私の長野県温泉巡りが続いています。今回は大町・白馬・小谷の温泉協会に呼ばれました。「欧米人が求めるおもてなし」と言うテーマの講演をさせて頂きました。

大町温泉郷は黒部ダム・アルペンルートに合わせて出来た割と新しい温泉郷です。最初の宿は1963年に出来、1971年のアルペンルートの全面開業に合わせて増えて、現在は宿が14件です。「自然発生」の普通な温泉地と違って、企画開発だった為1軒1軒の敷地面積が広くて良い（平均的に7000m2だそうです）。道も広いし、緑が多いし、お散歩や自転車則に最適。隣の鹿鳥川で遊べるし、雄大のアルプスを眺めれるし、自然と触れ合える場所。アルペンルートの長野玄関となっているけど、青木湖や安曇野、周辺に観光地が沢山ある。

大町のホテル・旅館14軒は様々の宿があります。11室のあずみ野河昌から170室の立山プリンスまで、高級の星野リゾート松延、カリスマ若女将が有名な旅館かしわ荘、ドイツアルプスの雰囲気の黒部観光ホテル、等など。日帰り施設の「薬師の湯」もある。

大町温泉郷のお湯は１０ｋｍ先の葛温泉からひぱっています。単純温泉（弱アルカリ性低張性高温泉）で源泉が66.3℃。

ここで紹介したいのはその薬師の湯と、私が今回にお世話になったホテル山田屋。

My 'research' of Nagano's top onsens recently took me to Omachi Onsen. The Omachi-Hakuba-Otari Onsen Association invited me to go and give a talk about what westerners expect when they come to Japan. I was happy to oblige but had an ulterior motive -- I wanted to find out more about Omachi Onsen.

Omachi Onsen is relatively new, having come into existence around the construction of the Kurobe Dam and the Tateyama Alpine Route in 1971. It's a planned onsen resort with spacious, wooded lots (average hotel lot size is 7000m2) and nice, wide lanes. Perfect for walking or cycling, with a tributary to the Takase River to play in and views of the grand Japanese Alps. Besides being the Nagano gateway to the Alpine Route, Omachi is also convenient to Aoki Lake and Azumino (famous for art museums and wasabi fields).

Omachi Onsen's 14 hotels offer a wide variety of accommodation. From 11-room boutique-like Azumino Kawasho to massive 170-room Tateyama Prince Hotel. In between is the posh Shoen (part of the Hoshino Resort chain), Ryokan Kashiwa-sou with the charismatic Sachie-san charming the guests, the German Alps-themed Kurobe Kanko Hotel, and more. There is also an onsen bathhouse for daytrippers, Yakushi-no-Yu.

The onsen water originates in Kuzu Onsen, 10km upstream where it comes out of the ground at 66.3C. The water is simple mineral water with low alkalidity and low osmotic pressure.

I'd like to introduce two of the onsen facilities, the daytrippers bathhouse Yakushi no Yu, and the ryokan where I stayed, Yamada-ya.

大町温泉郷Omachi Onsen

湯けむり屋敷「薬師の湯」は大町温泉郷のメインの日帰り施設。浅野忠太半端の時間で行ったのに、かなり混んでいて、人気があるお風呂のようです。内風呂の一つは源泉かけ流しだが、低めな温度（水風呂？）だったせいか、皆が循環されていた方に入っていました。露天風呂は広くて良いけど、アルプスが見れたらなお良いと思いました。尚且つ、岩風呂もあったが、夏じゃないとお湯はいってないそうです。入れなくて残念だった。
Yakushi-no-Yu is Omachi Onsen's main bathhouse. I went during an off-peak time on a weekday morning, but there were still plenty of bathers. It's a popular bathhouse. One of the indoor baths is pure onsen water but the temperature was so low, nobody was bathing in it. Instead, everyone was in the larger indoor bath which is heated and recirculated. The outdoor bath was spacious but would have been more enjoyable if it had a view of the Alps. The outdoor bath made of river rocks is apparently only operating in the summer, so unfortunately I wasn't able to enjoy it.

薬師の湯Yakushi no Yu

ホテル山田屋は大町温泉郷に入って最初の宿。大きい（51室）宿の割りに家庭的なサービス。お風呂は内風呂が快適で良いけど、私はやはり露天風呂が好き。
Hotel Yamada-ya's owners provide surprisingly friendly service considering its size (51 rooms). The indoor bath was nice and spacious but I always like outdoor baths more.

