From Matsuyama Airport to the Railway History Park in Saijo, exiting at Iyo-Saijo IC and driving to the parking lot

The end point is the Railway History Park in Saijo, just east of Iyo-Saijo Station

The end point of this route is the Railway History Park in Saijo (鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO) in Omachi, Saijo (798-1 Omachi, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture). Among the sightseeing spots in central Saijo that you can reach by car, we chose a place where both the parking lot fee and the opening hours could be confirmed on official pages.

The official site introduces the park as follows.

「鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO」は、ＪＲ伊予西条駅の東隣に位置し、エリア内には、「四国鉄道文化館　北館」「四国鉄道文化館　南館」「十河信二記念館」「観光交流センター」の4施設があります。

Translation: “The Railway History Park in Saijo is located just east of JR Iyo-Saijo Station. In the area there are four facilities: the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center North Wing, the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center South Wing, the Shinji Sogo Memorial Museum, and the Sightseeing Exchange Center.”

Source: 来館のご案内｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】

Of the four facilities, only the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center (四国鉄道文化館; one ticket for both the North Wing and the South Wing) charges an admission fee. It is 300 yen for adults (high school students and older) and 100 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Children before school age are free. The Shinji Sogo Memorial Museum (十河信二記念館) and the Sightseeing Exchange Center (観光交流センター) are written as free to enter.

Source: 来館のご案内｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】

There are two parking lots for cars, one on the North Wing side and one on the South Wing side. On the “Facility guide” layout diagram of the official site, the North Wing side lot is drawn to the right (east) of the North Wing. The South Wing side lot is drawn below (south of) the South Wing. A pedestrian and bicycle-only bridge over the station, the “Poppo Bridge” (ぽっぽ橋), connects the three facilities on the north side with the South Wing.

Source: 施設案内｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】

For travel time, only the numbers from the ICs are official

We did not find an official page that says how many minutes it takes by car from Matsuyama Airport to the park. The numbers we found all have a different starting point or direction from the airport.

Time written	Starting point and direction	Page
About 15 minutes	From Iyo-Saijo IC toward Matsuyama, to the parking lot entrance	鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO 公式サイト「アクセス情報」
About 25 minutes	From Iyo-Komatsu IC toward Takamatsu, to the parking lot entrance	Same as above
About 50 km (about 35 minutes)	Matsuyama IC to Iyo-Saijo IC (by car)	西条市「西条まつり」のよくある質問
Expressway, about 1 hour 10 minutes	From Iyo-Saijo IC to Matsuyama Airport (the direction toward the airport)	空港までのアクセス（松山空港）
Local roads, about 1 hour 30 minutes	From near Saijo City Hall to Matsuyama Airport (the direction toward the airport)	空港までのアクセス（松山空港）

Source: アクセス情報｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】、「西条まつり」 よくある質問（FAQ） - 愛媛県西条市ホームページ、空港までのアクセス｜交通アクセス｜松山空港

The “Saijo direction” on Matsuyama Airport’s official site is a guide for traveling from Saijo toward the airport. For “By car”, the “Expressway” takes “about 1 hour 10 minutes”. The route is in this order: “Iyo-Saijo IC”, “Expressway”, “Matsuyama IC”, “Matsuyama Outer Ring Road”, “Matsuyama Airport”. The time for leaving the airport is not written. In this article, we do not give a number made by adding the official times together.

From the airport to Matsuyama IC, and the order on the Matsuyama Expressway

The section from the airport to the Matsuyama Expressway is the same as in the Mt. Ishizuchi article and the Besshi article. Matsuyama Airport’s official site lists the “Matsuyama Outer Ring Road” in its route. Iyo Kan Net, the Ehime Prefecture tourism site, writes in its guides to Imabari Station and Uwajima Station that you drive “Prefectural Roads 22 and 190” from the airport for about 15 minutes and enter at Yogominami IC. We did not find a guide to Saijo on Iyo Kan Net.

