At the crossroads of Dogo Onsen and the 88 temple pilgrimage on the rustic Japanese island of Shikoku…
About Us
We are an international couple who both have a passion for Shikoku, Matsuyama and the 88 temple pilgrimage. Our goal in starting our Matsuyama hostel, Sen Guesthouse, was to expose more people, both foreign and domestic, to the stark beauty of Shikoku; via Matsuyama, via the pilgrimage. We both strongly believe in the culture of traveling in general and backpacking in particular. Our aim is to provide a budget hostel in Matsuyama, that is a truly unique place where all types of people can gather and experience one slice of Japan. Being that Matsuyama is not on the regular tourist circuit of Japan, the people that stay here want to dig deeper into to the landscape and culture of Japan and experience something not accessible in the temples of Kyoto or the mayhem of Tokyo.
A little about ourselves now.
My name is Matthew and I’m an American from the southern border of Texas and Mexico. All through life I always had a passion for religion and and different cultures and when I went to university, that’s exactly what I studied. Another passion of mine is traveling and I spent a good portion of my 20′s seeing the world, teaching English, lying on beaches and trampling on ruins. Where these 2 interests combine is pilgrimage. I’ve walked both the Camino de Santiago (Spain), the Kumano Kodo (Wakayama) and the 88 temple pilgrimage (Japan) and hope my small contribution to the world will be to support and inform people who want to feel the joy and experience the challenges of pilgrimage. This is why we chose to open our backpackers Matsuayama, Shikoku; to help people (especially foreigners) take that first step of awareness and start their own pilgrimage. It doesn’t hurt that we are a 5 min walk away from Japan’s oldest onsen, Dogo, either! Budget accommodation geared towards English speakers is not easy to come by in Shikoku, so by opening our guesthouse; we hope to expose more foreign tourists to Matsuyama, Shikoku.
Hi, I’m Nori. I’m from the small town in Kagawa, but I lived in Osaka for more than 10 years before we moved to Matsuyama 2012. Since I went to New Zealand and worked in hostels, I’ve been thinking to have my own guesthouse such as everyone feel “their own home”, so I worked in a cheap guesthouse in Osaka for 4 years. I started walking the 88 temple pilgrimage because I wanted to know about my hometown Shikoku more. Every time when I walked as “Ohenro-san(people is called like it when they walk the 88 temple pilgrimage)”, always I was surprised and impressed that such a great culture has been kept, not only temples but also people’s thought.
So, I’m very happy to have everyone and let you know this beautiful island Shikoku, and I do wish you would come back anytime as your home 
