Uwajima is a castle town at the head of a deep bay on the Uwa Sea, in the south-west of Ehime. The Date family, a branch of the lords of Sendai, ruled it for nine generations from a keep that still stands on its wooded hill. The bay is farmed for akoya pearls and sea bream.
It depends on the ship. On Ehime Prefecture’s lists Le Soléal, Island Sky and SH Minerva have gone alongside at Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf; National Geographic Resolution, the Hanseatic ships and Mitsui Ocean Fuji have anchored and sent tenders to the Shin-Naiko No. 2 floating pier.
At the terminal
None. Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf is a cargo quay. Uwajima City sets up a tourist information desk there on call days.
If this is your first Japanese port, everyone goes through face-to-face immigration before going ashore; there is no terminal building here, so it is done on board or on the quay. Allow 30 to 60 minutes after the ship clears. What happens at your first Japanese port
How the berths work, and the way into town, in full
Where you dock: the wharf or the tender pier
Uwajima has one cruise quay, Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf. It is a cargo quay on the west side of the harbour, with no terminal. Uwajima City sets up a tourist information desk on call days.
A ship that anchors sends tenders to the Shin-Naiko No. 2 floating pier, beside the island-boat pier in the town centre. The roadside market Kisaiya Hiroba is 150 m away.
To
From the wharf
From the tender pier
Kisaiya Hiroba
1.8 km, 25 min · taxi ~¥1,000
150 m, 2 min
Uwajima Castle, north entrance
2.4 km, about 35 min · taxi ~¥1,100
1.0 km, about 15 min
Tensha-en
2.1 km, about 30 min · taxi ~¥1,000
1.2 km, about 20 min
JR Uwajima Station
2.7 km, about 40 min · taxi ~¥1,200
1.2 km, 15 min
These are our estimates. Walking times come from OSM routing; both landing points are placed from the prefecture’s port map and are approximate. Taxi fares use distance alone on Ehime’s tariff from 19 December 2025: ¥600 for the first kilometre, then ¥100 per 315 m.
Getting into town
From the wharf, take a taxi. No shuttle is published, and whether cabs wait at the quay is not confirmed. Ask the ship or the information desk to call one. A taxi takes about 10 minutes to the castle, the garden or the station.
From the tender pier, walk. The castle is about 15 minutes away and the station 15.
For the way back, ask the desk at Tensha-en or Kisaiya Hiroba to call a cab.
From the ship to each place: how, how long, how much
No shuttle is published for Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf, and whether cabs wait there on a call day is not confirmed: ask the ship or the tourist information desk on the quay to call one
Castle north entrance 2.3 km, Tensha-en 2.2 km, Kisaiya Hiroba 2.0 km, JR Uwajima Station 2.6 km: each about 10 min
For the return, ask the desk at Tensha-en or Kisaiya Hiroba to call a cab, or use the rank at JR Uwajima Station
~¥1,100 (castle) · Tensha-en and Kisaiya Hiroba ~¥1,000, station ~¥1,200 — our estimates on distance alone, on the Ehime tariff from 19 Dec 2025: ¥600 for 1.0 km, then ¥100 per 315 m · Distances from OSM routing; times rounded up
Taxi: ~¥1,100 to the castle
On foot the castle is 28–32 minutes from the wharf and the station about 36; the Japan Tourism Agency’s port sheet gives 35 minutes to the station. The taxi rank at the station is not confirmed by an official page.
Taxi from the wharf to JR Uwajima Station, 2.6 km, about 10 min and ¥1,200 (our estimate); 15 min on foot from the tender pier
Limited express Uwakai towards Matsuyama: Uwajima 08:47 or 09:46, Iyo-Ozu about 50 min, Uchiko about 1 h
Uchiko-za is 7 min on foot from Uchiko Station and the Kamihaga residence 20 min (Uchiko Town); Ozu Castle is about 10 min by taxi from Iyo-Ozu
Not checked: buy at the station · Hourly: from Uwajima at :46 from 09:46 to 19:46; back from Uchiko at :58 from 10:58 to 20:58, from Iyo-Ozu at :10
Taxi: ~¥17,500 to Uchiko (54 km, our estimate)
JR Shikoku’s station boards show departures only; the arrival back at Uwajima, about an hour after Uchiko, is our estimate. On a 07:00–17:00 call take the 12:58 from Uchiko; the 13:58 leaves almost no margin.