The turns from the airport to the entrance of the Outer Ring Road have not been confirmed on an official page. For details, see the Mt. Ishizuchi article and the Besshi article.

From Matsuyama IC, you drive east on the Matsuyama Expressway. The page of Ishizuchi-san Service Area (石鎚山SA) (inbound) on Driveplaza (NEXCO East Japan) lists the previous IC as Iyo-Komatsu (1.8 km) and the next IC as Iyo-Saijo (13.6 km). Ishizuchi-san Service Area is between Iyo-Komatsu IC and Iyo-Saijo IC. Adding the two distances gives about 15.4 km. This total is our own calculation.

The shops and parking at Ishizuchi-san Service Area are in Service Areas and Parking Areas in Ehime.

Night closures: the Outer Ring Road until October 22. The eastern side of the Matsuyama Expressway is not written

Night closures have been announced for the section from the airport to Matsuyama IC and for the Matsuyama Expressway.

The Matsuyama River and National Highway Office announced a night full closure of the Matsuyama Outer Ring Road, dated September 28, Reiwa 8 (2026). The section and schedule are as follows.

愛媛県松山市北井門～愛媛県松山市南吉田（井門IC～東垣生IC）

… 令和 8 年 10 月 13 日（火）～10 月 16 日（金）（4 日間連続:夜間のみ） 令和 8 年 10 月 19 日（月）～10 月 22 日（木）（4 日間連続:夜間のみ） 毎夜 21 時～翌朝 6 時

Translation: “Kita-Ikado, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture to Minami-Yoshida, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture (Ikado IC to Higashi-Habu IC). … October 13 (Tuesday) to October 16 (Friday), Reiwa 8 (4 days in a row, at night only). October 19 (Monday) to October 22 (Thursday), Reiwa 8 (4 days in a row, at night only). Every night from 21:00 to 6:00 the next morning.”

Source: 松山外環状道路インター線及び空港線の夜間全面通行止めのお知らせ（松山河川国道事務所、PDF）(In the original, spaces are placed between the characters. The quote is only the part for the section and schedule.)

The announcement writes the reserve day as October 23 (Friday), from 21:00 to 6:00 the next morning. The detour is “Please use the side road part of the Matsuyama Outer Ring Road.” We have not read the detour diagram (Attachment 2).

NEXCO West Japan’s announcement writes the hours as follows.

夜間通行止めは、毎夜19時から翌朝6時まで実施します。

Translation: “Night closures will be carried out every night from 19:00 to 6:00 the next morning.”

Source: 四国内の高速道路の対面通行区間において秋季夜間通行止めを実施します | お知らせ・ニュースリリース | NEXCO 西日本 企業情報

The row related to the Matsuyama Expressway is “Matsuyama IC to Ozu-kita IC (大洲北IC), both directions”. It covers 14 nights from the night of Monday, September 28, Reiwa 8 (2026) to the morning of Saturday, October 17, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The reserve nights are from the night of Monday, October 19 to the morning of Friday, October 23, and the detour is written as National Routes 33 and 56. There is no night closure on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

The section east of Matsuyama IC, where Iyo-Komatsu IC and Iyo-Saijo IC are, is not in the table of this announcement. The announcement does not say whether the Matsuyama IC entrance can be used on the nights of the closure. If your flight arrives late at night, check NEXCO West Japan’s traffic information before you leave.

From Iyo-Saijo IC to the North Wing side parking lot

The “Access information” page of the park’s official site describes the way to the parking lot entrances separately for the North Wing side and the South Wing side. For the North Wing side, the original text for coming from Iyo-Saijo IC is as follows.

