Azure Travelers Ehime: The Study Session and a Seven-Day Setouchi Road Trip

On May 31, 2025, we held the 6th Azure Travelers event, the Ehime Trip, at the Cybozu Matsuyama Office.

For this event, I worked behind the scenes at the study session, organized the social gathering, and operated the camera for the morning livestream. I was not a speaker, but I spent the entire day on the event team, from preparation and streaming to the evening gathering.

It was also a demanding itinerary. I had been in Seattle for Microsoft Build 2025 from May 18 through 25. Soon after returning to Japan, I left for Kobe on May 28. Once my work there was done, I rented a car in Okayama and drove to Matsuyama. After the study session and some sightseeing around Ehime, I worked in Osaka the next day and Saitama Shintoshin the day after that before finally heading home.

This is a look back at my trip through Ehime from May 28 to June 3.

Table of Contents

• The Study Session
  • Event Overview
  • The Day’s Program
  • My Role
  • A Roll of the Dice Sends Us to Miyagi
• The Journey
  • May 28: On to Kobe
  • May 29: Working in Kobe
  • May 30: Matsuyama via Kagawa
  • May 31: Shikoku Karst and the Study Session
  • June 1: Shimanami Kaido and Shimonada Station
  • June 2: Working in Osaka
  • June 3: On to Saitama Shintoshin
• Closing Thoughts

The Study Session

Event Overview

Azure Travelers is a community built around a simple idea: visit different parts of Japan and enjoy learning alongside the local community. It began in Sapporo in January 2024, followed by Kobe, Yamagata, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. Ehime became our 6th destination.

Previous events, including the Sapporo Trip and Kobe Trip, were named after cities. For reasons unknown, we called this one the Ehime Trip rather than the Matsuyama Trip, making it the only event in the series named at the prefecture level.

Sixth Azure Travelers Study Session: Ehime Trip with Shikoazu

• Date and time: Saturday, May 31, 2025, 10:30–18:30
• Venue: Cybozu Matsuyama Office (QUALITA MATSUYAMA 3F, 3-7-12 Nibancho, Matsuyama, Ehime)
• Co-host: Shikoazu (JAZUG Shikoku Branch)
• Admission: Free
• Hashtag: #AzureTravelers
• Event page: connpass

Posts from attendees are collected in this Posfie recap, which offers another look at the sessions and the atmosphere in the room.

The Day’s Program

The morning began with a community introduction and panel discussion. The afternoon featured a broad lineup of sessions covering Go, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Developer CLI, Azure Local, kintone, Power Platform, and multitenant architecture.

Schedule

Azure Travelers places great value on meeting people in each host community. For that reason, only the morning community introduction and panel discussion were streamed online. The recording is available on YouTube.

The tables were also covered with snacks that attendees had brought from around the country. Sharing local treats is part of what makes an Azure Travelers gathering feel like Azure Travelers.

My Role

My responsibilities were venue support, organizing the social gathering, and operating the camera for the morning stream.

I helped keep the event running smoothly while managing the livestream video from behind the camera. Only 2 sessions were streamed, but I still needed to follow the speakers and panelists, adjusting the framing so the online audience could get a sense of what was happening in the room.

When the study session ended, I switched to guiding attendees to the social gathering. Since I was not speaking, much of my work was not visible from the front of the room, but my responsibilities continued from morning until night.

A Roll of the Dice Sends Us to Miyagi

Azure Travelers has a tradition of choosing future destinations by rolling an oversized die. At the Ehime event, the roll selected Miyagi Prefecture as one of our next regional destinations.

After a joint event in Tokyo, that plan became the 8th Azure Travelers event, the Sendai Trip, in January 2026. Ehime was named for the prefecture, but in Miyagi we returned to using the host city in the event name.

The Journey

The rest of this article follows the trip day by day: from Kobe through Kagawa, Matsuyama, and the Shimanami Kaido, then back to Okayama before work in Osaka and Saitama Shintoshin.

May 28: On to Kobe

I took the Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe, opened a beer on the train, and settled in for the start of a long trip. Only 3 days had passed since I returned from Seattle, and I was already traveling again.

Kasu Udon Sohonke Taichan | Find it on Tabelog

After arriving in Kobe, I went to Taichan. I ordered kasu udon but swapped the udon noodles for soba. The combination worked surprisingly well, and I may actually prefer it to the udon version.

