全ての道はロマに通づると言いますが、北信の場合は全ての道は長野市へ通づる。特に、善光寺さんが中心。善光寺と権堂、その主の商店街。

上山田温泉の夏祭りの元となる「勇実獅子」はその中心となる権堂から分けてきました。上山田もそうだし、篠ノ井地区、松代地区、皆の獅子は元々権堂からだそうです。

今日は「信濃井イヤー」に合わせて、「獅子の祭典」が篠ノ井で開催された。篠ノ井から2機、上山田の勇実獅子、権堂からの勢獅子の４機が集まりました。私は上山田の獅子に２年ぶりに中に入りまして、うんと楽しませて頂きました。そして他の獅子も見れて、感動しました。

それぞれの獅子は特徴がある。皆は頭、本体、そして櫓がある。上山田の勇実獅子の頭が重い（３５kg）と思ったら、他の獅子は６５kgもあって、三人で支える頭もあった。その三人は足をそろって踊る事もある。口が開く頭もあった（上山田のは開かない）。そして、櫓は驚きました。篠ノ井の２機とも、スポンサーが付いたお蔭で宮大工の手で豪華な作りだ。

親戚の獅子の集まり。それぞれ誇りを持っている獅子。歴史と伝統はものすごく感じました。

最後の打ち上げは４機がそろって、チュチュした。（その時、上山田の獅子の頭は誰が入っていたでしょう?）

You know the saying "All Roads Lead to Rome"? Well, here in northern Nagano, it's more like "All Roads Lead to Zenko-ji", the temple around which Nagano City was built. The temple and its main shopping district, Gondo, are at the heart of our region.

Kamiyamada Onsen's summer festival originated with the arrival of a shi-shi lion given from Gondo. Shinonoi, Matsushiro and other nearby towns all have shi-shi lions that originated from Gondo. Today, Kamiyamada's Isami Shi-Shi, Gondo's Kiyoshi Shi-Shi,and two from Shinonoi had a sort of family reunion in celebration of 'Shinonoi Year'.

I myself participated and for the first time in 2 years, got to be inside the lion. That was a lot of fun, but it was an honor to be able to see the other shishi. All have the lion head and the body pulling a 2-story cart with musicians below and geisha ladies performing on the top. But beyond that, each one is very unique. I thought Kamiyamada's lion head was heavy at 35kg, but the others were 65kgs and are carried by 3 people (ours is carried by one person at a time). In some cases, those 3 guys coordinate their leg movement in a choreographed dance -- way cool! I was surprised to see some of the lions have mouths that open. But the biggest shock was seeing the decorative carts from Shinonoi. Kamiyamada's is rather plain by comparison -- the others apparently had benefactors that payed for traditional craftsmen to create beautifully detailed and elaborate roofs.

Seeing the 4 shi-shi together, each with their own characteristics and sense of pride, really gave me a feeling of the history and tradition involved.

For the grand finale, all 4 lions came together and, err, rubbed noses. (Guess who had the honor of being inside Kamiyamada's lion's head!)

この８月は戸倉上山田温泉で東北応援vs．射的との計画をしています。

我々戸倉上山田温泉の旅館が旧上山田町の姉妹都市、岩手県山田町の支援で「東北応援プラン」をずっと提供しています。私が連携のチャリティーイベントを担当しています。第一ラウンドは５月は母の日にお母さんたちの為に花のコサージュ、と父の日は千曲サイクリングクラブと一緒にファミリーサイクリング。

そして、第２ラウンドはこの８月は戸倉上山田温泉の射的屋さん４件と取り組んだ射的散策。我々旅館で５００円で射的共通券を販売しています。内２００円は義援金。目玉イベントは８月１０日に「旅館青年部と勝負」の射的大会。無料宿泊券が当たります!射的屋さん達は通常、夜しかやっていませんが、その日だけは特別で１６；００～１８：００で営業しますので、その時間帯で射的大会が行います。

詳しくはどうぞ、亀清旅館にお問い合わせを下さい。

The Togura Kamiyamada Ryokan Association has been running a special promotion to support the areas affected by the 3.11 disaster. In conjunction, we have held a series of charity events, with Yours Truly being the man in charge.

