長野では、梅雨は今日から始まるそうです。予定通り、雨が降りました。そして、予定通り、亀清の庭のあじさいが咲きました。

感心しています。新幹線から梅雨のあじさいまで、日本では、予定がしっかり守られています。

もう１つな有り難い事は、日本では梅雨がやっと一ヶ月で終わる。私の地元の「梅雨」は大体１月１日から始まって、終わりは・・・１２月３１日だ。つまり、シアトルは一年中に雨が多い町です。雨が多くて、憂鬱になる方もいる（うちの妻もその１人でした）が、私にとっては軽い雨の日は落ち着きます。その雨のお蔭で緑がいっぱいあるから。（もちろん、ザザと降るといやですけど・・・）

Today is the "official" start of the "tsuyu" rainy season in Nagano. As if on schedule, the hydrangea in Kamesei's garden started blooming today.

I'm always amazed how everything in Japan seems to run on such a tight schedule -- everything from the shinkansen bullet trains to our garden's hydrangea blooming for tsuyu!

One other thing for which I'm grateful in Japan is that tsuyu only lasts for about 1 month. Back in my home town of Seattle, rainy season started around the first of January, and runs through, well, the last day of December. That's right -- it's rainy all year long. For some people, all the rain got depressing (my wife Mari put up with it for the 11 years we lived there). But for me, I find a light rain fall to be relaxing. The rain makes for lots of greenery around. (Of course, I don't like downpours, but Seattle's typical mist-like rain always felt comforting.)

親戚の前島おじさんが「菖蒲」を採ってきてくれて、亀清のそれぞれのお風呂に乗せてくれました。菖蒲は玄関で飾ったり、お風呂に入れたりするのが子供の日の習慣だそうです。旧暦の使う信州では、５月５日ではなくて今日の６月５日でやります。
菖蒲は悪魔から守り、子供達（特に男の子）が元気に育てるように願う為だそうです。亀清旅館のお風呂は４つともに菖蒲が入っていますのでどうぞ、子供たちが強くなるように、お入りになってください。

Our uncle, Maejima-san, picked some 'Shoubu' plants and brought a bunch for our baths. A type of Japanese iris, shoubu is decorated at the entrance to houses or placed in baths as part of the May 5th Boy's Day celebration. Here in Nagano, where spring comes later, Boy's Day is held on June 5th, 1 month later than the rest of Japan.

Shoubu is thought to ward off evil and is placed in the wish that boys grow up healthy and strong. All 4 of our baths here at Kamesei have shoubu in them now, so come and bring your sons for a bath!

妻も自分も、ラベンダーが好きです。シアトルに住んでいた時の家にもラベンダーを育っていました。それが懐かしくて、数年前に亀清の玄関の前にも植えてみました。信州の気候に合うかどうか不安でしたが、見事に丈夫にイキイキしてきました。こうやって、綺麗に咲いてくる時に、植えて良かったと思います。ただし、どんなに綺麗でも、洋風な花が和風の旅館とミスマッチになるかな？まあ、このラベンダーぐらいは、許してください。（笑）

My wife and I both really like lavender. We grew some at our house back in Seattle. Kind of as a reminder of that, we planted some in front of Kamesei when we moved here. I wasn't sure if lavender would do well in Nagano's climate. However, the plants have grown up and spread nicely. This time of year, when they are in bloom, it makes me thankful that we did plant them. I'm just worried, though, that no matter how pretty they are, western flowers probably don't match with a traditional Japanese-style ryokan. I hope they're not too much of a mismatch.

近所の仲間と旬の料理を話したら、確かに去年のこの時期にアカシアの天ぷらを食べた覚えがあるという話ししました。そうすると、今度、仲間から電話が来て、千曲川沿いのアカシアの花があると；ほんで持ってきてくれました。せっかくだったから、Chef武井が今日のお客さんの料理に天ぷらで出しました。油の温度が高すぎたら花が茶色くなっちゃうので普段より低い温度でと言うコツがあるようです。本当に旬のものなのでこの１週間ぐらいしか提供できなく、それ以降は千曲川沿いのアカシアの花が終わっています。（日本のお料理は「旬」を生かして、良いですね！）

Chatting with some friends, I recalled that it was about this time last year that I first had acacia flowers tempura. After that, one of those friends brought me some acacia flowers from along the Chikuma River. I surprised our chef with them, and he went ahead and fried them in tempura as a special treat for our guests tonight. The trees only bloom for about a week, so if you want to try acacia tempura, you had better hurry! (This is one of the things about Japanese cuisine that I love -- the attention paid to the seasons.)

戸倉上山田温泉の中で一番歴史のある宿が笹屋ホテルです。その宿の玄関の前に立派な藤木があります。１００年の物だそうです。いまはその気の紫花がちょうど咲いています。本当に見事です。近くにいれば、是非、通ってみてください。

Togura Kamiyamada Onsen's inn with the longest history is Sasaya Hotel. In front of their entrance, there is a wisteria tree that is supposedly over 100 years old. Right now, it's purple flowers are in bloom. If you are in the area, I highly suggesting going by and seeing it -- the blossoms are a beautiful sight to see.

