Official club name :The Friendship Force of Ehime
Ehime is the name of our prefecture. Matsuyama is the capital city.

Closest airport : Matsuyama Airport
It's much easier to reach Matsuyama by way of Kansai (Osaka) than Narita (Tokyo) which has no direct flight to this area when we are the first-week host. There are direct flights to and from Nagoya, Haneda (Tokyo), Itami (Osaka), Fukuoka, Seoul (Korea) and some others.

Cost of transportation from the airport : No cost
It is within the city.
The ambassadors are met by their hosts at the airport.
It's less than a 20-minute drivefrom downtown.

The maximum number of ambassadors our club hosts: 22

About the club : Our club started in 1986 and has about 60 members.
Most of us live in Matsuyama and its surrounding areas. Each year we make it a rule to host two incoming exchanges preferably in spring and fall, and send out one outgoing exchange alternately during our summer vacation and another season when the cost is less expensive.
So far, as of December ' 06, we hosted 36 exchanges from 11 countries. (NZ, USA, Germany, Korea, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Costa Rica, Norway).
We also visited 29 clubs in 11 countries. ( NZ, USA, Germany, Thailand, Belgium, Korea, Australia, Canada, Russia, Norway, UK)
See ⇒ Club Exchange History

About the region : Ehime is on the smallest main island called Shikoku, which has four prefectures, in the southwestern part of Japan. Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime with a population of 500.000is the biggest on the island.
Ehime faces to the scenic Seto Inland Sea dotted with large and small islands.
Hiroshima Prefecture is on the other side, 3 hours away by ferry or 1 hour by speed boat.
We now can go over the sea by car, too, crossing the 7 bridges completed several years ago.
Shikoku is basically a mountainous region. This makes it possible to enjoy both the sea and themountain within a day. The climate is mild almost all through the year. It is, however, too humid and hot from mid-June through August. It is best to avoid our rainy season and summer. Cherry blossoms are usually in full bloom in early April. Sweet smell of citrus blossoms is all around in early May. In fall you can enjoy various kinds of local fresh fruit, such as grapes, pears, sweet persimmons, mandarines, etc. In October you may run into one of traditional and very colorful local festivals held in every town to celebrate a good harvest. The people are open and friendly to strangers, perhaps because they are used to pilgrims, who come over from all over Japan in order to make a circuit of designated 88 temples on Shikoku. Hospitality is our culture.
The castle on the hill in the center area and Dogo Hot Spring , the oldest in Japan, are the city's main attractions.
Some people call the city a Haiku mecca. The 17-syllable poetry, the shortest form in the world, is so popular that there are countless Haiku societies here.

For further information, see
http://www.pref.ehime.jp/index-e.htm
http://www.city.matsuyama.ehime.jp/eng/index.html