Kadoya Bentencho is 4 min on foot from Kisaiya Hiroba and the tender pier; taxi from the wharf about 2.0 km, ¥1,000 (our estimate) · About 2h · Needs a 4-hour call
From your ship, the 5 stops in order, and back, by their map pins. A phone takes three stops between start and end, and none on a train or bus, so the day opens in parts.
Uchiko by limited express
Fits a call of about 07:00–17:00 or longer: all-aboard 16:30, back at the gangway by 15:30.
One train an hour each way. The fare is not checked: buy at the station.
07:30Off the ship. Taxi to JR Uwajima Station, 2.6 km, about 10 minutes and ¥1,200. From the tender pier walk, 15 minutes.
08:47Limited express Uwakai 8 towards Matsuyama, reaching Uchiko at 09:53.
09:55Walk about 20 minutes up to the Yokaichi street, past Uchiko-za, which is closed for repair.
10:20Kamihaga residence, the wax museum. Adult ¥500, 09:00–16:30.
11:10Walk the merchants’ street back down towards the station, with lunch on the way.
12:58Limited express Uwakai 13 back, at Uwajima about 14:05 by our estimate.
14:10Taxi back to the wharf, about 10 minutes.
14:25Back at the gangway, an hour before the limit on a 17:00 departure.
From your ship, the 4 stops in order, and back, by their map pins. A phone takes three stops between start and end, and none on a train or bus, so the day opens in parts.
A wet day: Kisaiya Hiroba, pearls and tai-meshi
Rain on any call that covers lunch. The castle’s steps and the garden are in the open; the market, the pearl hall and the restaurants are not. About 2.5h ashore; two taxis, about ¥1,000 each way (our estimates). Lunch prices are not published on the tourism list. Times count from when you step off the ship.
+0:00Taxi from the wharf to Kisaiya Hiroba (2.0 km, about 10 min, about ¥1,000, our estimate). From the tender pier it is 2 min on foot
+0:15The market hall: fish, citrus and jakoten hot from the fryer. 09:00–18:00
+0:45The pearl hall: seven Uwajima pearl shops
+1:15Uwajima tai-meshi at Kadoya Bentencho, 4 min on foot, or at the food court. Kadoya: lunch 11:00–14:00
+2:15Taxi back to the wharf. Ask the market’s information desk to call one
Tick the places in the order you want them. The map numbers them and draws the way from your ship and back; the buttons open the same route in Google Maps, in parts a phone can draw.
Start from a model day:
Garden, castle, pearls and tai-meshi
08:40
1. Tensha-enPhoto: As6673 / Public domain
09:20
2. Noboritachi-mon (castle south gate)Photo: ぺ有家音 / CC0
09:45
3. Uwajima Castle keepPhoto: Reggaeman / CC BY-SA 3.0
There is no bookable tour for Uwajima in our catalogue. The days above are the plan: public transport, timed from the gangway.
Before you go
Cash, Wi-Fi, toilets, steps: the practical answers
Cash, cards, ATM
No ATM or exchange is published for the wharf. The castle keep takes cash only (¥200). Carry yen.
Wi-Fi and SIM
No port Wi-Fi is published. Buy an eSIM before sailing.
Toilets
Not published for the wharf. Kisaiya Hiroba, beside the tender pier, has toilets open 24 hours.
Luggage
Nothing is published at the wharf.
Steps and slopes
The castle keep is reached by uneven stone steps up a 73 m hill; no lift is published. Tensha-en and Kisaiya Hiroba are on level ground.
English
Uwajima City recruits volunteer interpreters for call days; what is offered on a given day is not published.
Pharmacy, hospital
Dial 119 for an ambulance and 110 for police; the JNTO Japan Visitor Hotline, 050-3816-2787, answers in English 24 hours.
With children
The castle keep is free for high-school age and under. Tensha-en is ¥100 for primary pupils and ¥200 for junior-high pupils. The museum at Taga Shrine does not admit minors.