＜四国鉄道文化館「北館」側　駐車場入口＞ ■ いよ西条ICから松山方面へ車で約15分 いよ西条ICから国道11号を松山方面へ、途中、小川交差点を右折、 踏み切りを越えて、小川踏切交差点を左折、約400メートル先左側駐車場入口

Translation: “<Shikoku Railway Cultural Center, North Wing side, parking lot entrance> About 15 minutes by car from Iyo-Saijo IC toward Matsuyama. From Iyo-Saijo IC, go toward Matsuyama on National Route 11, turn right at Ogawa intersection on the way, cross the railroad crossing, turn left at Ogawa Railroad Crossing intersection, and the parking lot entrance is on the left about 400 meters ahead.”

Source: アクセス情報｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】(In the original, the space between “右折、” and “踏み切り” is a tab character in the source.)

The points in this article are lined up along this route. The map data (OpenStreetMap) records Ogawa intersection, Ogawa Railroad Crossing intersection, the railroad crossing between them, and Ekihigashi-dori (駅東通り), a road that runs west from Ogawa Railroad Crossing intersection. Both Ogawa intersection and Ogawa Railroad Crossing intersection are recorded as traffic lights in the map data.

Map data is not an official road register. What we confirmed is the positions and the order in which things with those names are recorded. We have not checked on site whether the turning directions in the official guide match the roads in the map data. The official guide also does not describe National Route 11 between leaving Iyo-Saijo IC and reaching Ogawa intersection. The official site’s diagram also draws the “National Route 11 Saijo Bypass” (国道11号西条バイパス), but we have not checked it in this article.

The South Wing side parking lot, and exiting at Iyo-Komatsu IC

The official guide to the South Wing side parking lot entrance, for coming from Iyo-Saijo IC, is as follows.

＜四国鉄道文化館「南館」側　駐車場入口＞ ■ いよ西条ICから松山方面へ車で約15分 いよ西条ICから国道11号を松山方面へ、途中、小川交差点を越え、「西条市大町」の歩道橋（四国鉄道文化館標識あり）を右折し、 約400メートル直進

Translation: “<Shikoku Railway Cultural Center, South Wing side, parking lot entrance> About 15 minutes by car from Iyo-Saijo IC toward Matsuyama. From Iyo-Saijo IC, go toward Matsuyama on National Route 11, go past Ogawa intersection, turn right at the ‘Saijo-shi Omachi’ pedestrian bridge (with a Shikoku Railway Cultural Center sign), and go straight for about 400 meters.”

Source: アクセス情報｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】

The same page also has this note.

※ 国道から南館までは、信号のない交差点がございますので、運転にはご注意ください。

Translation: “Note: There are intersections without traffic lights between the national route and the South Wing, so please drive carefully.”

Source: アクセス情報｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】

The guide for exiting at Iyo-Komatsu IC is as follows.

■ いよ小松ICから高松方面へ車で約25分 いよ小松ICから国道11号を高松方面へ、 途中、常心交差点（加茂川橋渡ってすぐ）を左折、2つ目の信号を右折（駅西通り）、約800メートル先右側駐車場入口

Translation: “About 25 minutes by car from Iyo-Komatsu IC toward Takamatsu. From Iyo-Komatsu IC, go toward Takamatsu on National Route 11, turn left at Joshin intersection (right after crossing Kamogawa Bridge) on the way, turn right at the second traffic light (Ekinishi-dori), and the parking lot entrance is on the right about 800 meters ahead.”

Source: アクセス情報｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】(This is the guide for the North Wing side. In the original, the space between “高松方面へ、” and “途中” is a tab character in the source.)

For the South Wing side, the guide for coming from Iyo-Komatsu IC also says to turn left at the “Saijo-shi Omachi” pedestrian bridge and go straight for about 400 meters.

We did not find an official page that compares which IC is better to exit at. Going east from Matsuyama IC, the next IC after Iyo-Komatsu IC is Iyo-Saijo IC. The official travel time is about 15 minutes from Iyo-Saijo IC and about 25 minutes from Iyo-Komatsu IC. The points in this article are lined up for the route that exits at Iyo-Saijo IC. For Joshin intersection (常心交差点), which is used when exiting at Iyo-Komatsu IC, we confirmed only that the map data has a traffic light with that name.

