[2026] Masterpieces themed on Ehime: from local songs to municipal anthems

Imabari Nippon-Ichi OndoBarii-san

Yurakucho Imabari Japan's No.1 Ondo Bari-san 2015-11-07

The local mascot Bari-san from Imabari City in Ehime Prefecture is famous nationwide and is no less popular than Funassyi.

He’s been extremely busy promoting the Imabari Ondo dance with a campaign in Yurakucho, Tokyo.

Understandably, the other dancers make use of their tenugui cloths in the dance, but Bari-san just wears his like a bellyband.

Hiji River stormGodai Natsuko

Natsuko Godai “Hiji River Arashi” Music Video (1 chorus)

Natsuko Godai sings as if speaking to you, as if persuading you, about a forbidden love.

“Hiji-kawa Arashi” is not only the song’s title but also a real phenomenon: in early winter, fog that forms in the Ōzu Basin sweeps down the Hiji River as a strong, fog-laden wind that blows out to the river mouth.

This phenomenon is unique to Ōzu City.

The lyrics say she has crossed many rivers of tears, conveying a sense of a woman’s strength.

Kurushima StraitToba Ichirō

Kurushima Strait ~ Osaka Bay.wmv

Located off the coast of Imabari City in Ehime Prefecture, the Kurushima Strait has long been known as one of the most treacherous parts of the sea—first Kurushima, second Naruto, and third Kanmon.

This song likens its swift currents to a man’s way of life.

Although Raymund Matsuya also has a song with the same title, it is a completely different piece.

Kurushima StraitReemondo Matsuya

Kurushimakaikyo

Precisely because I’m from Ehime Prefecture, I strongly feel this song could only have been created.

Well-known tourist spots come to mind for anyone who listens, but just from hearing names like Itoyama or Odagahama, you wouldn’t immediately think of Ehime.

Itoyama is a park with a panoramic view of the Kurushima Strait, and Odagahama is a beach bustling with families, but the theme of this song is the Kurushima Strait—a treacherous stretch of sea and one of Japan’s three great rapid tidal currents, alongside the Naruto and Kanmon Straits.

It matches the powerful vocals perfectly.

Shikoku Travel Sentimentsyashima hiromi

Hiromi Yashima “Shikoku Travel Sentiment” Fukuoka Kokusai Center

It gently and leisurely sings the charms of Shikoku.

Tokushima is all about the Awa Odori dance, and for Kochi, it has to be Sakamoto Ryoma.

Ehime brings to mind the famous Dogo Onsen and Natsume Soseki’s novel Botchan, while Kagawa is Sanuki-Takamatsu—so, udon, perhaps? It makes you want to travel, doesn’t it?

Song of Uwajima JakotenAsada Yasumichi & Eisako

Uwajima Jakoten Song

Jakoten is a specialty product made along the coastal areas of the Nanyo region in Ehime Prefecture.

Among them, Uwajima—home to major manufacturers—is so famous that it’s even celebrated in song.

As for the tune, hmm… it feels more like listening to a supermarket commercial than an actual song.

Still, the jakoten looks incredibly delicious.

Nostalgic MatsuyamawakiZAKA naomi

Naomi Wakisaka, “Homesick for Matsuyama,” 1981

From the mood of the song, it feels like it’s set in quite an old era.

After parting with the woman he loved out of a sense of duty, he hears rumors on the wind that she’s struggling in the entertainment district (Beijing-machi in Matsuyama City).

Overwhelmed by regret and pain, he sings of his memories of his hometown and his feelings for the woman he left behind.