracting a different kind of traveler.
Beyond tourism, Ehime produces more mikan oranges than any other prefecture—the citrus terraces visible from Shikoku's slopes. Tai (sea bream) dominates local cuisine. By 2026, Ehime and its Shikoku neighbors push for UNESCO World Heritage designation of the pilgrimage route, currently a "Provisional Candidate." If successful, the temples that guided spiritual seekers for twelve centuries may guide Shikoku's economic revival. Enlightenment, it turns out, has market value.