History
See also: Historic Sites of Ehime PrefectureUntil the Meiji Restoration, Ehime prefecture was known as Iyo Province. Since before the Heian period, the area was dominated by fishermen and sailors who played an important role in defending Japan against pirates and Mongolian invasions.
After the Battle of Sekigahara, the Tokugawa shogun gave the area to his allies, including Kato Yoshiaki who built Matsuyama Castle, forming the basis for the modern city of Matsuyama.
The name Ehime comes from the Kojiki and means "beautiful maiden."
In 2012, a research group from the University of Tokyo and Ehime University said they had discovered rare earth deposits in the City of Matsuyama in Ehime-ken.
Read more about this topic: Ehime Prefecture
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—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
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—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)