May 29: Working in Kobe

I worked from the hotel in the morning, had lunch, and then headed to Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs Kobe.

Kokinro | Find it on Tabelog

Lunch was takana ramen at Kokinro. The salty pickled mustard greens paired beautifully with the broth and made for a satisfying meal before work.

That evening, I stopped at Highball Bar Sannomiya 1923. Since I would be driving from the following day onward, this was my only chance to enjoy a night out in Kobe.

May 30: Matsuyama via Kagawa

I started the day with an ekiben, then traveled to Okayama to pick up the rental car.

My original plan was to stop in Onomichi and then take the Shimanami Kaido. When I learned that the Onomichi ramen shop I wanted to visit was closed, I changed course: across the Seto Ohashi Bridge and into Kagawa for udon.

Gamou Udon | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

I had lunch at Gamou Udon. It was remarkably inexpensive and absolutely delicious. The stop was the result of a last-minute route change, but that one bowl made me glad I had gone through Kagawa.

Shikoku Aquarium | Official website

After lunch, I visited Shikoku Aquarium. The dolphin pool, set against the Seto Inland Sea, was especially memorable.

I suspect the best time to visit would be in the evening, with the dolphin show framed by the sunset. The colors over the Seto Inland Sea are beautiful, so that is the time I would aim for on my next visit.

At a bookstore near the aquarium, I spotted a photo book titled Japan’s Beautiful Aquariums and bought it on the spot. Seeing it immediately after leaving the aquarium made it impossible to walk past.

Izakaya Jurian | Find it on Tabelog

After checking in at my hotel in Matsuyama, I joined the pre-event gathering at Jurian. Everything was good, but the fried jalapeños were my favorite.

After dinner, I went to Dogo Onsen. It had been a long day with plenty of distance covered, so ending it in the hot spring was very welcome.

May 31: Shikoku Karst and the Study Session

I woke up early, grabbed my camera, and walked toward Okaido. As I was taking photos, a boy stepped into my frame, so I went ahead and took a photo of him.

Shikoku Karst | Official Ehime tourism site

I then headed to Shikoku Karst. White limestone formations dot the grassland, creating a distinctive landscape unlike almost anywhere else.

I also caught the moment a black kite swooped down toward the road. Its landing looked incredibly sharp, and it gave me a great scene to photograph first thing in the morning.

The road to Shikoku Karst is narrow, and it stays narrow for quite a while. The scenery was wonderful, but making the round trip before the study session was a demanding drive.

Matsuyama Mitsukoshi Botchan Food Hall | Official website

After returning from Shikoku Karst and finishing the morning stream, I went for lunch at Botchan Food Hall inside Matsuyama Mitsukoshi, across the street from the venue. I had sushi from Teppen Sushi and beer from Okaido Brewery.

The beer was a citrus fruit ale made with mikan. It tasted unmistakably like Ehime and was exceptionally good.

DD4D BREWING & CLOTHING STORE ｜ Official website ｜ Find it on Tabelog

Before heading to the social gathering, I stopped at DD4D, a brewery I had already known about and had wanted to visit while in Matsuyama.

I had 2 beers there. My favorite was DON JALAPEÑO, brewed with jalapeños. After the fried jalapeños the night before, Matsuyama was proving unexpectedly reliable for jalapeño discoveries.

Local Cuisine Goshiki | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

We held the study session’s social gathering at Goshiki, a restaurant specializing in local cuisine. If I remember correctly, the tai-meshi was Uwajima style: sea bream sashimi, egg, and sauce poured over rice, almost like a luxurious version of tamago kake gohan. It was delicious, but I was busy organizing the gathering and forgot to take a photo.

The after-party was at The Tap, where I had yet more craft beer.

Fresh Shijimi Ramen Orni, Matsuyama Main Store | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

The final stop was Orni for shijimi clam ramen. The broth was light while still carrying plenty of savory clam flavor, making it just right after a night of craft beer.

June 1: Shimanami Kaido and Shimonada Station

I woke up early again and went out to photograph a streetcar in the morning sun. Running down the middle of the road, it felt more closely woven into the city than an ordinary train, and it looked fantastic.

Matsuyama Castle | Official website

From there, I continued to Matsuyama Castle. A group of students out for an early-morning club run were picking up trash that appeared to have been left in the street by people drinking the night before. I do not know whether someone had asked them to do it or they had decided on their own, but I found it genuinely admirable.