Two things to eat in Uwajima, and where
Dish
Where, price, hours
Uwajima tai-meshi
The pickKadoya Bentencho, 1-4-6 Bentencho11:00–14:00 and 17:00–20:30; closed on 1 JanuaryRaw sea bream in an egg and soy sauce over hot rice. Also at Kadoya by the station and the food court at Kisaiya Hiroba.Our page
Jakoten
The pickKawachiya Kamaboko, Kisaiya Hiroba09:00–17:30; closed on 1 JanuaryA fried cake of small Uwa Sea fish, sold singly and hot.
Mistakes to avoid
Planning before you know where you landThe wharf and the tender pier are 1.9 km apart. From the pier the castle is a 15-minute walk; from the wharf it is a taxi. The daily programme says which.
Underestimating the castle climbThe keep stands on a 73 m hill and the way up is stone steps through the forest. Allow 1–1.5 hours for the loop and wear shoes with grip.
Going to the bullring on an ordinary dayPublic bouts are on four fixed days a year. On other days the arena is empty, and open on weekdays only.
Walking into Taga Shrine’s museum unpreparedIt is a collection of erotic art and objects at a fertility shrine, for adults only. Decide before you go, not at the door.
Trying Uchiko on a half-day callThe train is an hour each way and runs hourly. Calls that sail by 13:00 or arrive at 12:00 or later leave no useful time there.
Arriving at the keep without cashThe keep’s ticket desk takes cash only: ¥200 for adults.
Counting on the Date MuseumIt closes on 29 March 2027 for about a year while the new building is finished.
Festivals you could meet on a port day
Festival
When
Bullfighting tournaments (togyu)Bull against bull, 12:00 to about 14:00, ¥3,000 on the day. No public bouts on any other day.
2 January, 3 May, 23 July and the fourth Sunday of October · every year
Warei TaisaiThe festival of Warei Shrine.
23–24 July every year
Uwajima cruise port questions
Where do cruise ships dock in Uwajima?
Alongside at Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf (坂下津第2号岸壁), a cargo quay 2.3 km from the castle, or at anchor with tenders to the Shin-Naiko No. 2 floating pier in the town centre. Uwajima City names both.
How do I get from the ship to Uwajima Castle?
From the wharf by taxi: 2.3 km, about 10 minutes and about ¥1,100, or 28–32 minutes on foot. From the tender pier it is a 15-minute walk. Then stone steps to the keep.
Is there a shuttle bus?
None is published by the city or the prefecture. Check the ship’s daily programme, and ask the ship to call a taxi if there is none.
How hard is the climb to the keep?
Stone steps up a 73 m hill, from the north or the south gate. The tourism association’s shortest loop takes 40–50 minutes and its standard loop 1–1.5 hours.
How much is Uwajima Castle and when is it open?
The keep is ¥200 for adults, cash only, 09:00–17:00 from March to October and 09:00–16:00 from November to February, every day. The hill is free and opens at 06:00.
Can I see bullfighting in Uwajima?
Only at the four tournaments: 2 January, 3 May, 23 July and the fourth Sunday of October, 12:00 to about 14:00, ¥3,000 on the day. On other days there are no public bouts; a private bout booked through the tourism association costs ¥66,000.
What is Taga Shrine?
A fertility shrine known for phallic carvings and for its museum of erotic art and objects. The museum is open 08:00–17:00, ¥800, adults only.
What is Uwajima tai-meshi?
Raw slices of sea bream in a sauce of soy, mirin, raw egg, sesame and stock, poured over hot rice. Elsewhere in Ehime tai-meshi means bream cooked with the rice.
Can I reach Uchiko or Ozu from the ship?
On a full-day call. The limited express leaves JR Uwajima at 08:47 and 09:46: about 50 minutes to Iyo-Ozu and an hour to Uchiko. Trains back leave Uchiko at 12:58 and 13:58.
How much is a taxi from the cruise wharf?
On Ehime’s tariff from 19 December 2025 (¥600 for the first kilometre, then ¥100 per 315 m): about ¥1,000 to Kisaiya Hiroba or Tensha-en, ¥1,100 to the castle, ¥1,200 to JR Uwajima Station and ¥7,600 to Yusu Mizugaura. These use distance alone.
Where can I buy pearls?
