この間、雨の日でお客さんが早く着いて、時間はどうやって潰すかと考えていて、「この温泉は何も無いナ」と言われました。探している方に問題があるかと思う。ちょうどその夜、我が娘の誕生日プレセントの為に、温泉街の文房具屋さんに行ってみた。と言うのは、お店の半分以上がおもちゃとか日本の昔からの遊び：折り紙とかメンコ等。消しゴムくじもあったり、「これ何？それ何？」聞きっぱなし状態になりました。本当に何でも有った！何が「何も無い」？！？！
The other night, we went shopping for our daughter's birthday present at the town's stationery store. Over half of the store happens to be toys and classic games and such. There are origami sets with lots of colorful designs, and traditional games from the past. I found myself asking "What's that? How does this work?" every time I turned around. There were sets of little round discs made out of thick paper, with classic drawings on them. Apparently they're a game where you thwap your card down trying to flip your oponent's card over. Then there was a board with dozens of erasers, of all shapes and sizes (a dollar bill eraser, anyone?). You pay 20 yen and you draw a raffle with a random number. An eraser lottery? So much fun and amazement packed into such a tiny store!

千曲国際交流教会（この青い目の若旦那もメンバー）が３月２２日（土）に１つじゃなくて、２つな注目イベントを予定しています。
１．イースターエッグフェスティバルIII
２．アルドウデビトさんの講演
詳しくは下記のチラシです。
On Saturday March 22nd, the Chikuma Int'l Exchange Assoc. will hold not one, but two 'Hot' events. (I am proud to be the p.i.c. for both!)
1. Easter Egg Festival in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen III, starting at 1:30pm at the fountain park along Chikuma River in front of the onsen town.
2. A talk on prejudice in Japan by Arudou Debito, starting at 10:30am here at Kamesei. See the brochures below.

戸倉上山田温泉の白藤と言う食堂に昼食しました。うどん鍋を注文したら、こんなに大きい鍋で着ました。驚きました！温泉で亀清から歩いて行ける範囲で沢山の面白いレストランがあります！
Today for lunch, we went to 'Shirafuji', a little shop in our onsen town. I ordered the 'Nabe Udon', and was surprised by how huge the pot was! We are fortunate to have lots of interesting restaurants here in Togura Kamiyamada, all within easy walking distance of Kamesei Ryokan.
亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website.

On Friday evening, March 21st, Kamesei Ryokan will be pleased to host 'An Evening with Arudou Debito'. This is the man who gained notoriety for taking a bathhouse in Otaru to court for its racially discriminating 'Japanese Only' policy. He is the author of several books, and a regular contributor to the Japan Times (from where I got to be familiar with him). Debito-san will tour around Japan promoting his new book, 'Handbook for Immigrants to Japan', and has kindly agreed to come here to Nagano. Details as per the brochure to the left.

戸倉上山田温泉の冬のイルミネーションは昨日、片付けられた。でも、既に、次のイルミネーションを考えているようです。写真のように千曲川からの流木を使った灯篭をこれから作るようです。亀清旅館にも造りたいと思っています。

The Ginza here in our Togura Kamiyamada Onsen put away their Winter Illumination lights yesterday. The Business Association group is already planning their next 'Illumination': lanterns like the pictured one made from Chikuma River driftwood. I'm planning on helping out, too, and making some for our inn, Kamesei Ryokan.

亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website.

千曲国際交流教会（この青い目の若旦那もメンバーです）の「知りたい、聴きたい」公演＃１が今晩、行いました。ネパールでNPO活動(MDSA: ネパール・ムスタン地域開発協力会）してはる近藤さんと言う元気、元気な８６歳のおじ様の講演でした。信州では標高１０００m以上でりんごの木を育てられないのに、近藤先生がネパールで３５００ｍのところで沢山育っています。詳しくはタイトルをクリックして下さい。
The Chikuma Int'l Exchange Assoc. of which I am a member, held a talk last night by a Mr. Toru Kondo, the 'genki'-est 86-year old I've ever met. He runs an NPO in Nepal called Mustang Development Association (MDSA). No one in Nagano can grow an apple tree above 1000m elevation, but Kondo-san's NPO is growing hundreds of them at 3500m+ in Nepal. For more info on this amazing man and his NPO, click on the title.
亀清旅館のHPはこちらClck here for Kamesei Ryokan website.

信州の飯山から小諸までの周辺がひな人形街道と呼ばれて、東京流と京都流の両方を混じったスタイルと伝統で日本の中で特別だそうです。亀清旅館ももちろんひな人形を飾りますが、隣の町の坂城宿ふるさと歴史館（Tel０２６８－８２－４１９３）でひな人形祭が行う予定です。この辺は旧暦を使うので大体３月から４月３日まで飾ります。ひな人形ファンにお勧めです。
Here in Nagano Prefecture, from Iiyama in the north to Komoro diagonal to the east, Hina Dolls have a rich history, blending the traditions of both Tokyo and Kyoto. Our inn, Kamesei Ryokan, will display our dolls from March to April 3rd. And in the neighboring town, at the Sakaki-juku Furusato Historical Museum, they will hold a Hina Doll Festival. Highly recommended for Hina Doll fans.
亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

昨日オーペンしたラーメン屋さん「一世」に旅館青年部と一緒に新年会の二次会で行ってみました。浅草で人気ある「ほっぴー」を初めて飲んでみました。ちょっとした渋いお店でした。
Along with the other ryokan junior guys, after our official New Year Dinner, we checked out the new ramen shop in town, Isse.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website.

Most of Japan got hit by some good snowfall today, including our little spa town, Togura-Kamiyada Onsen. Our two boys took their sled to the park behind our inn and had a blast.
日本のほとんど全国が雪になりました。戸倉上山田温泉もそうでした。我が息子2人がそうりを持って、亀清の裏の中央公園でたっぷり滑りました。

戸倉上山田旅館組合の行事で旧美人座通りの発展のプロジェクトがありました。色々ありましたが、結果的に取り敢えずは１４件のお店の前にこういう提灯と灯篭の設置になりました。見事に、かなり注目されています。｢町興し｣が人の心のお越しから始まるって、凄く分かりました。
Our town's ryokan assocition had a project to liven up the old 'Bijinza' street. There were many difficulties encountered, but the result was for 14 shops to put out these Gion-style lanterns and 'toro'. It makes for a nice atmosphere at night.