Matsuno is a little town in southwestern Ehime close to the border with Kōchi. It’s the platonic ideal of a Japanese country town, nestled in a wide valley with a river, a castle, a railway station, a sake brewery, and a hot spring. However, like many other little towns, it was struggling. As the population aged, shops were shutting down for good, and even the brewery looked like it would close, ending over a century of production.
And then, the BBQ Samurai swaggered into town and built his BBQ Castle right in front of the station. And things began to change.
Okay, well let’s try and keep things real. The BBQ Samurai is Okino-san, a young man from Ōzu who saw an opportunity to contribute his talents to conserving the wonderful rural community of Matsuno. He took one of the many empty homes in the town and refurbished it as a guest house, adorned with a handmade sign proclaiming it as the “BBQ Castle”. It stands on the little plaza in front of Matsumaru Station, which also happens to house Matsuno’s hot spring baths, Poppo Onsen.
A very accomplished cook, Okino-san decided to offer the varied and delicious ingredients available in southern Ehime cooked over charcoal. His kitchen, equipped with a wood stove and charcoal brazier, is housed in the garage. Guests take their dinner and breakfast in this cozy space looking out onto the busiest street of Matsuno. It’s a friendly place, and passers-by on their way to the station or baths invariably greet the diners. Sometimes they drop in for a chat.
When I stayed at the BBQ Castle, I was amazed at the variety of food that Okino-san prepares. The wilds of Shikoku are full of deer and boar, and in addition to the usual BBQ meats, you can enjoy this wild game prepared in delicious ways. The BBQ Samurai also travels to the southern and western coasts to procure the freshest fish and seafood, which are excellent barbecued.
Besides the simple pleasure of enjoying a wonderful BBQ, Okino-san also offers a range of activities to make your stay all the more worthwhile. At the BBQ Castle, you can dress in the kimono and hakama of a samurai, choose yourself a sword, then stroll out into town, and climb up the steep path to the site of Kagomori Castle. This is the remains of a massive medieval fortress that guarded Ehime from the depredations of the villainous clans of Kōchi next door. Atop the hill, you can admire the remarkable view, have a sword fight, then relax with ‘nodate’, an outdoor tea ceremony.
At the foot of the castle, Matsuno’s Masaki-Masamitsu Brewery, produces a brand called Nobushi, ‘the wandering samurai’ whose image graces the labels and bottles going back over a century. Okino-san will give you a guided tour of the brewery, and you can even enter a tunnel dug into the castle mount from which the brewery’s water is drawn. At the brewery, you can buy sake for the evening’s BBQ. They have a wide variety of types, perfectly suited to the range of food served.
The BBQ Castle sleeps six people, and Okino-san can find room for larger groups. If samurai cosplay isn’t your thing, you can try other country pursuits like fishing, charcoal making, or canyoning in nearby Nametoko Gorge. Matsuno is the perfect place to experience the slow life of rural Shikoku.