The pearl hall at Kisaiya Hiroba has seven Uwajima pearl shops, 09:00–18:00. Pearl-farm visits, such as Doi Pearl’s ¥3,300 tour, are by reservation.
Which ships call at Uwajima?
Small ships. In 2026 Ehime Prefecture listed Le Soléal four times, Heritage Adventurer three times, Island Sky, SH Minerva, Hanseatic Inspiration and National Geographic Resolution twice each, and Mitsui Ocean Fuji once.
Read on
Uwajima in depth: the places, the history, the myths
1,365 words · 13 chapters
Why Uwajima is worth getting off the ship for
Uwajima is small and easy. An original castle keep stands on a wooded hill in the middle of town. The lords’ garden is eight minutes below it, and lunch is raw sea bream over rice.
Nothing here has been researched on foot by this site yet: every fact below comes from the city, the prefecture or the operator, and our own figures are marked as estimates.
The castle: the keep and the climb
Tōdō Takatora, the castle-builder, laid out the first castle here between 1596 and 1601. The Date family took it over in 1615, and the second Date lord rebuilt the keep in the 1660s. That keep still stands: one of 12 originals in Japan.
The climb is on stone steps, from the Kori gatehouse on the north side or Noboritachi-mon on the south. The hill is 73 m high. The tourism association’s shortest loop takes 40–50 minutes and its standard loop 1–1.5 hours.
The keep is open 09:00–17:00, and to 16:00 from November to February. Adult ¥200, cash only. The hill itself is free and opens at 06:00.
Tensha-en
The 7th lord, Date Munetada, built this pond garden for his retirement. Bamboo of many kinds stands round the water. A wisteria trellis shaped as an arched bridge crosses the pond, and the irises open in early June.
Open 08:30–16:30, and to 17:00 from April to June. Adult ¥500. It closes on Mondays from the second Monday of December to the end of February.
Uwajima tai-meshi is raw sea bream in a sauce of soy, mirin, raw egg, sesame and stock, poured over hot rice. Kadoya’s Bentencho shop serves lunch 11:00–14:00. The food court at Kisaiya Hiroba serves 10:30–16:30, last order 16:00.
Jakoten is a fried cake of small Uwa Sea fish, ground whole. Kawachiya Kamaboko at Kisaiya Hiroba sells it singly, hot from the fryer. We have no photograph of it that meets our standard yet.
Pearls. The Uwa Sea is farmed for akoya pearls. The pearl hall at Kisaiya Hiroba has seven Uwajima shops under one roof.
Taga Shrine and the bullring: what they are
Taga Shrine is a fertility shrine. It is known for phallic carvings in its precinct and for a museum of erotic art and objects. The museum is open 08:00–17:00, ¥800, and does not admit minors. It is about 15 minutes on foot from JR Uwajima Station.
The bullring stages togyu, bull against bull, on four fixed days: 2 January, 3 May, 23 July and the fourth Sunday of October. Bouts run from 12:00 to about 14:00 and a ticket is ¥3,000 on the day. The ring’s own site has so far posted only 2 January for 2027.
On other days there are no public bouts; a private bout booked through the tourism association costs ¥66,000. The empty ring can be looked at free on weekdays, 09:00–16:00, and is shut at weekends.
Uchiko and Ozu
Uchiko grew rich on wax. Its Yokaichi street of merchants’ houses is free to walk, about 20 minutes from the station.
The Kamihaga residence is the wax museum: 09:00–16:30, adult ¥500. The Uchiko-za theatre is closed for repair until about 2028.
Ozu Castle is a wooden keep rebuilt in 2004: 09:00–17:00, adult ¥550. It is about 10 minutes by taxi from JR Iyo-Ozu.
Garyu Sanso, a villa above the Hiji River, is 15 minutes’ walk from the castle: 09:00–17:00, adult ¥550, or ¥880 with the castle.
The limited express Uwakai runs hourly. These are JR Shikoku’s departure times.
Uwajima
Iyo-Ozu
Uchiko
Item
Uchiko
Iyo-Ozu
Uwajima
08:47
09:42
09:53
11:58
12:10
~13:05
09:46
10:35
10:46
12:58
13:10
~14:05
10:46
11:34
11:46
13:58
14:10
~15:05
Arrival times at Uwajima are our estimates; the fare is not checked. By road Uchiko is 54 km, about 55 minutes, and Ozu 42 km, about 45.
