During our time in Matsue we stayed in the small town of Tamatsukuri. It is just one train stop west from the start of Matsue and is a quiet little getaway from the city. Like many small towns, it clings along the banks of a creek with a few side streets springing from along the banks. It’s a quiet little town with very little traffic from either vehicles or pedestrians. Tamatsukuri lies within the Izumo region and is known for its hot springs. The waters of the onsen here are known to promote healing and thus, the town is lined with many ryokan.

Our initial plan while in Tamatsukuri was to take the train into Matsue and explore the city, but since Taylor had sprained his ankle two days earlier, we decided to stay within our room to recover and take advantage of the onsen’s restorative waters. We did however venture deeper into the town to find some lunch. During this short outing, we got to explore more of the unique details the town had to offer.

We left our ryokan late one morning to take a short walk and find some lunch. Before we left, we inquired at the front desk for recommendations and were given a colorful map of the surrounding area with nearby points of interest and restaurant descriptions. The map itself was a print of a very cute hand-drawn map of the area. We’re only highlighting this map because it is by far the best map we saw during our whole trip. All around the map are drawings of different locales, various characters, and one predominant cat walking upright is in many spots around the town.

The town’s logo is the magatama, which are comma-shaped beads from Japan’s ancient history and mythology; it can be seen all over the map and across the town. One of the bridges was decorated with four large green sculptures of the magatama.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we set off walking along the creek towards a soba noodle shop we had found on the map. There was little other foot traffic, though we saw a few pedestrians down by the creek, soaking their feet in what looked to be little pools of hot spring water. There were also small statues scattered along the edge of the walkway. Michelle’s favorite statue was of a little girl kneeling on a rocky outcrop with a shark weeping below. There were no real explanations for the stories behind the statues that we could find, but they were lovely!

We turned down a side street to find the soba noodle shop, Soba Tomi. Michelle ordered soba noodles, and Taylor ordered a plate of tempura shrimp. The soba noodles were served in stacked containers, with green onions and seaweed garnishes and a little pitcher of sauce to pour over the noodles. Michelle wasn’t sure how she would feel about cold noodles, but the simple dish was absolutely delicious on a warm sunny day. There were two large shrimp on Taylor’s plate, with veggies and egg slices on the side, served with a bowl of white rice.

On our way back to the ryokan, we stopped at a little cafe, called Coffee Yoriso, that had caught Michelle’s eye. They served smoothies, ice cream balls, and more. The ice cream balls are not quite like traditional mochi. The mochi layer is much thinner than normal mochi, and it is dusted with a crumb coating on the outside. Inside is a generous amount of ice cream along with fruit sauce. They came with little skewers to eat them with. We tried the strawberry and mango flavors. It was so good!

We really enjoyed our small-scale exploration of this little hot springs town. It was quiet and peaceful, perfect for a relaxing day out before heading back to enjoy our in-room onsen!

Google Maps Link: Tamatsukuri

Google Maps Link: Soba Tomi

Google Maps Link: Coffee Toriso