亀清旅館の玄関の横に薪用の小屋を作りました。ある材料を使って、結局1500円ぐらいで作れました。これからは来冬に向かってまきを集まらなきゃ。この新しい小屋きちんと乾燥させれる。そして、玄関も整理が出来ます。
その1500円は12'の2x4，3本の為でした。よく見たら、カナダのマークがありました。懐かしかったです。私の以前の人生（旅館の跡継ぎの為に来る前まではシアトルで貿易関係で勤めておりました）、北米から日本へ木材を多分１０００TEU（貨物のコンテナー）以上も手配した。私が今度その同じ木材の消費者になるのは不思議です。
Now I can add one more item to my list of personal accomplishments: I built a wood shed. A pretty darn dandy one if you ask me. And thanks to using mostly materials on hand, it only cost a bit more than 15 bucks. Now I have to start working on filling it with firewood for next winter!
By the way, the 15 bucks went for 3 12' two-by-fours. They had the Canadian maple leaf on them. That brought back some memories. In my previous life (before moving here to take on the inn, I worked for a trading company back in Seattle), I must have moved over a thousand TEU's (ocean-going containers) of lumber from North America to Japan. And here I am now as the end user of some of that same lumber. Who woulda thunk it.
(Warning to anyone out there who is trying to use this blog to practice English, that last little phrase ain't standard Queen's English.)

戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano.

アメリカのオバマさんの大統領になる式が行われました。２５０万人が見たと。日本での注目も凄い。世界中の期待感がこの１人に物凄く重いです。たった一人はどれだけ「Change」が出来ますでしょうか？まあ、前の大統領のたった一人でアメリカの立場をそれだけダウンしたから、オバマ氏にその立場を直すのに望んでいます。

Obama was sworn in as the new president of the US, in front of 2.5 million people. It's all the press here in Japan is talking about. The global expectations on this one man are intense. Can one man really effect this much "change"? Well, his predecessor single-handedly changed America's position in the world for the worse. Here's hoping Obama can change it now for the better. And, as Obama said in his speech, he's not just one man, he leads all of us Americans.

私の地元のシアトル市は１８６９年に生まれました。割りと若い町です。百何十年前に。いつも感心していますが、この善光寺平はの周辺（千曲市も込めて）の人間の歴史は一千何百年、もしくは何千年もある。
夕べ、長野市古間区のこのメンバーの新年会で妻と私に「北信流」の式をやってくれました。私は知識不足ですが、この北信流のルーツはかなり古いです。私は大好きです。北信の歴史の奥深さを感じさせます。式が終わったら、「どう思いましたか」と聞かれました。「この為に日本に来た」と答えました。
北信流　おめでたい時やお祝いの時に昔から北信で行われています。北信というのは善光寺の鐘の音が届く範囲だと聞いています。内容はお酒をお互いにあげるところと、一番感動的のは独特な歌があります。この写真じゃ歌の良さが全然伝わらない。皆さんはこの戸倉上山田温泉や北信のどっかの宴会に呼ばれたら、運が良ければ、北信流に参加できるかもしれない。この伝説、歌を歌える人、が段々と少なくなってきた。私もいつかこの歌を覚えたいと思っています。
My hometown of Seattle was incorporated in 1869. It's history is still very short. In contrast, I am constantly amazed at how long human history is here in the Zenkoji Plain (of which Togura Kamiyamada Onsen is on the southern tip). Seattle's history is measured in tens, maybe hundreds of years. This area's is measured in hundreds, maybe thousands of years.
Last night we had some guests from the Furuma district in Nagano City. They performed a ritual for my wife and I at the end of their New Year banquet. It's called "Hokushin-Ryu", or a tradition Northern Nagano. The ritual consists of trading drinks of sake, accompanied by a song. The song just feels primordial and ancient. It really gives you a sense of the deep historical roots of the area. It's something that can't be conveyed in text or pictures -- it needs to be experienced in person. So if you are ever invited to a banquet in our onsen town of Togura Kamiyamada Onsen or some other place in Northern Nagano (as defined by the area reached by the sound of the bells at Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City), you may get to see the Hokushin-Ryu performed. That is, if you are lucky. The tradition, and the people that can sing the song, are slowly disappearing....

戸倉上山田温泉の亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Kamesei Ryokan in Nagano.