For Round 1, we had flower corsages for Mother's Day and a bicycle ride with the Chikuma Cycling Club for Father's Day.

So far for Round 2, we are hooking up with the 4 shateki stands in town. Shateki is a cork gun target shooting game. Throughout the month of August, we ryokans will be selling shateki tickets for 500 yen, with 200 yen to be donated to the relief effort. And as a special event, the 4 shateki stands which are usually open only at night, will be open in the afternoon on Wednesday August 10th for a shateki contest, onsen guests vs. us ryokan junior association members. You can win a free stay at one of our inns!

For more info, feel free to contact us here at Kamesei Ryokan.

この戸倉上山田温泉の周辺になぜか馬が多いです。旅館仲間の上山田ホテル次男俊樹さんはポニー２頭を飼っているし、薪ストーブ仲間の村越さんは大きい馬１頭を最近に飼い始めて、森地区の知り合いは立派な馬車を作って、馬を飼い始まったそうです。

これだけ馬が多いならば、馬に乗りたくなっちゃいます。

それで、良いニュースがあります。ここから車で約１５分の上田市半過地区に乗馬クラブが出来ました。HANGA馬乗りクラブ（090-8723-2722/石井さん）は毎日08:00-17:00で騎乗料は3,000円から。

馬が好きな皆様にお勧めです。この夏休みは馬乗りはいかがでしょうか？

Here in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, for some reason we have a lot of horses. My buddy from Kamiyamada Hotel, Toshiki-san, has 2 ponies he keeps right here in town. Another buddy, Murakoshi-san, has a huge horse he keeps on the other side of the river. And another acquaintance in Mori built a fabulous horse carriage and reportedly has acquired some horses, too.

With all of these horses around, I have been feeling an urge to go horseback riding.

Fortunately, a horse club has opened up in Ueda City's Hanga district, a short 15 minute drive from here. HANGA Horse Riding Club (Tel# 090-8723-2722, Ishii-san) operates daily 08:00-17:00 and offers horseback riding from 3,000 yen.

This summer, come to Togura Kamiyamada and enjoy horseback riding along the way!

戸倉上山田温泉に射的屋さんは4件もあります。長野県の中でこんなに射的屋さんが多いのは、恐らくここだけ。

私は友達が遊びに来れば、射的によく連れて行きます。特に、子供連れの友達。皆が喜ぶ。

こんなに喜ばれている遊びはもっともっとPRしたいと思っていました。そのために、8月からは旅館青年部で射的大会を計画しています。まずは温泉街の射的屋さんを紹介するパンフを作りました。温泉の写真屋さん、富岡さんに協力して頂いて、写真撮影及びパンフのデザインをやって頂きました。写真の「さくら」はうちの娘と旅館仲間のところの子供達。

これからは戸倉上山田の旅館の皆さんが印刷して、お客さんに提供します。お越しになるお客様の喜びにつながると望んでいます！

Here in onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada, we are fortunate to have 4 shateki places. Shateki is basically a carnival-like game of target shooting using a cork-gun. And no other onsen resort town in Nagano has as many shateki joints as we do here.

Whenever a friend comes to visit, I often take him or her to go do shateki. Especially if they have kids. And everyone really has fun doing it. Our kids love shateki, too.

So I've always wanted to do something to better promote such a fun activity. And starting in August, the ryokan junior association and I are planning a shateki-related event. But first we had to make a brochure with information on the 4 shateki places.

I enlisted the help of Tomioka-san, our town's photographer. He took the photos and designed the pamphlet. And our daughter and the kids from another inn helped out by being the models in the pictures.

I've forwarded the brochure data to all of the inns for printing, so now us inns will be able to guide our guests to go and enjoy shateki!