Warm yellow lights greet our guests in the lobby
日本の旅館は基本的にリラックスをする為の所です。体の疲れを取れる温泉のお湯、地元の旬の食材を生かしたお料理、畳や障子のある和室、浴衣、全ては五感とも落ち付くためである。
その中で、私は前から照明器具の役割を気になっていました。私達は4年半前に亀清旅館に移ってきたころ、殆どの照明器具が白い螢光灯でした。そのまぶしい光で人がイキイキする。「動け！働け！」って感じ。しかし、先に申し上げたように、旅館と言うのは落ち着くための場所。この4年半の間、電球が切れた度に、電球色の螢光灯に取り返った。うちのロビーの照明器具はやっと電球色でそろえました。（4年間半もかかった！）
しかし、電球は電球色の螢光灯にしても、その光のチカチカは落ち着かない。尚且つ、螢光灯は水銀（Ｈｇ）が入って、消して環境によくない。最近はＬＥＤの電球が増えてきました。ねだんは螢光灯より倍ぐらい高いですが、より節電だし、長く持つし、観光に良いので前向きにＬＥＤに切り替えたいと考えています。
しかし、ＬＥＤはまだで始まったばかりなので合う、合わないがあるそうです。昨日は長野市の優秀の照明器具屋さん、ミヤモト照明、の息子が相談しに来てくれました。それぞれの現場を見せて、どこでＬＥＤを使えるか色々と聞いてみました。高い温度に弱いからお風呂場はＮＧとか、スポットライトには良いけど、広く照らすのは弱いとか。そして、ＬＥＤはダウンライトに向いているけど、今まで出てきた照明器具はどちらかと言うと、洋風だけです。和室に合わない。メーカーは大体、5月に新しいカタログを出すので、和室用のＬＥＤ照明器具が出るように期待しています。
まあ、色々なヒントを頂きましたので亀清旅館の第二電球改善（第一は螢光灯へだった）は螢光灯からＬＥＤへ！自分でも楽しみにしています。
Japanese ryokans are, in principal, places to relax. With the onsen baths that rejuvinate your body, healthy cuisine featuring local, seasonal ingredients to nourish your body, traditional Japanese rooms with natural straw mats and paper shoji window screens, a comfortable yukata robe -- ryokans are perfect for relaxing all five senses.
Part of the process of creating a relaxing atmosphere is the lighting. Here at Kamesei Ryokan, when we first moved here 4-1/2 years ago, most of the lights had white fluorescent bulbs. The bright white lights tend to make people excited. They seem to say "Move faster! Work harder!" However, like I mentioned, a ryokan should be a place to calm down and relax. So every time one of the bulbs went out, I replaced them with warm colored fluorescent bulbs. It only took 4-1/2 years, but I finally have most of the light bulbs in our inn upgraded. However, even these seem to flicker too excitedly, and fluorescent bulbs in general all have mercury in them which isn't good for the environment.
Lately, LED light bulbs have become more available. They cost quite a bit more, but even more energy-efficient than fluorescent bulbs, plus they don't contain mercury so they are better for the environment. However, they work better in some applications than others. Yesterday, we had Nagano City's leading lighting fixture pro come and tour our inn to give us ideas on how / where we can upgrade to LED. The baths are out, because apparently LED bulbs don't do well with warm temperatures. And while they work great for spotlights, they don't work well for dispersing light, like from the central ceiling fixtures in guestrooms. Another factor is that, for example, LED downlights are available, but in standard, Western-looking designs that don't fit well with a traditional Japanese-style room. Most of the manufacturers come out with new catalogs and products in May -- I hope they will offer some Japanese-style LED lamps, too.
Now that our 1st generation of lighting upgrades (to fluorescent lights) is finished, I am looking forward to the 2nd generation -- upgrading to LED lights!
