A Shopping Tour

A Shopping Tour

Matsuyama is the fashion capital of Shikoku, and a stroll down its main shopping arcade, Okaido, will leave you reeling from the getups, ranging from gorgeous to grotesque. Nowhere else outside of Tokyo does fad-fashion get this high a priority. Stores are suitably fashion trendy—though look out for a secondhand ceramics shop, unassuming but treasure-filled, just past the Häagen-Dazs—becoming more numerous on the arcade's second street, Gintengai. Both arcades are great for people-watching, but they empty out once the stores close. Okaido begins at the Starbucks on Ichiban-cho and goes south for a kilometer until turning right into the Gintengai; Gintengai empties out by a large Takashimaya department store and the city bus and tram terminal, Shi-eki (a block north to Kinokunia, English books on the fourth floor). Walk a few blocks farther, following the tram lines past a Mr. Donuts and an Indian place, Ladkey's, with good lunch specials, and you'll hit the castle moat and the town's best lunch place, Amitie, just across from the Art Museum. The tram stop here is Bijutsukan-mae.

Okaido, Gintengai, and Shi-eki complete a square adjacent the moat. Inside are clothing stores, cafés, and other shops. You won't discover any hidden temples or ancient pathways, but there's plenty of good shopping and city life. Walk a square of the same area on the other side of Okaido and you'll hit a staggering number of great restaurants. The best street to follow is parallel to the main arcade and one block east; head into Okaido from Laforet and go left at the first lights (this is Niban-cho), then make a right and you'll be in foody heaven. No spot on the strip is terribly expensive, and each place has a lot of character and great food. For coffee afterward, head in the opposite direction along Niban-cho, one block past a red London bus to Sakura. The coffees and cakes are wonderful, but the pink, cherry-blossom beer is better in someone else's glass.