戸倉上山田温泉の新しい｢カラコロの足湯」の夜の掃除は先日にやってきました。なんちゃった当番でした。日中で通る度に人が使っています。大ヒットだそうです。町の皆とこの宝物の足湯を大事にしていきたい。
The other night, I was the designated cleaner for our town's new Foot Bath. Every time I go by it during the day, people are using it, so it's apparently a big hit. I was happy to contribute my energy to keeping this 'takara' (treasure) in good condition and look forward to continuing to do so along with the other people in our town!
｢戸倉駅に着きましたので送迎をお願いします｣と言う電話が来ました。いつもの様にお迎えに行きました。そして、亀清に戻る途中でお客様にお聞きしました。直接で宿に行きますか？それか、せっかくお天気が良いので温泉街の上のお寺さんからの眺めを寄って行きましょうか？ と言う訳で、今日はまた戸倉上山田温泉の｢善光寺別院｣に行きました。４１年前に出来た建物の塗装がはげかけているけど、でかい提灯や天井の絵、そして、特に戸倉上山田温泉と千曲川の眺めが感動的。玄関や周りの灯篭が特徴です。日本の独特の｢和｣を感じます。
このお寺さんとの眺めを楽しんでから、隣の奥津神社にも寄ります。子供を作ろうとしているカップルさん達の為の神社なので｢オブジェ｣は２つがあります。残念ながら、写真は禁止ですが、その男の｢オブジェ｣が温泉夏祭りの時に下まで下ろされて、４０人ぐらいなお神輿で温泉街を回ります。違う意味で感動的です。(笑）
善光寺別院は亀清旅館と戸倉上山田温泉から車で５分。歩いても行けます。(汗はかけます！）
"We just arrived at Togura Station. Can you come and pick us up?" Here starts another afternoon. Another fun afternoon. After picking up the guests, I ask if they want to go directly to Kamesei, or if they would like to stop at the temple at the top of the hill behind the town to see the view. This temple is a "Betsu-In" (sub-temple) of the huge Zenkoji Temple in Nagano city. The building was constructed 41 years ago during the peak of our onsen town, but is starting to show its age with peeling paint and more. But it is still impressive with the giant chochin lantern and the dragon painting on the ceiling, as well as the view overlooking Togura Kamiyamada Onsen and the Chikuma River. And the 'toro' lanterns that line the steps have that classical 'Japan' feel.
Next to the temple is Okutsu Shrine, dedicated to couples who are trying to make babies. Accordingly, there are a couple of 'objects' on display. Unfortunately, photos aren't allowed, so I can't show a pic of the objects on this blog. But to give you an idea, the male 'object' is brought down to the bottom during our town's summer festival and is paraded around town by 40 people on a portable 'omikoshi' shrine.
The temple is a 5 minute drive from Kamesei and the town, or a brisk 25 minute walk.
The Temple's Main Hall
｢亀清｣も載っています。
眺め Bird's eye view
The classic lanterns
観光庁長官 本保氏
松本大学は｢観光立県長野再興｣というシンポジウムをホストしました。村井知事の挨拶もあって、観光庁長官の本保芳明氏の基調講演があって、コーディネーターが私の憧れている松本大学の佐藤博康先生、パネリストの１人が軽井沢の星野リゾートの星野よしはる社長でした。聞きたい人達ばかり。実際に行ってみたら、期待した通りでした。特に本保さんの日本の観光及び人口の将来の話が耳に残りました。小泉総理が２００３に発言した２０１０年に訪日本外国人観光客旅行者を倍増の１千万人に｣が当時で驚く数字でしたが、２００８年は既に９１５万人台になる予想です。次の目標がもう決められてきている：２０２０年までに２千万人！２００７年に宿泊客のおよそ１４人に１人は外国人だったところがおよそ６人に１人と言う数字が出ました。以前にこのブログで報告したように、日本政府調査で旅館の２７％は外国人を受けたくないそうです。本保さんはその宿を｢ほっといていいです｣とはっきり言いました。おもてなせないところを無理やりにおもてなさせたら、中田半端になるだけだと。
まあ、亀清旅館では、日本人でも外国人でも火星人でも、おもてなしを提供しております！
Today I attended a tourism symposium in Matsumoto (Nagano Pref.) Yoshiaki Hompo, the 長官 of the newly created Japan Tourism Agency, was the guest speaker, and he commented on this issue of 27% of ryokans not wanting foreign guests (as mentioned in an earlier entry).
