Dogo Onsen Goyuin

A 御湯印 (goyuin) is the onsen cousin of the temple-and-shrine goshuin (御朱印): a hand-made washi card you buy as a keepsake of your visit. Matsuyama's Dogo Onsen Office issues three of them, one for each of Dogo's public external baths, so collecting the set is a small souvenir circuit around one of Japan's oldest hot springs. There is no stamp rally and no prize here. You just buy the card you like at each bath's counter.

Each card pairs its bathhouse with the Dogo hot-spring-circle (yudama, 湯玉) and the white heron (shirasagi, 白鷺) of the spring's founding legend, drawn by Matsuyama illustrator Sumikawa Yuji (隅川雄二). They are about 15 cm tall and 10 cm wide, and come in two grades.

The two grades

Standard washi (和紙製): ¥400. The everyday version, printed on washi paper.

Hand-made deckled-edge washi (耳付き手漉き和紙製): ¥600. The hot-spring-circle is finished by hand with gold leaf, using the gilding (ギルディング) technique, so each card's colour comes out a little different.

The three baths and where to buy

• 道後温泉本館 (Honkan): the grand 1894 wooden bathhouse, an Important Cultural Property. Buy the goyuin at the 1F gift shop.
• 道後温泉別館 飛鳥乃湯泉 (Asuka-no-Yu): the 2017 bath built in Asuka-period style. Buy at the 1F reception or the 2F main hall.
• 椿の湯 (Tsubaki-no-Yu): the locals' everyday bath next to Asuka-no-Yu. Buy at reception.

Sales began on 2024-11-01. The cards are issued by the Dogo Onsen Office (道後温泉事務所).

A bit of Dogo

Legend says the spring was discovered when a white heron was seen healing an injured leg in the warm water, which is why the heron crowns the Honkan and reappears on every goyuin. Dogo is also tied to Natsume Soseki's novel Botchan, whose hero loved a soak here, and the Honkan keeps the Yushinden (又新殿), the only bathing suite built for the imperial family, open for viewing tours.