Tamatsukuri Onsen — photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Tamatsukuri onsen: the water, the riverside town, Izumo Taisha, and getting there from Matsue and Okayama
Tamatsukuri is a small onsen town in Shimane, between Matsue and Izumo, on the far side of Japan from Tokyo. Most guides describe it in one word, "skin", and stop there. This one is about what a bather actually needs: what the water is and how common it is, how the town is laid out, how to bathe there without staying the night, how to fit it into a trip to Matsue and Izumo Taisha, how to get there from Okayama, Osaka and Hiroshima, and how it compares with the other onsen towns of the San'in coast.
What the numbers say
Tamatsukuri is recorded in our database with two water types, chloride and sulfate, at a source temperature of 42 °C.
- Its Wikipedia article is read 2,192 times in our sample. That makes it the most read-about of the 96 onsen places we have in the five prefectures of western Honshu (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi), just ahead of Kaike in Tottori (2,134), and 15th of 1,538 nationwide.
- In Shimane alone we have 18 onsen places. Second is Yunotsu at 1,492.
- Of the 1,468 onsen places with a water type on record, 689 have chloride water and 321 sulfate water; 196 have both. By how often they are read about, Tamatsukuri is fourth of those 196, after Kusatsu, Shima and Beppu.
- 99 places have exactly these two types and nothing else. Only Shima is read about more.
We have no pH, flow rate or inn count for Tamatsukuri, so we will not give one. You will see the town sold in local material as a 美肌の湯 (bihada no yu), a "beautiful-skin bath". That is a marketing name. We make no claims about what any water does for your body.
What you will notice in the bath is simpler: clear water, a little salty if you touch your lips, and a temperature that is comfortable rather than scalding. 42 °C at source is mild by onsen standards, so the baths are easy for a first-timer. Our water types guide explains how to read the sign by each bath.
The town and its history
The town lines both banks of the Tamayu River, a small stream that runs north into Lake Shinji. Inns, shops and a few cafés face each other across it, with stone bridges, cherry trees and several free footbaths along the water. It takes about twenty minutes to walk from one end to the other.
The name means "jewel-making". The hills behind the town were a source of the green and red stone used for magatama, the comma-shaped jewels of ancient Japan, and the hot spring itself is described in the Izumo Fudoki, a provincial record completed in 733. At the top of the town, 玉作湯神社 (Tamatsukuri-yu Shrine) keeps that story: visitors buy a small stone, touch it to the shrine's round "wish stone" and take it home. Shops along the river sell magatama in every price range.
Bathing without staying the night
Most of the bathing in Tamatsukuri is inside the inns. Many of them open their baths to day visitors for a fee, usually from late morning to mid-afternoon, and the town also has a public bath. Hours and fees change and some inns stop day bathing at busy times, so ask at the tourist information office near the river before you plan a day around it. See onsen without staying the night for how day bathing works.
The footbaths along the river are free and open to anyone: roll up your trousers and bring a small towel. They are the easiest way to try the water if you only have an hour between trains.
If you have tattoos, the rule is set by each bath, not by the town; see going to an onsen with tattoos and private baths. Our etiquette guide covers the rest.
Matsue, Izumo Taisha and the lake
Few people come to Shimane only for the bath. Tamatsukuri works well as the place you sleep between two days of sightseeing, because it sits between the two main sights of the prefecture. Straight-line distances from the town in our data:
- Lake Shinji, 5.3 km. The lake is known for its sunsets; the shore in Matsue is the usual place to watch.
- Yaegaki Shrine, 5.9 km, a shrine associated with marriage.
- Shimane Art Museum, 6.1 km, on the lakeshore.
- Gesshō-ji Temple, 6.6 km, the graveyard temple of the Matsudaira lords, known for its hydrangeas in June.
- Matsue Castle, 7.4 km, one of the few Japanese castles with its original keep.
- Sada Shrine, 10.2 km.
