Ehime: Russo-Japanese War Drama Boosts Matsuyama Tourism; Birthplace of Akiyama Brothers, Noted Militaries Leaders

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:28 JST, February 22, 2025

MATSUYAMA — An increasing number of people are traveling to Matsuyama to experience the setting of “Saka no Ue no Kumo” (Clouds Above the Hill), a long historical novel by author Ryotaro Shiba, visiting locations such as characters’ birthplaces.

Many people seemed to have become interested in the city after NHK began rebroadcasting a drama based on the novel in autumn last year.

The novel depicts Japan from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, focusing on three real-life historical figures from Matsuyama, including two brothers who became military leaders. Saneyuki Akiyama sealed Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) by planning the Battle of Tsushima as a staff officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. His elder brother Yoshifuru, “the father of the Japanese cavalry,” defeated the Cossack cavalry of Czarist Russia. The third historical figure is the haiku poet Shiki Masaoka.

“Many people told us they came to the museum after watching the drama,” said Akinori Ito, head of the Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum in the city. Last year, the museum had 137,604 visitors, up by 28,829 from the previous year. The number showed a distinct rise after NHK began rebroadcasting the drama.

The effect is also felt at the Birthplace of the Akiyama Brothers, a reconstruction of the house where the famous brothers were born, which displays bronze statues of them and other related materials. The facility had only about 15 visitors a day before the drama’s rebroadcast, but the number of young visitors, including those on graduation and family trips from other prefectures, has been increasing since September last year. Now, there are days when the facility has up to 100 visitors.

“We hope visitors will experience the world of ‘Saka no Ue no Kumo,’” said a representative of the group that manages the facility.