欧米人のおもてなし Westerners' Omotenashi

January 7, 2009: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

Zeno's Massage Room

「おもてなし」というのは日本の独特の事ではないかと。そして、おもてなしを代表するのは日本の旅館だと。
その中で、欧米なりのおもてなしはあるでしょうか?
今日は家族のお正月の休みの続きで、渋温泉の「古久屋」でうちの妻がマッサージをかけてもらった。マッサージ屋はZenoさんでした。スロバキア生まれで古久屋の娘と結婚なされました。16世代も続いてきている伝統的な高級の古久屋にZenoさんは欧米スタイルなリラクゼーションマッサージをやっています。という風に、欧米的なおもてなしを日本らしいおもてなしに足しています。
この亀清旅館では、私はとにかくこの伝統的な日本の良さを守りながら、手作りクッキーをお茶菓子に、ロビーに薪ストーブを設置して、ちょっとでもアメリカなりのおもてなしを足そうとしております。欧米と日本、両方の良いところを生かしながら。
There's a Japanese word called "omotenashi". I've seen it translated into English in so many different ways, from "hospitality" to "anticipation". It's a sort of telepathic 6th sense, to know what the guest wants even before the guest himself realizes it. It's the type of service we traditional Japanese ryokans pride ourselves in. But is there a Western take on "omotenashi"?
Today, our second day of our family's New Year holiday, we stopped in Shibu Onsen and my wife Mari had a massage at Kokuya Ryokan. The masseuse was Zeno-san, born in Slovakia and married to the daughter of the ryokan. Zeno adds his relaxation massage techniques to the experiences the guests receive at this historic, 16th-generation upscale ryokan.
Here at Kamesei Ryokan, my goal is to preserve the traditional Japanese omotenashi, while adding my own personal touch of American hospitality. I bake home-made cookies to give to our guests with their tea when they check in, and we put a wood burning stove in our lobby. Little touches of American "omotenashi" to add to the Japanese. We're trying to take the best of both worlds.

Zenoさんが渋湯田中にうんと貢献しています。彼の自分で作ったHPはこちら。Zeno is contributing a lot to Shibu Yudanaka. His "Zeno's Guide" to the area is here.



Hot Rockのマッサージも


軽井沢イルミネーションKaruizawa Lights

December 23, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

恵みシャレーの生きているツリー

長野の冬の楽しみの1つは軽井沢の光です。今日は家族でドライブで行ってきました。噂のシンギング・ツリーも見れました。軽井沢は標高が高い(約1000m)なので温度が割りと低いです。しかし、空気も綺麗なので冬のイルミネーションが特にきらきらします。

One of the joys of winter in Nagano is seeing the lights of Karuizawa. Because of its high altitude (approx. 1000 meters above sea level), the temperatures are chilly. However, the air is crispy clean, giving the illumination an extra glimmer.
Our family took a drive to Karuizawa and saw the lights today, including the rumoured 'Singing Christmas Tree'.

軽井沢は亀清旅館・戸倉上山田温泉から車で約45分。ローカルの電車で約1時間。Karuizawa is approx. 45 minutes from Kamesei by car, or 1 hour by local train.

軽井沢の冬物語のHPはこちらClick here for Karuizawa's Winter Story website

旧軽井沢の銀座通りで私達の一番好きなお店、オーストリア産のガラスの飾りなど扱っている「ベルナール」のHPはこちらClick here for the website of our favorite shop in Kyu-Karuizawa's Ginza shopping street: Bernard. This shop sells glass art from Austria among other fine items.



Tyler & Misaki


旧銀座


スレッドのポーす


上田の海野町でクリスマスの買い物 Christmas Shopping at Ueda's Unno-Machi

December 18, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

Mari and Misaki shopping at Unno-Machi

昨日は亀清の若女将を若若女将と一緒に上田市の海野町商店街でクリスマスの買い物してきました。日本のこういう昭和のころに流行った商店街は大手のお店の競争で苦しんでいます。海野町の商店街は色々なイベントをやって、にぎやかにしています。靴屋さんや祭り用品屋の祭屋や、それぞれの店の店員さん達は親切できちんとしたサービスしてくれた。これからも頑張ってください!

