Freshly-laid insulation
日本に来る欧米人のよくあるカルチャーショックの一つは暖房制度の違い。
欧米は家じゅうに断熱材を使ってセントラルヒーティングで家全体を暖める。
日本の従来のやり方は夏の風通しの為に壁を薄くして、下半身は炬燵、上半身は分厚いはんてんで暖める。
まあ、どちらの方法は効率が良いかや、環境に良いかを別として、私が亀清旅館の若旦那として許さないのは何で天井裏に断熱材がないのかと。以前は離れ風の客室２ヶ所の屋根を張り返った時についでに断熱材を張り付けてもらった。その二つの部屋の冬の温かさが随分良くなりました。この間はもう二つの客室の屋根裏に自分が登ってみて、ホームセンターから買ってきた断熱材を引いておきました。まあ、屋根裏は２メーターの身長の人が入るべきな世界ではないのですが、ずくを出して、作業しました。その二つの部屋の間に音の響きも問題となっていたので、これで一石二鳥で冬の寒さと防音を改善しました。
亀清旅館は直す所が沢山あるけど、こうやって少しずつ改善して、より良い宿を作って行きます！
Many westerners come to Japan and get a bit of culture shock by the difference in heating methods.
Back home, houses are built with as much insulation as possible, and usually use central heating to warm the entire house.
Here in Japan, walls are traditionally left paper-thin intentionally to allow air movement during the oppressively hot summers. Historically, you use 'kotatsu', a low table with a heating element inside and a blanket in which you tuck your legs to keep your lower body warm, and you wear a thick padded 'hanten' jacket to protect your upper body from the chill.
I'm not going to argue which system is more effective and/or better on the enviromnent. But I will say that, as proprietor here at Kamesei Ryokan, the thing I can't stand is not having insulation in the ceilings of our guest rooms. A few years ago, we had the roof tiles replaced on a couple of the attached rooms, and I had the roofers install insulation. It has made a huge difference in keeping those two rooms warmer in the winter. So now, I finally got around to laying insulation above the ceilings for 2 more rooms. The crawl space was not meant for a 2-meter tall person, but I somehow managed to get the job done. These rooms had issues with sounds echoing between them, so hopefully the insulation will help with that, too.
Kamesei Ryokan has so many areas that need fixing. But bit-by-bit, I am making improvements.