ホテル山田屋 Hotel Yamada-ya

ちなみに、講演の時に大町の市長とお会いしました。牛越さんご自身が弓道をやっているようで、大町の「流鏑馬」祭りがお勧めだそうです。役場と確認したら今年の流鏑馬イベントは7月22日で10時から大町駅から行列が出発して、若一王子神社での子供流鏑馬が15時ごろだそうです。
During my talk, I had the privelege of meeting the mayor of Omachi. It turns out Ushikoshi-san is an avid archery fan. I promised to put the word out about Omachi's upcoming horse-back archery event, Yabusame. Officially called the Omachi Nyakuichi-Oji Festival, the main event will take place on Sunday 22-July this year (2012) with a procession to start at Omachi Station around 10am, winding up at Nyakuichi Oji Shrine around 3pm for the childrens' archery demonstration.

大町流鏑馬サミット（日本語）
Omachi Yabusame (English -- translation by Yours Truly)

小谷村の3つ目の温泉:

小谷温泉「山田旅館」

この2012年から457年前（1555年）に武田信玄で見付けられたと言われている小谷温泉。木造3階建ての本館は江戸時代に善光寺の宮大工さん達に作られた山田旅館。小谷温泉の大湯元。

457年湧き続ける。山のいで湯を守る。標高850ｍの山深いロケ。ナトリウム炭酸水塩化泉の温泉らしいお湯（お風呂場に数十年で溜まった成分のモニュメントがあり;本格的な温泉だと言う証拠）。

私は大好き。

友人のＰｅｔｅｒさんは全体のさびれていた雰囲気が残念に思った様だが、私にとっては歴史が感じて、気に入りました。本館の男女別の内風呂はダサいタイル、格好付けるコンクリートのクラウンモールディング、ミスマッチの煉瓦、アルミドア、まあ、統一感がないと言えばない。

しかし、良く見たら、お風呂にゆっくり入ったら、その湯質、その成分の溜まり方、狭い所にうまい具合に寝湯も打たせ湯もあって、とにかく「温泉だ！」って感じ。大好き！

新館にまた別な男女別の内湯そして露天風呂がある。湯口は木の樽で風情があって、露天風呂からの谷の眺めがまた落ち着く。

武田信玄の気持ちが分かる様な気がした。

Our 3rd onsen stop in Otari Village:

Otari Onsen 'Yamada Ryokan'

Samurai warlord Takeda Shingen is credited with discovering Otari Onsen in 1555. That's 457 years ago from now (2012). Yamada Ryokan's main building is a three-story wooden structure built in the Edo era by the temple carpenters who put together the venerable Zenkoji Temple. Yamada Ryokan is the designated "O-Yu" (primary bathhouse) of Otari Onsen.

The onsen water has been flowing on this spot for 457 years. Yamada Ryokan has been protecting this mountain onsen for all of those generations. And the chloride hydrogen carbonate onsen water high in sodium content is the real deal. There is an objet of encrusted carbonate that built up over decades -- proof that Otari Onsen's water is really mineral water.

I love it!

But where I felt the inn exuded history and onsen essence, my buddy Peter wasn't a fan of the overall rundown feel. Certainly the main bath in the original building was a mismatch of tacky tile, grotesque concrete crown molding, cold aluminum frame doors -- an interior decorator's nightmare. But on closer inspection, and a leisurely soak in the onsen water, you realize how soothing the minerals are, how strong they are with the carbon-encrusted lip of the pool, and what a clever use of space it is, with a Ne-yu (laying-down bath -- see the picture) and an Utase-yu (waterfall bath) all in the tight quarters.

Besides the indoor bath in the main building, the newer building features another pair of indoor baths (I like the wood barrel used for the onsen water source) adjacent to outdoor baths featuring a sweeping view of the forested valley.

I can understand why Takeda Shingen fell in love with this Otari Onsen.

山田旅館（日本秘湯を守る会ページ）
Yamada Ryokan (Secluded Baths of Japan page)

小谷村の2つ目の温泉：

奥小谷温泉「雨飾高原露天風呂」

小谷村の中心から県道114号を雨飾り温泉へ向かって登って、秘湯の小谷温泉を超えてされに隠れている所に雨飾荘に辿り着きます。その宿の手前に村営の露天風呂があります。

ブナの森の中露天風呂。山登りと山菜狩りの人達に人気があるようです。管理人がいないので協力金箱が置いてある。

源泉は56.3℃でナトリウム・炭酸水塩化泉です。

写真は女湯と男湯の両方です。私達が行った日は誰もいなかった。それは良かったです。なぜなら、男湯は暑すぎて（45℃？）入れなかった。女湯は適温で周りの緑を楽しみながら気持ち良く入れた。

もう一つな問題はハエでした。着替えている時にあっちこっちで食われました。

私達が行った日は雨飾荘が休館だったから残念ながらその大露天風呂の体験は出来なかった。更に奥に栃の木亭があるのでいつかはそのお風呂も入ってみたいと思う。

温泉は多いけど、時間が限られている。それは長野だね。

Our 2nd Otari Village onsen stop was Amekazari Kogen (Heights) Rotenburo (Open-air Bath).