Yesterday, I went Christmas shopping with Kamesei's junior proprietress and junior-junior proprietress. We went to Ueda City's Unno-Machi shopping arcade. These types of Showa-era shopping districts have really fallen on hard times in Japan, as the big-box stores have gained in popularity. What the shops here lack in convenience and selection, they make up for with kind and knowledgeable shopkeepers, making shopping fun. In particular, the shoe shop and the festival goods store, Saiya, had 'genki' owners. Here's to Unno-Machi's success.

海野町の商店街HPはこちらClick here for Unno-Machi shopping arcade website.

祭屋仲よしのHPはこちらClick here for Matsuri-ya's website





腹話術in長野 A Ventriloquist here in Nagano

December 14, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

美咲ちゃんも腹話術に夢中

今日は千曲国際交流協会の年末パテぃーでした。エンタテインメントとしては上田市からの腹話術師、Hiro Tackeyさんでした。長野県でこんな人物がいはって、嬉しいです。腹話術を生で見るのは初めてでした。尚且つ、Tackeyさんは色んな言語が喋れて、感心しました。

Our Chikuma Int'l Exchange Assoc. held its year end party today. For entertainment, we got to see a ventriloquist from Ueda City, Hiro Tackey. This was my first time to see a ventriloquist in real life. Tackey-san trained some in America, too, and is multilingual.

Tackeyさんの披露をYouTubeで見ればここをクリックしてください。To see Tackey-san's act on YouTube, click here.





良い店と出会い!A treasure of a shop

December 12, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

昨日はまた長野県庁でインバウンドについての考え会がありました。夕方に県庁から長野駅へ歩いた時に、道がちょっと迷っちゃった。そういう時こそ、いい出会いがありますね。今回もそうでした。「ずくなし」というSlow CAFEを始めて通りました。そうすると、「千曲市産減農薬りんご」が置いてあった。私が千曲市に住んでいるにかかわらず減農薬のりんごがあるって知らんかった。オーナーのManiさんと話したら、「エコ」の事で盛り上がりました。
(ちなみに、長野県じゃない方の為に、「ずくなし」=「ナマケモノ」。でも、これだけなお店を開くのに、Maniさんが結構ずくを出したように思います。是非、頑張ってください。)
Yesterday, on the way back from the Nagano Prefectural Office (I was there for another Inbound Think-Tank Meeting) to Nagano Station, I got a little lost. Getting lost can be a time of opportunity, and this time was such a case. I wandered by Slow CAFE "Zukunashi" for the first time, and something caught my eye: mostly organic apples from Chikuma City. I live in Chikuma, and didn't know about these apples. Usually when you ask about "organic" to apple orchardists, they get belligerent. We had one guest who was trying to farm organically, but his neighbors complained that pests were coming from his un-pesticided (?) fields.
Anyways, I stopped in to Zukunashi (which means "take it easy" in local Nagano dialect), and chatted with Mani-san, the owner. He has quite a collection of earth-friendly hand-made items. Here's wishing him the best!

Slow CAFE ずくなしのHPはこちら Zukunashi's website here

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





長野市:山で恵まれている Nagano City Blessed by Mountains

November 5, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

今日は会議で亀清の板長と長野市へ行ってきました。会議がダウンタウンのビルの12階でした。その高さから外の景色を見たら、周りの山々が凄く綺麗に見えました。北アルプスは既に雪で白くなっていました。長野市と長野県全体は本当に山で恵まれています!
Today, Kamesei's chef and I went to Nagano City for a meeting. From the 12th floor of the downtown building where the meeting was held, I took in the spectacular views of Nagano City from above. I realized the city is surrounded by beautiful mountains -- truly blessed.




