Uwajima is a small city in the far south of Ehime prefecture on Shikoku, at the end of a railway line that terminates here after threading through the coastal mountains. It is primarily of interest for two attractions that couldn't be more different in character.
Uwajima Castle (Uwajima-jō) is one of only four feudal-era castles on Shikoku to survive with their original keep intact. It is small and modestly situated but well preserved and worth the walk up the hill. The surrounding old town has a peaceful atmosphere rare in Japan's more visited castle towns.
The main draw for many visitors, however, is Taga-jinja, a Shinto fertility shrine with a three-storey museum of erotica attached. The shrine grounds are filled with stone and wooden phallic carvings in a great variety of shapes and sizes. It is genuinely strange and genuinely interesting.
Uwajima also has a tradition of tōgyū — bullfighting in which two bulls wrestle each other, sumo-style, without a matador. Matches are held on a limited schedule throughout the year. The city is about 1 hour 20 minutes by train from Matsuyama and around three hours from Kochi.