Located near the end of Prefectural Road 114 as it climbs up from the main part of the village towards Amekazari Mountain, past the 'hidden' Otari Onsen, Amekazari-sou is a single onsen hotel deep in the mountains. Just down from the hotel is a village-operated onsen with 2 outdoor baths surrounded by a forest of beech trees. One bath is for men and one for ladies. The baths are not staffed, but there is a collection box for donations.

The onsen water is chloride hydrogen carbonate high in sodium. It comes out of the ground at 56.3 degrees celsius.

No one else was there when we went which was fortunate as the men's bath was too hot for me (45C?). The ladies bath was a bit more enjoyable temperature so I soaked away in peace as the beech trees swayed overhead.

One other problem was in between undressing and getting in the bath, we got eaten by flies. Not a pleasant sensation!

The day we went, Amekazari-sou was closed so we weren't able to experience their large outdoor bath. Further down the road is another onsen inn called Tochinoki-tei. Their bath will have to wait for another day, too.

So many onsens, so little time! That's Nagano for you.

雨飾荘 Amekazari-sou

友人のＰｅｔｅｒさんの「長野温泉トップ100」英字本の研究の手伝いで、小谷村へお出かけしました。秘湯が好きな私には大喜び。小谷村は長野県の最も西北の位置で村実体が「秘密」って書いてあるって感じ。まず、紹介したいのは：

湯原温泉「猫鼻の湯」

1軒の日帰り温泉で公式ＨＰもないし、パンフもない、看板もほとんどない。本当に「隠れ」。だからこそ（かな？）、温泉ブロガーの世界では大人気。

場所は国道148号を糸魚川へ向かって下って、新潟県に入る前に塩坂と湯原トンネルの間に姫側へ右折して、千国街道（別名「塩の道」）の猫鼻石仏群の側。歩きなら塩道でＪＲ糸魚川線の平岩と北小谷駅の間。

お湯はナトリウム・マグネシウム・カルシウム入りの炭酸水素塩・塩化物泉。鉄も気持ち入っていたように感じた。
源泉は浴場の直ぐ側ですから源泉から離れているお風呂が嫌な人に嬉しいかもしれない。お湯の量は半端じゃないので熱めですが、お水を自由に足せる露天風呂から姫川の眺めが素晴らしい。

施設はどちらかと言うと「仮説」っぽい。しかし、建物より湯質、眺めそして「隠れ」で良い勝負になる。

猫鼻の湯
北安曇郡小谷村北小谷道筋3634-2
℡ c/o　清水衣料　(0261)72-3545 or 090-2666-7455
大人400円、子供200円　10:00-19:00 変動有り
冬は雪の為に休業。

In helping my buddy Peter research for his upcoming "Nagano Onsens Top 100" book, we took an onsen-hopping trip to Otari Village. Tucked away in Nagano Prefectures most northwestern corner, this trip really appealed to my appreciation of secluded onsens.

First stop: Yuhara Onsen "Nekohana no Yu"

This day-use bathhouse has no website, no brochures, and hardly any signage. Maybe that's precisely why it is so popular with the onsen blogging community.

Located by the 'Nekohana' cluster of buddhist statues on the Chikuni Kaido (aka Japan's Salt Road), to get to there you drive down Rt. 148 towards Itoigawa and the Sea of Japan. Once you pass the center of the village and before you cross over into Niigata Prefecture, in between the Shiosaka and Yuhara tunnels you turn right down towards the Hime River. There on a ledge above the river you will find the bathhouse. If coming on foot (as in hiking the Salt Road), Nekohana is in between the Hiraiwa and Kitaotari stations on the JR Itoigawa line.

Nekohana's mineral water is a sodium hydrogen carbonate and chloride onsen high in sodium, magnesium and calcium content. I detected a bit of an iron taste as well. The massive flow of onsen water can be cooled down by adding tapwater as you please. Nekohana's onsen well is adjacent to the baths so onsen purists who like their baths as close as possible to the source should be pleased.

The 'rotenburo' outdoor bath overlooks the Hime River. The building itself has a 'temporary shack'-feel. But Nekohana's focus is on the onsen water, the view and the hidden location -- not on facilities.

Nekohana
3634-2 Michisuji, Kita-Otari, Otari Village
Tel c/o Shimizu Clothes (0261)72-3545 or 090-2666-7455.
Adults 400 yen, Children 200 yen. Hours 10am-7pm.
Closed in winter due to snow.