- Izumo Taisha, about 29 km west, one of the oldest and most important shrines in Japan. Allow a full half day for it with the travel.
A common plan is Matsue and the castle on the first day, a night in Tamatsukuri, and Izumo Taisha on the second day before flying out of Izumo or taking the train back towards Okayama.
Where to stay
Tamatsukuri is a resort town: larger hotels and traditional inns, most with dinner and breakfast included. Inns along the river are the easiest to walk out of in a yukata in the evening; the larger hotels at the ends of the town are quieter. Most inns run a shuttle from Tamatsukuri-Onsen Station for guests, so ask when you book. See what "two meals included" means and what an onsen trip costs.
If you would rather stay in a city with restaurants and bars, Matsue is ten minutes away by train. You can sleep in Matsue and come to Tamatsukuri for an afternoon bath, or the other way round.
Getting there
You do not need a car. Our transport data puts Tamatsukuri about four hours from Kyoto or Osaka, and the Japan Rail Pass covers the train.
- The last step. Tamatsukuri-Onsen Station on the JR San'in Line is about 2 km from the town. From the station, take a local bus or taxi (a few minutes) or walk about twenty minutes along the river.
- From Matsue. Local trains to Tamatsukuri-Onsen take about ten minutes. Matsue Station is 7.1 km from the town in a straight line, and there is also a bus.
- From Okayama, Osaka and Kyoto. Take the Sanyō Shinkansen to Okayama, then the Yakumo limited express north across the mountains, a little under three hours. Some Yakumo trains stop at Tamatsukuri-Onsen; otherwise change at Matsue. Our guide to onsen from Kansai compares it with nearer choices.
- From Hiroshima. Hiroshima Station is 123 km away in a straight line, but there is no direct train over the mountains. Highway buses run from Hiroshima to Matsue; by train you go round through Okayama.
- From Tokyo. Fly to Izumo, 10.8 km from the town, or Yonago, 22.2 km. Airport buses run to Matsue, and some go to Tamatsukuri. The Sunrise Izumo overnight sleeper train from Tokyo also stops at Matsue.
- To Izumo Taisha. Take the JR line west to Izumoshi, then the Ichibata line or a bus to the shrine.
Trains on the San'in Line are not frequent. Times are rough, and timetables change. Check the current route before you go.
Tamatsukuri or somewhere else?
- Matsue-shinjiko is 6.4 km away, in Matsue city on the lakeshore, with the same two water types at 77 °C. It is a cluster of hotels near the station rather than a town, and far less read about (147). Choose it if you want to be in Matsue; choose Tamatsukuri if you want an onsen town to walk around.
- Kaike, in Tottori, 32.2 km east near Yonago, is almost as read about (2,134): chloride water at up to 89 °C, with 20 inns in our records, on a long beach. Kaike is the seaside resort; Tamatsukuri is the riverside town with the history.
- Yunotsu, 69.7 km west, is the opposite of a resort: a narrow old harbour town inside the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage site, with chloride water and two old public bathhouses. It made our 3 best onsen towns near Hiroshima.
- Misasa, in Tottori, 80.1 km east, has chloride and radioactive (radon) water and 22 inns. Too far to combine in the same day.
- Yunokawa, 12.8 km west near Izumo Airport, has the same two water types at 50.2 °C and 6 inns. Handy for a late flight, but a small place.
If you want the same kind of water closer to Tokyo, Shima in Gunma is the best-known place with exactly these two types.
Things not to do
Do not expect Tamatsukuri to be a day trip from Osaka. At about four hours each way, stay the night.
Do not try to see Matsue Castle, Izumo Taisha and Tamatsukuri all in one day by public transport.
Do not walk from the station with heavy luggage; use the inn shuttle or a taxi.
Do not assume a bath is tattoo-friendly because another one in town was. Each bath decides.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For other places in western Japan, see onsen from Kansai, Dogo, Arima, Kinosaki and the 3 best onsen towns near Hiroshima.