Hompo-san presented some impressive stats on Japan’s tourism and (declining) population trends. One important figure was how much tourist expenditure it would take to cover the economic loss of one resident: 24 Japanese tourists (76 if just day trippers) or just 5 tourists from overseas. The point is Japan’s economy needs “Inbound” tourists to keep the economy stable during its population loss. In 2003, ex-PM Koizumi declared the goal of 10 million foreign tourists per year by 2010. Seemed pretty ambitious with there only being 5,100,000 at the time, but ‘08 is on target for 9,150,000. (That target is now in danger due to the recent climb of the Japenese Yen.) As Koizumi’s goal will likely be achieved earlier than expected, the JTA is now considering a new goal of 20 million by 2010. That would mean 1 in every 6 宿泊者 (lodgers) would be a foreigner (compared with 1 in 14 in 2007).
Hompo-san then said he is often asked: “With that type of stat, are you just going to ignore the 27% of the ryokans that don’t want to accept foreigners?” You know what his reply was? “Yes, we are going to ignore them.” The reasoning was that the 1 in 6 won’t be spread evenly across all inns and hotels. The percentages will obviously be higher in Tokyo than the countryside. The inns in the 27% group tend to be in the countryside and tend to not want foreigner guests because they are not confident they can provide satisfactory service to them (c.f. Iegumo-san’s in-laws). Hompo-san indicated he would prefer to let such inns persist in their ignorance rather than forcing Inbounders on them, which would only create unpleasant experiences for both parties. As Japan’s population (and therefore their customer base) shrinks, then maybe the inns will wake up to the reality of needing to direct their omotenashi towards foreigners. Or maybe they’ll just keep on sleeping… (My editorializing, not his, but Hompo-san did say he would ほっとく the 27% in the hopes of avoiding them providing 忠太半端 service to foreign guests.)
毎年の秋に亀清の玄関が真赤になります。この植物の葉っぱは紅葉でこの深い赤になります。若若女将とのツーショットです。
Every Fall, this shrub in front of Kamesei turns a deep red color. It's hard to capture the how vivid the color is with a photograph, but here the shrub is with our daughter Misaki.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website.
若女将with新しい箸袋
この間、亀清旅館の夕食用の箸袋を新しくしました。亀清の亀のロゴ及び英語を足しました。今日のお客様が記念として1つを持って帰りたいと言ってくれました。ちょっと嬉しかったです。
A few weeks ago, we had new sleeves printed for our dinner chopsticks. We added Kamesei's turtle logo as well as some English. One of our guests today asked for one to take home as a momento. Maybe our chopsticks sleeves are becoming collectors items?
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
11月に面白そうなイベント情報が入りました：
千曲川畔deノルディックポールウォーキング
11月18日（火）午前10時から ＠戸倉上山田温泉の噴水パーク 1050円（ポール代込み）
ポールを使ってウォーキングの方が上半身も動かすし、エネルギィー消費＋２０％、心拍数＋１３％
問い合わせは大門(090)3426-3651
千曲市おしぼりうどん打ち体験11月16日（日） 午前9時から ＠高村商店 200円/人＋1800円/組
地元産の小麦「ユメセイキ」でうどん打ち、地元のキノコ工場で収穫体験、地元の信州味噌で味付け、体験たっぷり！
問い合わせは千曲市農林課(026)275-4555
We just received announcements on two events coming up in November:
Nordic Pole Walking Along the Chikuma River
18-Nov (Tues) 10am at the Togura Kamiyamada's Fountain Park, ¥1050 incl. pole rental.
Walking with a pole increases upper body exercise, hence 20% higher calorie burn and 13% higher heart rate. Contact Daimon (090)3426-3651
Chikuma City Oshibori Udon Making
16-Nov (Sun) 9am at Takamura Miso (7 min. by car from Kamesei) ¥200/person + ¥1800/group
Try making udon using our local 'yumeseiki' flour, Tour both a mushroom and miso factories.
Contact the city's Ag office 026-275-4555.
