city, Ehime ken (prefecture), Shikoku, Japan. It lies along the Uwa Sea. A castle town and fishing port during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867), it later developed as a trade centre for silk cocoons and raw silk. The city is now an important base for deep-sea trawling and has fish-processing and cotton textile industries. Mandarin oranges are cultivated in the hinterland. A ferry operates across the Bungo Strait between Yawatahama and Usuki, on the eastern coast of Kyushu. Pop. (2005) 41,264.