The parking lots are free. The number of spaces differs between guides

The parking fee is written as “無料” (free) in the “駐車場代” (parking fee) field of the “Shikoku Railway Cultural Center” page on Iyo Kan Net. The number of spaces differs between two pages.

Parking lot	Iyo Kan Net	Norimono Museum (Transport Promotion Foundation)
North Wing side	About 20 spaces	21 regular cars (1 large bus allowed)
South Wing side	About 30 spaces	34 regular cars (no large buses)

Source: 【西条市】四国鉄道文化館｜愛媛のスポット・体験｜愛媛県の公式観光サイト【いよ観ネット】、鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO｜見る！知る！楽しむ！のりもの博物館

The pages have no dates, so we cannot tell which number is newer. The Norimono Museum page has this note.

※駐車場の数に限りがあるため、お車の乗り合わせや、公共交通機関のご利用をお勧めします。

Translation: “Note: The number of parking spaces is limited, so we recommend carpooling or using public transportation.”

Source: 鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO｜見る！知る！楽しむ！のりもの博物館

On the park’s own official site, we did not find the number of spaces, the fee, or the hours of use of the parking lots. It is also not written whether there is a parking lot only for the Sightseeing Exchange Center.

Opening hours and the closing day, Wednesday

On the “Visitor information” page of the official site, the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center and the Shinji Sogo Memorial Museum are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission 4:30 p.m.). The Sightseeing Exchange Center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the local products sales corner is open until 5:30 p.m.

The closing day for the North Wing and South Wing of the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center and the Shinji Sogo Memorial Museum is Wednesday. When Wednesday is a public holiday, the next day is the closing day. The Sightseeing Exchange Center is written as open all year. Iyo Kan Net adds the year-end and New Year holidays (December 31 and January 1) to this.

The closing days in October and November 2026 are shown as a calendar image in a notice on the official site. The days colored as closing days in the image are as follows.

Month	Closing days
October 2026 (Reiwa 8)	7, 14, 21, 28
November 2026 (Reiwa 8)	4, 11, 18, 25

Source: 来館のご案内｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】、【西条市】四国鉄道文化館｜愛媛のスポット・体験｜愛媛県の公式観光サイト【いよ観ネット】、お知らせ｜鉄道歴史パーク in SAIJO【愛媛県西条市】: 10・11月の四国鉄道文化館・十河信二記念館の休館日をお知らせします

At the bottom right of the image, it also says “※観光交流センターは無休です。” (The Sightseeing Exchange Center has no closing day.)

Saijo Festival: October 14 to 17. Roads restricted on the 16th are also drawn near the park

According to the Saijo City page (updated October 14, 2026), the schedule of the Saijo Festival in Reiwa 8 (2026) is as follows.

Festival	Dates
Ishioka Shrine festival (石岡神社祭礼)	October 14 to 15
Isono Shrine festival (伊曽乃神社祭礼)	October 15 to 16
Iizumi Shrine festival (飯積神社祭礼)	October 16 to 17

Source: 「西条まつり」のご案内 - 愛媛県西条市ホームページ

The “traffic restriction guide map” from Saijo City and the Saijo Police Station divides the restricted roads by color. In the legend, blue diagonal lines mean “15日車両進入禁止” (vehicles prohibited from entering on the 15th), dark brown and light brown mean “16日” (the 16th), and green means “17日” (the 17th). There is also a note, “※案内図面内は全面駐車禁止です。” (No parking at all within the area of the map.)

Around the park, the following can be read from the map.