Go Andy! (In the red cap)
戸倉上山田温泉から車で5分のところで、千曲川沿いの万葉スポーツエーリアがあります。野球のグラウンドやマレットのコースがあります。その中で、サッカーフィールドもあります。今日は長男のＡｎｄｙ君の戸上サッカークラブの試合がありました。秋の空の下で五里ヶ峰のバックと言う場面が最高でした。
About 5 minutes by car from Togura Kamiyamada Onsen is the Manyo Sports Area along the bank of the Chikuma River. There are baseball fields and 'mallet golf' courses, along with a couple of soccer fields. Today, our oldest son Andy had a soccer game there and we went to cheer him on. I can't imagine a better setting for soccer than under Nagano's Autumn sky with Gorigamine mountain as a backdrop.
戸倉上山田温泉のケーキ屋さん、ラヴニールは紅玉のアップルパイを出しています。尼すっぱい紅玉たっぷり入ったパイ、美味しそう！
(亀清旅館にお泊りになるお客さんの為に手配は可能なのでお問い合わせを下さい。）
Togura Kamiyamada Onsen's local cake shop's current specialty is apple pie made with tart 'kougyoku' apples. The pie is filled with apples, making for a delicious pie!
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan's website
ラヴニールのＨＰはこちらClick here for L'Avenir website
Celebrating the Sarashina Roman
姨捨駅を通るＪＲ篠ノ井線の120年記念イベントは今日、行いました。昭和の始めの方からの特別列車「更科浪漫号」が長野駅・姨捨駅の間に走りました。私は子供を連れて篠ノ井・姨捨の間で乗って、1つ前の世代の電車の体験が出来ました。車両の揺れ方や泊まったり出発したりする時のガタガタを感じたら、昔の電車棚と思いました。
その更科浪漫号は電車オタクの世界で大きい見たいのでカメラマンが物凄く多かったです。そして、記念のお祝いで太鼓やクス球もありました。ちょっと大げさかなと思いましたが、市長や観光協会長もいましたからかなり盛り上がりました。
次の特別列車は11月22,23,24日で長野駅と黒姫の間でＳＬが走ります。
Japan Rail ran a special old-fashioned train today between Nagano Station and Obasute Station. It was in honor of the 120th anniversary for that rail line. I took our kids to ride the classic train. It was fun to feel it jostle and jar us -- it certainly makes you appreciate the modern trains of today.
Apparently this particular train is popular with rail aficionados. There were so many people all along the way and at the station photographing this unique train. And at the station, we were greated by taiko drums and they ceremoniously opened a confetti ball to commemorate the 120th anniversary. It all seemed a little silly, but the mayor was there and everything, so I guess it was a big event.
The next train event coming up is a steam engine locomotive scheduled to run between Nagano Station and Kurohime on 22, 23 and 24 November.
Andy and Kenny with the Sarashina Roman
Andy and Kenny and Misaki inside the Sarashina Roman
Sarashina Roman's Classic Interior
Watashima-san Joel and Cat
「旅館の仕事は大変でしょう｣とか、｢長野に引っ越して、大丈夫か？｣と届きどき言われます。｢幸せです｣といつも答えます。今日も良い日でした。夕べはオーストラリアから来たＣａｔさんとＪｏｅｌさんと一緒にお神楽の練習に行きました。(私は獅子笛を習っています。)そうすると、お神楽の渡島さんと話が盛り上がって、本人が自分のりんご畑に誘ってくれました。従って、今朝は上山田の奥に方へ上がって、渡島さんの畑にお邪魔しました。今がピークとなっている信濃スィートを取れたてで頂きました。オーストラリアからの二人はこういう農家の体験で喜んだし、渡島さんが自慢のりんごを海外からの方とＳｈａｒｅ出来て嬉しいし、私は信州の秋、そして上山田のおもてなし、そして他の国の人の見方を知る事で、嬉しかったです。本当に幸せです。
People often say that an innkeeper's job and that rural life in Nagano must be tough. But I always tell them that I am blessed. Today was a perfect example. Last night, I went to the Okagura Lion Dance practice (I am learning the flute) and invited our two guests from Australia to go along. There we got into a great conversation with Okagura's Watashima-san, who ended up inviting us to his apple orchard. So this morning, we drove up (and up!) to his orchard, and he treated us to freshly picked Shinano Sweet variety apples. Cat and Joel enjoyed experiencing an apple orchard in Japan, Watashima-san enjoyed showing off his prize apples to visitors from overseas, and I enjoyed being out in Nagano's great outdoors in the fall, as well as seeing Kamiyamada's omotenashi welcoming spirit, and getting to compare ways of thinking with people from another country. I really consider myself blessed.
Bamboo Taking on a Fall Tint
Now In Season:
