私の長野県温泉巡りが続いています。今回は大町・白馬・小谷の温泉協会に呼ばれました。「欧米人が求めるおもてなし」と言うテーマの講演をさせて頂きました。
大町温泉郷は黒部ダム・アルペンルートに合わせて出来た割と新しい温泉郷です。最初の宿は1963年に出来、1971年のアルペンルートの全面開業に合わせて増えて、現在は宿が14件です。「自然発生」の普通な温泉地と違って、企画開発だった為1軒1軒の敷地面積が広くて良い（平均的に7000m2だそうです）。道も広いし、緑が多いし、お散歩や自転車則に最適。隣の鹿鳥川で遊べるし、雄大のアルプスを眺めれるし、自然と触れ合える場所。アルペンルートの長野玄関となっているけど、青木湖や安曇野、周辺に観光地が沢山ある。
大町のホテル・旅館14軒は様々の宿があります。11室のあずみ野河昌から170室の立山プリンスまで、高級の星野リゾート松延、カリスマ若女将が有名な旅館かしわ荘、ドイツアルプスの雰囲気の黒部観光ホテル、等など。日帰り施設の「薬師の湯」もある。
大町温泉郷のお湯は１０ｋｍ先の葛温泉からひぱっています。単純温泉（弱アルカリ性低張性高温泉）で源泉が66.3℃。
ここで紹介したいのはその薬師の湯と、私が今回にお世話になったホテル山田屋。
My 'research' of Nagano's top onsens recently took me to Omachi Onsen. The Omachi-Hakuba-Otari Onsen Association invited me to go and give a talk about what westerners expect when they come to Japan. I was happy to oblige but had an ulterior motive -- I wanted to find out more about Omachi Onsen.
Omachi Onsen is relatively new, having come into existence around the construction of the Kurobe Dam and the Tateyama Alpine Route in 1971. It's a planned onsen resort with spacious, wooded lots (average hotel lot size is 7000m2) and nice, wide lanes. Perfect for walking or cycling, with a tributary to the Takase River to play in and views of the grand Japanese Alps. Besides being the Nagano gateway to the Alpine Route, Omachi is also convenient to Aoki Lake and Azumino (famous for art museums and wasabi fields).
Omachi Onsen's 14 hotels offer a wide variety of accommodation. From 11-room boutique-like Azumino Kawasho to massive 170-room Tateyama Prince Hotel. In between is the posh Shoen (part of the Hoshino Resort chain), Ryokan Kashiwa-sou with the charismatic Sachie-san charming the guests, the German Alps-themed Kurobe Kanko Hotel, and more. There is also an onsen bathhouse for daytrippers, Yakushi-no-Yu.
The onsen water originates in Kuzu Onsen, 10km upstream where it comes out of the ground at 66.3C. The water is simple mineral water with low alkalidity and low osmotic pressure.
I'd like to introduce two of the onsen facilities, the daytrippers bathhouse Yakushi no Yu, and the ryokan where I stayed, Yamada-ya.
Yakushi no Yu entrance
湯けむり屋敷「薬師の湯」は大町温泉郷のメインの日帰り施設。浅野忠太半端の時間で行ったのに、かなり混んでいて、人気があるお風呂のようです。内風呂の一つは源泉かけ流しだが、低めな温度（水風呂？）だったせいか、皆が循環されていた方に入っていました。露天風呂は広くて良いけど、アルプスが見れたらなお良いと思いました。尚且つ、岩風呂もあったが、夏じゃないとお湯はいってないそうです。入れなくて残念だった。
Yakushi-no-Yu is Omachi Onsen's main bathhouse. I went during an off-peak time on a weekday morning, but there were still plenty of bathers. It's a popular bathhouse. One of the indoor baths is pure onsen water but the temperature was so low, nobody was bathing in it. Instead, everyone was in the larger indoor bath which is heated and recirculated. The outdoor bath was spacious but would have been more enjoyable if it had a view of the Alps. The outdoor bath made of river rocks is apparently only operating in the summer, so unfortunately I wasn't able to enjoy it.
Hotel Yamada-ya's Outdoor Bath
ホテル山田屋は大町温泉郷に入って最初の宿。大きい（51室）宿の割りに家庭的なサービス。お風呂は内風呂が快適で良いけど、私はやはり露天風呂が好き。
Hotel Yamada-ya's owners provide surprisingly friendly service considering its size (51 rooms). The indoor bath was nice and spacious but I always like outdoor baths more.
ちなみに、講演の時に大町の市長とお会いしました。牛越さんご自身が弓道をやっているようで、大町の「流鏑馬」祭りがお勧めだそうです。役場と確認したら今年の流鏑馬イベントは7月22日で10時から大町駅から行列が出発して、若一王子神社での子供流鏑馬が15時ごろだそうです。
During my talk, I had the privelege of meeting the mayor of Omachi. It turns out Ushikoshi-san is an avid archery fan. I promised to put the word out about Omachi's upcoming horse-back archery event, Yabusame. Officially called the Omachi Nyakuichi-Oji Festival, the main event will take place on Sunday 22-July this year (2012) with a procession to start at Omachi Station around 10am, winding up at Nyakuichi Oji Shrine around 3pm for the childrens' archery demonstration.
大町流鏑馬サミット（日本語）
Omachi Yabusame (English -- translation by Yours Truly)