Yusu Mizugaura
Stone-walled terraces of early potatoes climb a headland 23 km west of the wharf. It is a national Important Cultural Landscape and free to view. A taxi takes about 35 minutes and costs about ¥7,600 each way. The Dandan-jaya restaurant at the foot opens at weekends, 11:00–14:00.
The ships and the pattern of calls
Ehime Prefecture listed 16 calls in 2026, by seven small ships. Eleven went alongside and five anchored.
Ship
On the prefecture’s lists, 2023–2026
Le Soléal, Island Sky, SH Minerva
Alongside at Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf
Heritage Adventurer
Alongside, but at anchor once when Le Soléal had the quay
National Geographic Resolution, Hanseatic Inspiration, Mitsui Ocean Fuji
At anchor, with tenders
Calls come in three lengths: a morning to about 13:00, an afternoon from 12:00 or 13:00 to about 19:00, and a full day of 10 hours or more.
The prefecture has not listed 2027 for Uwajima yet. The dates in the schedule on this page come from the operators’ own pages: Ponant, Tauck, Lindblad, Heritage Expeditions and Swan Hellenic. Only Ponant prints times. Berths for 2027 are not confirmed. The port has one quay, so when two ships call on one day, one has to anchor.
If your ship is at anchor
National Geographic Resolution has anchored on every Uwajima call since 2023, on full days of 11 to 13 hours. Lindblad’s own programme for the day is a morning walk up to the castle, then Uchiko.
Tenders land at the Shin-Naiko No. 2 floating pier. Kisaiya Hiroba is two minutes away, and the castle’s north entrance 14. The hill opens at 06:00 and the keep at 09:00.
Alone, the day runs like this. Walk to the castle hill first. Walk on to JR Uwajima Station, 10 minutes from the north entrance, for the 09:46 to Uchiko. Take the 12:58 or the 13:58 back. On an 18:00 departure the time to be back is 16:30, so both trains work. Allow for the tender ride at each end.
What is closed, and when
Place
Closed
Uwajima Castle keep
Never; shorter hours November–February
Tensha-en
Mondays from the second Monday of December to the end of February; 28 December–1 January
Date Museum
From 29 March 2027 for about a year
Kisaiya Hiroba
1 January
Bullring
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, except the four tournament days
Uchiko-za, Uchiko
Under repair until about 2028; dressing rooms open
Hozumi-tei (tai-meshi)
Sundays
The Date Museum’s collection moves to a new building in the park beside Tensha-en, due to open in spring 2028. Until then a combined ticket for the keep, the garden and the museum, ¥700, is worth buying only while the museum is open.
Money and the practical stuff
Carry yen in coins and small notes. The keep’s desk takes cash only. No ATM or exchange is published for the wharf.
A taxi within the town is about ¥700–1,200. The long fares are Yusu Mizugaura at about ¥7,600 and Uchiko at about ¥17,500, each way.
The wharf is a working cargo quay. Uwajima City sets up an information desk there on call days, and residents come to wave ships in and out.
How to think about your hours
Measure from the gangway. The site’s rule: off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, all-aboard 30 minutes before departure, and back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard.
Time ashore
What fits
2–3 hours
The castle and Tensha-en
4 hours
Garden, castle, Kisaiya Hiroba and tai-meshi
7 hours, from 07:30
Uchiko by limited express
8 hours or more
Uchiko and Ozu Castle
When to go: weather
JMA normals for Uwajima, 1991–2020:
Month
Day °C
Night °C
Days with rain
April
20.4
10.4
9.3
May
24.3
14.9
8.7
June
26.7
19.4
13.3
September
29.0
20.9
9.9
October
24.3
15.1
7.3
June is the wettest month. The castle steps are slippery after rain; the market, the pearl hall and the restaurants are under cover.
Researched from official timetables, operators and the port authority, with our estimates where none is published. Every time and fare in this guide was checked against the sources listed above on 13 November 2026; where we had to estimate (a walk, a taxi in traffic), the text says so. Timetables change — if you find one that has, tell us and we will fix it.
