During Silver Week, my wife and I took a trip to Ehime. We drove around a lot – about 700 km in 3 days, actually! In between the taimeshi and castles, we visited at a small, unassuming train stop south of Matsuyama. It’s called Shimonada Station.
As you can see, this was a tiny stop in a very small town. Why drive to a random train station in the middle of nowhere? Well, Shimonada is known for its picturesque, elevated position overlooking the sea. In fact, it’s supposedly the closest station to the ocean anywhere in Japan. In recent years, it seems to have exploded in popularity thanks to social media.
Is it worth going? Hard to say. The train ride along the coast is certainly very beautiful, if you want to travel the rails. But there’s not much to do at Shimonada besides take a few pictures. If you’re getting around by car, you can do it as a daytrip from Matsuyama and look for the little roadside stops. Here and there you’ll find places to try local food or dip your toes in the water. And if you drive far enough, you can even visit Sada Peninsula or Ozu Castle down in the corner of Ehime.
One little bonus: there’s a friendly volunteer tuk-tuk driver at the parking lot who will take you up the hill to Shimonada Station!
