Our Ehime delegation of 10 persons from Southern California visited the Ehime Prefectural Government office building in Matsuyama City on Friday, October 25, 2024. We traveled to Ozu, Uchiko, and Imabari during our three-day stay in Matsuyama City. In Ozu, the Tobeyaki lunch experience was delicious and memorable. The leisurely stroll through the narrow old paths through the traditional town of Uchiko displayed many intriguing small family shops, hand-made candles, and original craft tools. The group had a challenging task of hands-on Soba making experience at Michinoeki Nakayama. We processed and prepared our stack of soba from scratch and the chefs cooked our actual handmade soba in the hot pots and we had it for lunch. The thickness of the soba varied, but it was delicious when dipped into the special soba sauce. Our itinerary also took us to the famous towel manufacturer of Imabari, where we experienced the beautiful museum and the huge Imabari towel store.

When we visited the Ehime Prefectural Government office, we had the chance to meet with the staff of the Tourism and International Affairs Division. On the night of Saturday, October 26, Kimiko and I were invited to attend the dinner party for the Opening of the 2024 Cycling Shimanami event. There were many special guests including the Governor Nakamura of Ehime Prefecture Government and the Governor Yuzaki from Hiroshima Prefecture and local government officials.

The Ehime Furusato Tour #3 was exciting and enjoyable, but especially a big thank you in memory of our organizer, the late Nancy Kikuchi, who initially organized this Furusato Tour in the late 2000’s. I hope everyone on this trip enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for the participants who joined on this trip.