Ryokan in Tamatsukuri Onsen

All three reviewed inns sit in Tamatsukuri Onsen in Matsue and draw the town's sodium-calcium sulphate-chloride spring. All are reached from JR Tamatsukuri-Onsen Station, nine minutes from Matsue: the two large houses, Chorakuen and Kasuien Minami, run a shuttle you book ahead, while KAI Tamatsukuri has no pick-up, so book a taxi for the five-minute ride. All three have free parking, and shijimi clams turn up in each, as Lake Shinji clam soup at breakfast in the two large inns and as the shabu-shabu broth at KAI's dinner.

Chorakuen (value) is about one bath: Ryugu-no-yu, a 1909 garden pool the inn calls Japan's largest mixed open-air bath, made easy for first-timers with wraps and trunks; expect old standard rooms, so-so banquet-hall dinners and a 'no dilution' claim contradicted by a posted notice. Kasuien Minami (premium) is the polished all-rounder, with renovated rooms, many with their own free-flowing onsen bath, ninth-floor view baths and kaiseki in private or semi-private rooms, but at 108 rooms it brings check-in queues, tour groups and a crowded breakfast. KAI Tamatsukuri (premium), Hoshino Resorts' 24-room inn, reopened in 2022, gives every room its own open-air bath and adds Iwami kagura danced by staff every night, but Jalan lists its water as diluted, heated and recirculated, there are steps everywhere and 2025–2026 reviews describe slipping service.