The Botchan Karakuri Clock is just over the road from the Dogo Onsen Station. It was built in 1994 as part of a project to commemorate 100 years since the construction of the Dogo Onsen Main Building.
If you are catching the tram or the Botchan Train to the Dogo area you can’t miss the clock as you exit the dogo onsen station building.
The clock rises and puts on its performance on the hour between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Or every 30 minutes during weekends and busy periods such as public holidays). Speakers play music typical of Dogo Hot Springs, and the characters from the novel “Botchan” appear as the clock expands, opens up and comes to life.
The characters are all from Soseki’s coming of age classic, Botchan which we highly recommend reading if you are planning a trip to Matsuyama or Dogo onsen.
Dogo Onsen Foot Spa (Next To The Clock)
Next to the Karakuri Clock, there is a footbath using the spring water of Dogo Hot Spring. Here at Japanner, we love a good Ashi-no-Yu as they are called in Japanese and this one is perfect.
So don’t be scared to whip those shoes off and get your feet wet while enjoying the soothing warm water which is from the exact same source as the famous Dogo onsen bathhouse, with all those magical healing properties.
You’ll need a towel to dry your feet off afterward. If you don’t have one we recommend picking one up from a shop in the arcade on the right about halfway along. The lady was very cheerful and had a great selection of the famous Imabari Towels at very reasonable prices.
If you need to kill a bit more time the Dogo Onsen station building actually houses a Starbucks inside. If you can handle some overpriced mediocre coffee you will be rewarded by the interior up on the second floor that recreates the Meiji area nostalgia quite well.
What Does Karakuri Mean?
