Kenta-san has finally reached the end of his trip and returned to Ehime, the prefecture of his departure. Today was the second shortest daily itinerary, but he had plenty of time to enjoy Uwajima's specialties for lunch and dinner, and almost bought a piece of bonito at a roadside station he stopped at along the way. It was a day to get in shape for the last leg of the ride.

Kenta-san's Travel Bookmarks

8:30 Departure from Hotel
9:30 Arrive in Ehime, the prefecture of departure
9:45 Rest at "Roadside Station Misho MIC"
12:30 Lunch at Tamura
14:00 Uwajima Station
14:15 Arrive at the hotel "Uwajima Oriental Hotel"
18:00 Dinner at Hozumi-Tei

DAY 10 is over!

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Check today's route

A good appetite in the morning

Another sunny day! Breakfast at the hotel was not enough, so we went to a convenience store near the hotel to get a refill and check out the route.

Returning to Ehime via Route 56

Toward Uwajima

The journey to Ehime Prefecture, where we started 10 days ago, was a tough one with ups and downs but only about 140km left in the 1,000km journey. Route 56 has many tunnels and heavy traffic, including large trucks. For safety reasons, we turned on our front and rear lights even during the daytime.

Super cheap amberjack and skipjack

Roadside Station Misho MIC

Stop at the first rest stop, Roadside Station Misho MIC. It sells specialty products of Ainan Town. Inside the store, you will find "Ainan Gold" citrus juice, a local specialty, and soft-serve ice cream. Of special note is the casual sale of fish from the local fishing port. A piece of amberjack or skipjack costs 300 yen and 800 yen, respectively. I almost bought some by accident.

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Tsucchi's favorite Yuru-chara

Naashi-kun

Also found at the roadside station was Ainan Town's local character "Naashi-kun," a character based on the motif of the Japanese otter (I think I saw a similar character the other day...), and his tail-chomping buddy "Katsuo no Kacchan" (bonito). "Nashi" is a dialect word used at the end of words in this region, but in fact, I have not heard it once yet on this trip.

Leisurely ride without being pressed for time

Shortening the ride uncovers surprising benefits

About 20km from the roadside station MIC. We are moving north, away from the Pacific Ocean, and the sea is becoming calmer. Today's itinerary is short, about 60km, and we plan to arrive at the hotel a little after noon. Usually we arrive around 5pm and spend the time until dinner doing laundry and organizing the videos we have taken, but today we don't have to worry about that. It is nice to have a day like this to relax.

Eel lunch...not

Tamura

I happened to find a "Eel" banner along Route 56. Since I had not eaten eel once on my trip, I decided to have lunch here. When I looked at the menu, I found that the price of "wild caught eel" was 4,200 yen, which was the same price as last night's hotel. Instead, I ended up ordering a lunch set meal for about 1,000 yen, which turned out to be a bonanza. The sardine in the upper right photo is "maruzushi," a local dish of Uwajima where sardines are vinegared and rolled up like sushi with okara (bean curd). The vinegar and a hint of sweetness from the okara go very well together.

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The world's slowest bullet train...nowhere to be seen

Uwajima Station

Before going to today's hotel, we stopped by Uwajima Station at Tsucchi's request. There is a sightseeing train, which is modeled after the first generation Shinkansen (Series 0) and is known as "The World's Slowest Shinkansen" with a maximum speed of 85 km/h. When we stopped by, there was no train at the station, leaving Tsucchi very disappointed.

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Arrival at the inn!

Uwajima Oriental Hotel

Arrived at today's inn. In the lobby, organic coffee and several kinds of bath salts were self-served. The hotel is also directly connected to a convenience store, has a laundry, and allows cyclists to store their bicycles in their rooms.

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Dinner with local cuisine, Uwajima sea bream rice

Hozumi-tei

For dinner, we visit the popular restaurant "Hozumi-tei" for a gourmet meal in Uwajima. Uwajima tai meshi" is a dish of pickled sea bream sashimi served over white rice with an egg. Matsuyama's tai meshi is rice with tai (sea bream/snapper) in it, so you may be surprised at the variety of dishes available in different regions of Ehime. Tachiuo fish no Makiyaki is a unique dish in which long, thin pieces of cutlassfish are wrapped around a bamboo stick and baked with a sweet kabayaki sauce. It is surprisingly light and refreshing compared to its appearance. The "Maruzushi" and "Jako-ten" local dishes followed, and we decided to enjoy them with sake, which goes well with the fish.

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Places we stopped this time

Roadside Station Misho MIC

Tamura

Uwajima Station

Hozumi-tei

Where we stayed

Uwajima Oriental Hotel

View Ride Courses

ROUTE

About the Day 10 route

Starting from Sukumo, the tour will head north from the western tip of Shikoku via National Route 56. Finished at Uwajima, our final day's starting point.
Distance traveled: 62km
Elevation Gain: 490m
Travel time: 5 hours and 30 minutes
Weather: fine

Today's side-trip video

Here's what happened on the other days!