The path to Matsuyama Castle was beautifully green. Spotting a cat along the way made it an especially pleasant morning walk.

The castle offered a broad view across Matsuyama. Looking down on the city where I had spent the previous day at the event gave me a completely different perspective on it.

Matsuyama Airport | Official website

After the morning sightseeing, I drove Tsucchi to Matsuyama Airport. Because I was traveling by car rather than flying, it was also my first visit to the airport.

There I found one of Ehime’s famous faucets that dispenses mikan juice, so I had my first cup.

Iyo Suigun | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

Afterward, I met up with Hara-san, and we had lunch at Iyo Suigun. I ordered sea bream kamameshi; the tender fish and rice infused with dashi were excellent.

Kirosan Observatory Park | Official Imabari City website

After lunch, I took the Shimanami Kaido to Kirosan Observatory Park. From the observation deck, I could see the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge and the islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

The scale of the bridge and sea from the mountaintop was tremendous. It was the kind of view that made me want to stay and keep looking for a long time.

Choseizan Kosanji Temple and Kosanji Museum | Official website

Next, I visited Kosanji Museum. After seeing the vividly decorated buildings in the temple grounds, I continued to the Hill of Hope. Surrounded by white marble, the reflected light was dazzling.

While I was driving Hara-san to Matsuyama Airport, he told me that jako katsu was worth trying. He was right. After tasting one, I bought 2 bags of the frozen version as souvenirs. I also went back to the mikan juice faucet for a second cup.

JR Shimonada Station | Iyo City Tourism Guide

My final plan for the day was to photograph the sunset at Shimonada Station, which also appears in the manga Aoashi.

By the time I arrived, however, the station was already crowded with tourists. I had imagined a quiet, unmanned station with the sun sinking into the sea behind it, but Shimonada has become a firmly established tourist destination. Taking an empty, pristine sunset photo here would be extremely difficult.

Nadai Tsuruchan Dogo | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

Back in Matsuyama, I had udon at Nadai Tsuruchan’s Dogo location.

I then crossed the Seto Ohashi Bridge and drove straight to Okayama, arriving after 1:00 a.m. I had covered roughly 400 km that day, bringing the long Shikoku drive to a temporary close.

June 2: Working in Osaka

I took an early Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, left my luggage at the hotel, and went straight to a client’s office.

The first job wrapped up at around 16:00, when I finally had my first meal of the day: a hamburger.

After that, I visited another client and went back to work. Dinner was at an izakaya, where I had something like takoyaki prepared in the style of dote-ni, simmered in a rich miso sauce. It was delicious, though I have forgotten the name of the restaurant.

Ryunosu | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

I ended the night with kasu udon at Ryunosu. The trip had begun with kasu soba in Kobe, and now kasu udon returned for the Osaka finale.

June 3: On to Saitama Shintoshin

I took an early Shinkansen to Shinagawa, then the Tokyo-Ueno Line to Saitama Shintoshin. After traveling from Ehime through Okayama and Osaka, I had reached the final job of the trip.

Musashino Udon Tokoi, Saitama Shintoshin | Official website | Find it on Tabelog

For lunch, I had udon at Musashino Udon Tokoi. Unlike the softer noodles I had eaten in Kagawa, these were thick and assertively chewy, just as Musashino udon should be.

Closing Thoughts

This was a week of traveling through Kobe, Okayama, Kagawa, Ehime, Osaka, and Saitama shortly after returning from Microsoft Build 2025. At the study session, I worked behind the scenes, organized the social gathering, and operated the camera for the morning stream. Around the event, I drove to Shikoku Karst, Matsuyama Castle, the Shimanami Kaido, and Shimonada Station.

The driving in Shikoku alone came to roughly 400 km. Between narrow mountain roads and a late-night arrival in Okayama, it was physically demanding. Still, traveling by car let me see places I otherwise would have missed: the landscape of Shikoku Karst, the Seto Inland Sea and Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, and Matsuyama’s streets and streetcars.

Looking back, I ate an extraordinary amount of noodles: kasu soba in Kobe, Gamou Udon in Kagawa, Tsuruchan in Matsuyama, kasu udon in Osaka, and Musashino udon in Saitama Shintoshin. Perhaps this was less a trip to Ehime than a journey from western Japan back to Kanto, fueled by bowl after bowl of udon.