Photo/Illutration Dogo Onsen Honkan in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, is undergoing renovation work but is still in operation, so visitors can enjoy its wonderful waters. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

What a welcoming name, “Do go!” As suggested, I went.

Dogo Onsen is an ancient hot spring spot in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku. The onsen is mentioned in the ancient anthology of Japanese poems, the “Manyoshu” (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), which was compiled around the year 760 during the Nara Period (710-784).

Legend has it that people saw an injured white heron heal itself in the waters, and when people followed suit, their ailments were cured, too.

There are three public bathhouse facilities at Dogo Onsen. Tsubaki-no-Yu, named after Matsuyama’s city flower, the camellia, looks like a magnificent “kurayashiki” warehouse residence with its dignified granite structure.

Dogo Onsen annex Asuka-no-Yu, which opened in 2017, is built in the Asuka style and has a replica of Yushinden, a bathing room for the imperial family. It also has a section that re-creates a scene from when Prince Shotoku visited Dogo Onsen and an open-air and other bathing rooms.

Dogo Onsen Honkan, the main old wooden building that looks like a shrine, was constructed in 1894. When I visited several years ago, I found the interior like a maze because it was made up of seven connected structures.

Following the GPS directions, my car headed toward Dogo Onsen Honkan.

What on Earth is this? According to my car GPS, the classic Honkan building should be right in front of me.

Instead, there’s this huge blue, black, white and yellow mural of two herons and a boat on the water. Huh? I scroll the navigation screen to double-check my bearings, only to find that I’m where I should be. I cautiously inch my car alongside the modern artistic fixture and find that it is a tent enveloping the Honkan.

It turns out that the 1894 structure featured in Natsume Soseki’s “Botchan”--and that was believed to be the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away”--is undergoing an extensive 2.6 billion yen ($20.7 million) renovation through the end of 2024.

Fortunately, all was not lost as they were open for business, albeit in a limited fashion.

I enjoyed a short soak (as it was crowded) in the Kami-no-Yu. Ookuninushi-no-mikoto towered two meters above me in my vulnerable nude state, making sure I minded my manners. Or so I thought.

Upon closer inspection, he was taking care of the sick Sukunahikona-no-mikoto, bathing him in Dogo’s healing waters.

The town of Dogo Onsen is tastefully designed, and even the Honkan conservation and repair work is done artfully. I can’t wait to visit its next incarnation in a few years.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the April 3 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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