Tamatsukuri Onsen

Tamatsukuri means bead making, and the valley did exactly that: agate and jasper from the local hills were worked here into magatama, the comma-shaped beads that are among the oldest Japanese ritual objects and one of the three imperial regalia, and the craft is still carried on in a couple of workshops. The spring is named in the Izumo Fudoki, a gazetteer compiled in 733, which says bathing once makes the appearance fair and twice cures illness - an early piece of marketing that the town has never let go of, and the water is sold in bottles as a skin lotion. What is there now is a small town along the Tamayu river with willows and cherry, inns on both banks, a free riverside foot bath, and a shrine up the valley with a large stone said to grant a wish if you touch it. Matsue and its original castle keep are ten kilometres away.

What to look for

• A 733 reference - the spring named in the Izumo Fudoki gazetteer.
• Magatama workshops - comma-shaped ritual beads still cut from local agate.
• A river town - willows, cherry and inns along both banks of the Tamayu.
• A free foot bath - on the riverside, open to anyone walking through.

When to go

All year; April for cherry along the river. Two days.

What to expect

The claims about the water are eighth-century marketing, not medicine. The town is small and quiet in the evening. Day bathing hours at inns are limited. Buses from the station are infrequent.

Nearby

Matsue Castle is north-east; Izumo Taisha is west.