Ehime

Most travelers cross to Shikoku for the eighty-eight-temple pilgrimage or the hot springs of Dogo Onsen. Fewer come for the sushi — which is precisely why Ehime is one of the most rewarding surprises on the map. Matsuyama (松山), the prefectural capital, has quietly become Shikoku’s sushi heart, holding two Michelin two-star counters in a single regional city — a concentration that even far larger places rarely manage. And the prices, set against that rank, are startling: serious omakase here lands at a fraction of its Tokyo equivalent.

The reason sits in the water. Matsuyama opens onto the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海), a sheltered, island-scattered body of water that is calmer and warmer than the open Pacific, and which yields a year-round parade of delicate white-fleshed fish — tai (鯛), hirame (平目), sayori (鱝). This is chi-no-ri (地の利), the advantage of place, in a gentle register: not the dramatic deep-water canyon of Toyama, but a quiet inland sea whose fish ask the chef to do less. The town’s edge is sharpened by one man in particular — Fujimoto Junichi (藤本純一), a fisherman in Imabari (今治) whose shinkeijime (神経締め), the precise spinal nerve-killing done at the dock, produces material that rivals anything moving through the mainland markets. Several of Matsuyama’s best counters source from him directly, boat to chef, with no auction floor in between.

The scene splits, usefully, into two lineages, and understanding the divide makes the eating richer. On one side is the Sushi Ino school: Ino Yusuke (猪野祐介) opened his room in 2014 and effectively drew the city’s Edomae map, with alumni — Takayama among them — now running counters of their own. On the other are two independent heavyweights: Kurumazushi (くるますし), carrying a Ginza Sushi Yoshitake (銀座 鮨よしたけ) pedigree and named a Destination Restaurant in 2025, and Sushi no Ma (鮨の間), out of the Sushi Ken (鮨けん) lineage in Imabari. To plan a trip here is to choose between, or move between, these two currents.

When to come

The Seto Inland Sea is a generous host across the year rather than a single dazzling season, which makes Ehime a forgiving place to plan. Spring brings the white-fleshed fish to their most delicate — tai in particular is at its celebrated best around the spawning season, the so-called sakura-dai (桜鯛) of the cherry-blossom months. Summer favors hamo (鱧), the pike conger that is a Seto Inland Sea signature, along with the lighter shellfish. Autumn and winter deepen the register as the fish carry more fat, and the counters lean into richer cuts. There is no wrong month here, only different ones — but spring, when the white fish and the blossoms arrive together, is the page most worth building a trip around.

How to use

Matsuyama makes this easy: nearly every counter worth the journey sits within the compact downtown around Okaido (大街道) and Katsuyama-cho (勝山町), a short tram or taxi ride from JR Matsuyama Station and walkable from the Dogo Onsen district where many travelers stay. Sushi Ino, Sushi Takayama, and Sushi Kawanaka cluster near Okaido; Sushi no Ma sits by Katsuyama-cho; Kurumazushi anchors the group near the main station. You can, in principle, base yourself in one neighborhood and reach them all on foot or in minutes.

A note on planning. Kurumazushi is the hardest seat in Shikoku — by April its calendar is often closed months ahead, so book the moment your dates are firm, and treat Sushi no Ma, of equal rank and calmer single-rotation pace, as the natural alternative rather than a consolation. Prices, service charges, and photography policies vary from counter to counter and sometimes from season to season; confirm all three when you reserve, using the booking scripts in our guides. Every recommendation below is independently scored on our six-axis framework, and none of these counters has been visited in person — where an entry is marked not yet visited, the curation is database-driven and says so plainly.