By TAKESHI KAMIYA/ Staff Writer
July 25, 2024 at 07:00 JST
MATSUYAMA—At Dogo Onsen here, the iconic, 130-year-old main bathhouse reopened fully on July 11 after five and a half years of renovations and repair work.
The historic building, the first public bathhouse in Japan to be designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1994, has maintained its appeal to this day.
Despite heavy rain, roaring thunder and flashes of lightning, 70 visitors lined up outside the communal bath facility before its highly anticipated opening at 6 a.m.
A pair of 20-year-old college juniors, Yuri Morishita and Kotone Nose, said they had arrived at 10 p.m. the night before and held the first spot in line all through the night hoping to “become the first bathers.”
Although both Morishita and Nose live in Matsuyama and work part time at the nearby Dogo Onsen Annex, neither had ever bathed in Dogo Onsen Honkan, the main building.
Morishita and Nose described the main bathhouse building as the “symbol of the Dogo” spa resort. They added that, without the main attraction the onsen “could hardly be called Dogo.”
Morishita and Nose were looking forward to “warming up in the hot water,” after waiting outside in the cold all night.
At 6 a.m., the Tokidaiko drum at the Shinrokaku turret high upon Dogo Onsen Honkan was struck six times to signal the hour.
As the storm raged and rain poured down, the entrance door—bearing the famed “Dogo Onsen” sign—was finally thrown open.
Dogo Onsen Honkan’s wooden building was constructed 130 years ago during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and was refurbished occasionally between 1894 and 1924.
Over time and constant use as a busy bathhouse, the wooden structure began to show signs of serious damage.
Matsuyama city began construction work to preserve and renovate the core building in January 2019, at a total cost of 2.6 billion yen ($16.3 million). The structure’s earthquake resistance was enhanced, the tiled roofing was replaced and interior maintenance conducted.
Repair work was carried out at different times for different sections of the building, enabling Dogo Onsen Honkan to partially continue operating. The aim was minimizing the project’s impact on local tourism.
All renovations are scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
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Visitors enter the Dogo Onsen Honkan public bathhouse in Matsuyama on July 11, which is fully open again. (Emiko Arimoto)