笹屋ホテルのHPはこちら Click here for Sasaya Hotel's website.

信州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.

今日から亀清の中庭のボタンが本格的に咲きだしました。偶然、今日からゴールデンウィークの連休が始まります。それに合わせて手配したようなナイスタイミングです。

この連休でお客様の目的が善光寺の御開帳がに限らず、戸隠や志賀高原から須坂市臥竜公園のハッチさん（カンガルー）や青木村の釣堀、さまざまです。

皆様、道は渋滞で大変かもしれませんが、このゴールデンウィークを楽しんでください。

The peony tree in our nakaniwa central garden started to fully bloom today. Just by coincidence, today is also the official start of Japan's annual Golden Week holiday season. (Great timing on the part of our peony tree.)

A lot of our guests this Golden Week are coming to Nagano for the Gokaicho event at Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City. But many are avoiding the crowds, and going to places like Togakushi and Shiga Kogen Heights, or to see Hutch the Kangaroo at Suzaka's Garyu Zoo, or to a fishin' hole in Aoki Village.

The streets are going to be crowded, but we wish everyone an enjoyable Golden Week.

信州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.

今週末の善光寺御開帳へ行く皆様は可愛いそうです。土曜日も日曜日も雨の予想です。亀清旅館の鯉の池の表面が雨でぽつぽつになっています。まあ、こういう週末は温泉にゆっくり入りたくなりますね。今晩のお客様をお待ちしております。

I feel sorry for all of the people who are going to Nagano City this weekend for Zenkoji's once-every-seven-years Gokaicho. It's supposed to rain both Saturday and Sunday. The surface of our koi pond shows the splitter splatter of the rain drops. Well, on a day like this, the rain just makes you want to take a nice, long soak in the onsen bath. We'll have the baths all ready for our guests when they come this afternoon.

信州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.

信州では桜が終わったら、次の楽しみが最も信州らしい花：りんご。上山田の周辺にりんご園が多くて、９月と１０月はりんご狩りが毎年の楽しみ。でも、花の時期も十分楽しめると私が思います。りんごの木の場合、花が葉っぱと一緒に出てくるから花見に向いていないかもしれない。桜ほど派手じゃないけど、でもなんとなく信州のイメージだと思います。

Here in Nagano, after the cherry trees finish blooming come the apple blossoms. And here in Kamiyamada, there are lots of apple orchards. I always look forward to eating fresh-picked apples in September and October. And although apple blossoms aren't as showy as cherry blossoms, since the flowers come out at the same time as leaves do, I personally think they are attractive. And for me, they really represent Nagano.

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.

森｢杏の里」の花が終わって、戸倉上山田温泉の周辺の桜の花が終わりかけ、今度は桃が咲き出しました。しかし、桃の木の下で花見するって、あまりないですよね。まあ、花を見るより、実を食べるのが楽しみですね。そして、近くに川中島地区が桃のメッカーです。夏にジューシーな川中島ももを食べるのは楽しみにしています。

The apricot blossoms in Mori "Anzu no Sato" are gone, the cherry blossoms around Togura Kamiyamada Onsen have almost all fallen, so what's next? The peach blossoms! However, you don't hear about people doing hanami under the peach trees. I guess it's because everyone likes the trees for their fruit more than their flowers. And in this area, we have all the delicious, juicy fruit from the peach trees in nearby Kawanakajima district. I can't wait to eat those peaches this summer!

自然のことをメインにした祭りの場合、がっかりが多いかもしれません。今日、お客さんは二組を森「杏の里」に連れて行きました。千曲市の代表のイベントなので今は杏祭りが開催されています。正直って、天気は晴れていたなのに、黄砂のせいか空気があまり綺麗ではなかった。そして、谷の上の方の杏はまだ２，３部しか咲いていなかった。それでも、お客さんは大喜びでした。（実は、私も！）というのは、花が咲き出した杏の木の色はかわいらしいだし、あんずの里の雰囲気は落ち着いていて、自然でいいです。「もっと宣伝すべきだ!」と写真をぱちぱち撮っていたお客さん。最後は「連れてくれて、有難う!」とハグしてくれました。（あんずソフトアイスもくれた!）
本当に今日の一日、二日間で咲き出したばかりなので今週末（４月１１日、１２日）あたりは最適だと思います。

Whenever you have a major event based around a natural event, you often times set yourself up for disappointment. Right now, our town is in the midst of one of its biggest events -- the apricot blossom festival in Mori's "Anzu no Sato". I took a couple groups of guests there this morning. To be honest, the sky was a little hazy, and the flowers were only at about 20-30% at the upper end of the valley.
However, our guests were thrilled by the apricot blossoms (as was I!). Their delicate pinkish white flowers timidly starting to bloom were so beautiful, and the pastoral setting of the valley makes for a delightful scene. "Chikuma City needs to advertise this festival more", said our guests as they went about taking hundreds of pictures. At the end, they were so grateful for me taking them, they gave me a hug! (They also bought an apricot-flavored ice cream cone! I'm not sure which I enjoyed more.)

As the blossoms have really just started blooming this past 1 or 2 days, I expect them to be in their peak for this weekend, 11-12 April.