Magatamas are Japanese curved beads which are traditionally carved from semi-precious stones. There is one magatama bead that forms part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Magatamas are often found as part of ancient burial sites as offerings to the gods.

Miyuki makes glass magatama seed beads which come in two sizes. Miyuki magatamas are similar to Miyuki drop beads, but the 4mm magatama beads are about .6mm larger than drops, as well as being wider and broader in shape. Like drop beads, magatamas are good for fringe and embellishment, but they are currently available in a more limited selection of colors.

Miyuki recently introduced a new series of long magatamas and they have been extremely popular. They resemble a dagger or spear-shaped czech glass bead, but the holes in long magatamas are on a slant so that they lean in one direction when strung.

4mm Magatamas

• We sell 4mm Miyuki magatamas in a standard wholesale package of 250 grams (approx 2,875 beads), or in a retail 9-11 gram tube (approx 110 beads).
• All wholesale beads are also available in half packs.
• Some special colors such as 24k gold plated or palladium are packaged in smaller amounts.

Shop for 4mm Miyuki Magatamas.

Long Magatamas

• We sell 4mm x 7mm Miyuki long magatamas in a standard wholesale package of 250 grams (approx 2,000 beads), or in a retail 9-11 gram tube (approx 118 beads).
• All wholesale beads are also available in half packs.
• The holes in long magatamas are on a slant so that they lean in one direction when strung.

Shop for Long Magatamas.

Learn to make this spiral stitch bracelet using long magatamas on our blog.