有馬温泉のChef大田 Chef Ota from Arima Onsen (Kobe)


サファリ旅 Safari Trip

October 17, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

The Family with Gunma Safari Park Lion Bus

息子の学校が休みということで、家族でお出かけしてきました。今回はサファリの旅でした、群馬サファリパークへ。戸倉上山田温泉から高速で約一時間でした。(近くて、びっくりしました。)動物がもっと広いところでうろうろしているというイメージしていましたが、まあ、エサやり体験バス
 パックン号に乗れて、子供達が大喜び。
ちなみに、泊まりは磯部温泉の雀のお宿磯部間でした。デラックス部屋にして頂いて、凄く良かったです。亀清旅館も将来に1つな部屋ぐらいはそういう風に育って行きたいですね。お世話になりました。
Today was a school holiday, so we took the family for yet another drive. This time for a safari at Gunma Safari Park. It only took an hour to get there by freeway. I had imagined the animals to be roaming a bit more freely, but the kids enjoyed riding the animal-shaped bus on a feeding trip.
We spent the night at Isobe Onsen's Isobe-Kan. They were kind enough to give us a deluxe room -- very impressive! Some day we'd like to make a room like that here at Kamesei.

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

群馬サファリパークのHPはこちらClick here for Gunma Safari Park website.

磯部館のHPはこちらClick here for Isobe-Kan website.



Safari Park Entrance


Safari (?) Totems


Breakfast at Isobekan



Kenny Feeding the Lion


戸隠紅葉のアップデート Update on Fall Colors in Togakushi

October 10, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

Photo courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Pang

今日、戸隠に行っ来たお客様からこの鏡池の周辺の写真を頂きました。紅葉が始まっています。戸隠の紅葉は本当に見事です。お勧めです!
(亀清旅館・戸倉上山田温泉から車又は電車・バスで約1時間半)

A couple of our guests went to Togakushi today and took this picture at Kagami-Ike ("Mirror Pond"). The leaves are starting to turn color there. Togakushi's fall colors are truly spectacular -- Highly Recommended.
(From Kamesei Ryokan / Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, approx. 1.5 hrs by car or train/bus.)





Nagano Tour ... by Robert-sensei

October 8, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

English Teacher, Proud Papa, and Nagano Guide: Robert

One of my fellow Americans living here in Chikuma City has a very professional personal home page. Not only does it include cute pictures of his family, but it has a very thorough 'Nagano Guide' page. It highlights day trip destinations as well as local areas of interest, with very detailed descriptions and photos. (Not to be missed are the great graphics on the Mori Shogun Keyhole Tomb entry!) If you are looking for information on sights to see around Kamesei Ryokan, this is a fantastic place to start.

Website address: http://www.tomorobi.net/nagano.html

千曲市に住んでいるもう1人のアメリカ人、Robert先生、の個人のHPを紹介します。信州の見所のページがうんと進んでいます。(文書は英語のみとなります。)





善光寺へ向かって;御開帳へ向かって Facing Zenkoji: Princess Nyoze

October 3, 2008: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

善光寺へ向かって

長野駅前このインドの姫様の像があります。善光寺に向かっています。私達、長野県の皆が善光寺と来年の御開帳に向かっています。2009年4月5日から5月31日までです。御開帳の宿泊、亀清旅館を宜しくお願いいたします。
In front of Nagano Station is this statue of an Indian princess, Nyoze, facing towards Zenkoji Temple. Legend has it that Princess Nyoze from ancient India was saved from death by the Amida Triad of Zenkoji Temple. So now she is immortalized here, holding up flowers in thanks for the Temple.
All of us in Nagano are also looking in anticipation towards Zenkoji and next year's "Gokaicho". The ceremony takes place once every seven years, with the next one scheduled from April 5 - May 31, 2009. The Nagano CVB just came out with an English brochure on it -- feel free to ask us here at Kamesei Ryokan for a copy.

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