• Roads in the color for the 16th (brown) are drawn in many places around the park. They include roads that run north from National Route 11 (the road east of the South Wing, a road farther east near Marunaka (マルナカ), and the road west of Iyo-Saijo Station), and the east-west road south of the park.
• Near the park, several times are written: “13:30” and “17:00”, “13:30～17:00” north of Omachi Elementary School (大町小), “13:00～17:00” east of the railroad tracks, and “1:00～8:00” and “14:00～20:00” west of Iyo-Saijo Station. From the positions of the lines and text on the map, we could not determine which time belongs to which road.
• Kamogawa Bridge (National Route 11) has a yellow “横断禁止” (no crossing) mark, with “15日 1:00～7:00” and “16日 1:00～8:00” written. The map does not explain what this mark refers to.
• The legend has nothing for the 14th. The 15th (blue) is around Ishioka Shrine and other places, and is not drawn around the park.

Source: 令和8年度 西条まつり交通規制案内図（西条市、PDF）(We read the image by eye.)

The city writes the following about the restrictions.

※交通状況・屋台等の運行コースの変更等により交通規制の延長・短縮をする場合があります。 ※交通規制については現場の警察官の指示および道路標識に従ってください。

Translation: “Note: Depending on traffic conditions and changes to the routes of the festival floats and similar, the traffic restrictions may be extended or shortened. Note: For traffic restrictions, please follow the instructions of police officers on site and road signs.”

Source: 「西条まつり」屋台運行コース（令和8年度） - 愛媛県西条市ホームページ

In its FAQ, the city answers that National Route 11 can be used. It then says that some restrictions may apply and tells you to see the page on the festival float routes.

Source: 「西条まつり」 よくある質問（FAQ） - 愛媛県西条市ホームページ

For temporary parking for watching the festival, the city’s FAQ directs you to “the left bank of the Kamogawa (near Kamogawa Bridge and FamilyMart Saijo Kamogawa store)”. This is separate from the parking lots of the Railway History Park (the same page also lists temporary parking lots for each shrine festival). The overall festival restrictions are in the article on Ehime autumn festivals. For the restrictions on the day, check with the city’s Tourism Promotion Division (0897-52-1690). If you call, have a passenger do it, or call after you have stopped the car.

What to check before you leave

• Closing day: The Shikoku Railway Cultural Center is closed on Wednesdays. On some days, only the Sightseeing Exchange Center is open.
• Saijo Festival period: From October 14 to 17, roads restricted on the 16th are drawn near the park. On the day, follow the instructions of police officers and road signs.
• Night closures: Night closures are announced for the Matsuyama Outer Ring Road until October 22, and for Matsuyama IC to Ozu-kita IC on the Matsuyama Expressway until the morning of October 17.
• Number of parking spaces: Adding the North Wing side and South Wing side gives about 50 by the Iyo Kan Net numbers and 55 by the Norimono Museum numbers (our calculation). One guide recommends carpooling.
• Toll: The toll from Matsuyama IC to Iyo-Saijo IC has not been confirmed. For how to use ETC, see the article on ETC and toll gates.

What comes next for this article

The point numbers will match the chapter numbers of the driving video. This article is written only from official pages, diagrams, and map data, and we have not driven it yet. The latitude and longitude of the points are the positions of roads, intersections, buildings, and parking lots in the map data, not the entrances themselves.

The following could not be confirmed with official pages and map data.

• The travel time by car from Matsuyama Airport to the park
• Which road to take from Matsuyama Airport to Matsuyama IC (whether the Matsuyama Outer Ring Road can be used)
• The toll from Matsuyama IC to Iyo-Saijo IC
• What National Route 11 is like between leaving Iyo-Saijo IC and Ogawa intersection, and the turning directions at Ogawa intersection, Ogawa Railroad Crossing intersection, and Joshin intersection
• The hours the parking lots can be used, the reason the numbers of spaces differ, and the direction of the South Wing side entrance
• Which roads, and from what time to what time, are restricted on the 16th
• Night closures of the Matsuyama Expressway east of Matsuyama IC

After we drive it, we will add the wording of the signs at the intersections where you turn, the surroundings of the railroad crossing, and the entrances and how crowded the parking lots are.