Matsubara Tennen Onsen; YOU Yu

Insider tip — YOU Yu at Matsubara Onsen serves Matsubara City in the southern urban arc of Osaka Prefecture where the ancient Kawachi Province concentrated the wealthiest and most politically contested territories in classical Japanese history. Matsubara sits on the Takenouchi Kaido highway — Japan oldest recorded road, described in the Nihon Shoki as constructed in 622 CE — and the flat plain between Matsubara and Fujiidera preserves a remarkable concentration of Kofun burial mounds including the giant tumuli that document the extraordinary power of the ancient Kawachi chieftains.