Natsume Soseki, one of the greatest novelists in Japan, published a novel “Botchan” in 1906. The main character of this novel, whose nickname is Botchan, usually took a local steam locomotive during his stay in Matsuyama as a school teacher. So, this local train has come to be called the Botchan train after the title of this novel. The train started service with only two steam engines in 1888 and the number of the engines reached to 14 at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of them were from Germany. In 1960, however, all these engines were scrapped because of advanced motorization. Thereafter, in accordance with the movement to restore these steam locomotives as a symbol of Matsuyama’s tourism, diesel-driven Botchan trains revived in 2001. With a sound of stream engine from loudspeakers and fake smoke of steam from a fake smoke stuck, they shuttle for times a day just in every weekend between downtown Matsuyama and Dogo Onsen hot springs. The photo shows one of the active ones found in Dogo Onsen hot springs, which is ready to go on every weekend.
Jason Hardy
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