Jōnan Line

The route was not originally built by Iyotetsu but by a rival, the Matsuyama Electric Railway (松山電気軌道), which opened the first sections in 1911 as a standard-gauge (1,435 mm) electric tramway. The opening came in stages: the segments Sumiyoshi–Honmachi and Fudanotsuji–Dōgo (today's Dōgo Onsen) opened on 1 September 1911, the short Honmachi–Fudanotsuji link followed on 19 September 1911, and the Enokuchi–Sumiyoshi section opened on 7 February 1912, by which point the through tram route ran from Enokuchi, near the inner harbour at Mitsuhama, across the city to Dōgo.

The two competing Matsuyama operators did not stay separate for long. On 1 April 1921 Iyotetsu absorbed the Matsuyama Electric Railway, and the inherited tram route was given the name Jōnan Line. Because Iyotetsu's own lines used the narrower 1,067 mm gauge, the newly acquired track was incompatible with the rest of the system; on 30 June 1923 the Enokuchi–Dōgo Onsen route was regauged from 1,435 mm down to 1,067 mm, bringing it into line with the company's network.

Through the following decades the line was repeatedly reshaped as central Matsuyama developed. On 2 May 1926, when the former Dōgo Railway line through Ichibanchō was abolished, the redundant grade separation at Kami-Ichiman was removed and the route between Ichibanchō (today's Ōkaidō) and Rokkakudō (near today's Keisatsusho-mae) was rerouted by way of Gohōmachi (today's Katsuyamachō); the same works double-tracked the stretch from Ichibanchō to Dōgo Onsen. Further double-tracking followed as the main streets were widened — the Nishi-Horibata–Saibanshomae (now Kenchō-mae) section in 1936 and the Kenchō-mae–Ichibanchō section in 1949 — while in 1927 the Enokuchi–Kayamachi part of the old route was closed and, after a 1929 Komachi–Kayamachi opening, the western leg through Honmachi was abolished in 1948 and replaced by the present Honmachi Line.

A further change came on 1 December 1969, when Iyotetsu began circular operation linking the Jōnan and Jōhoku lines. The junction with the Jōhoku Line at Kami-Ichiman was switched so that the branch diverged toward Keisatsusho-mae rather than toward Dōgo Onsen, and a new connecting section between Heiwadōri 1-chōme and Kami-Ichiman was opened to make the loop work. From the 2018 edition of the official railway register this short section was listed separately as the Renraku Line, leaving the Jōnan Line as the Dōgo Onsen–Nishi-Horibata route it is today.

In modern Matsuyama the Jōnan Line is as much a tourist attraction as a commuter route. It carries several of the city's colour-coded tram services and links the central Ōkaidō shopping arcade and the prefectural and city offices with the Dōgo Onsen terminus, the gateway to one of Japan's oldest hot springs. Running over it is the celebrated Botchan Ressha (坊っちゃん列車), diesel-powered replicas of the original Iyotetsu steam locomotives made famous by Natsume Sōseki's 1906 novel Botchan, which have reproduced the look of early Meiji-era tram travel since 2001 and have made Matsuyama's streetcars among the best known in Japan.

• 19111 September: the Matsuyama Electric Railway opens the first sections (Sumiyoshi–Honmachi and Fudanotsuji–Dōgo) as a standard-gauge (1,435 mm) electric tramway.
• 191119 September: the Matsuyama Electric Railway opens the Honmachi–Fudanotsuji link.
• 19127 February: the Enokuchi–Sumiyoshi section opens, completing the through tram route from Enokuchi near Mitsuhama harbour to Dōgo.
• 19211 April: Iyotetsu absorbs the Matsuyama Electric Railway; the inherited route is named the Jōnan Line.
• 192330 June: the Enokuchi–Dōgo Onsen route is regauged from 1,435 mm to 1,067 mm to match Iyotetsu's network.
• 19262 May: with the old Dōgo Railway line through Ichibanchō abolished, the Kami-Ichiman grade separation is removed and the Ichibanchō–Rokkakudō stretch is rerouted via Gohōmachi; Ichibanchō–Dōgo Onsen is double-tracked.
• 19271 November: the Enokuchi–Kayamachi part of the old route is closed.
• 19361 May: the Nishi-Horibata–Saibanshomae (today Kenchō-mae) section is double-tracked.
• 19481 July: the western Komachi–Kayamachi–Honmachi–Nishi-Horibata leg is abolished and replaced by the new Honmachi Line.
• 19495 March: the Kenchō-mae–Ichibanchō section is double-tracked.
• 19691 December: circular operation linking the Jōnan and Jōhoku lines begins; the Kami-Ichiman junction is switched toward Keisatsusho-mae and the Heiwadōri 1-chōme–Kami-Ichiman connecting section opens.
• 2018From the official railway register's 2018 edition, the Heiwadōri 1-chōme–Kami-Ichiman section is listed separately as the Renraku Line, leaving the Jōnan Line as the Dōgo Onsen–Nishi-Horibata route.