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Last night's Togura 'Hanabi'

今年の戸倉温泉「千曲川花火大会」は全国ニュースになりました。

この小さな町が3.11以降の自粛ムードをブッ飛ばして、花火大会を盛大に開催したからじゃなくて、

直前に大雨が降ったからじゃなくて、

小さい町の割に大々的にやって、1万発もだして、千曲川の上と音を反射する城山と五里ヶ峰の間と言う最適な場面で、目の前で見れて、最後は万葉橋のナイアガラと言う感動的な花火だからじゃなくて、

じゃ、何でニュースになったでしょうか?

その大雨のせいで、千曲川の水の流れが溢れて、花火師の11人は帰られなくなったからです。夜中、消防のクレーンで助けられた。けがはなくて、良かった。花火大会も雨で中止にならずに、それも良かった。

でも、一つは分かった:戸倉の花火の皆さんに騙されていた。「５０何間、雨で中止になったのは1回もない」と言われました。今回はスターツの時に大雨だったにかかわらず、中止にならなかった。という事は、という事は、今まで雨で中止にならなかった理由は、雨が降っても中止しないからだ。なるほど！

でも、スタートの時は雨が降ったが、その後止んで、私の布団引きの作業が終わってから花火を見に行った頃は既に星空になっていました。星と花火、素敵な合わせでした。

Togura's Chikuma River Fireworks Display last night made the national news.

Not because our small town was able to put on the show despite other festival being cut back in the aftermath of the 3.11 disaster.

And not because the show went on after a heavy squall at the start.

And also not because it's an amazingly extensive show with 10,000 blasts of fireworks, surprisingly big for such a small town; not to mention the picturesque setting over the Chikuma River situated in a narrow valley with mountains that reverbrate the sound.

So, why was our show in the news?

Because 11 of the pyrotechnicians got caught on their island by raising river waters. The water volume was swollen by rainfall upriver, and the 11 men had to be rescued by a fire department crane. Fortunately, none of the 11 were hurt. And also fortunately, the show was not interrupted by the rain.

I did learn one thing though. Those Togura fireworks guys duped me. They had said the show had never been canceled by rain in 50+ years. Last night, the show went on despite rain at the start. So when they say it had never been canceled, they mean that even though it rained, they never canceled. Ah hah!

But I, for one, was glad the show took place. By the time I finished flipping futons at our inn and went down to the river, the rain had stopped and the stars were out. So I got to enjoy a fireworks show with twinkling stars, too.

花火師のレスキューニュースはこちらClick here for the pyrotechnicians rescue news

Hanabi over the Chikuma River

Misaki trying her hand at Shateki

この８月は戸倉上山田温泉でチャリティーイベントとして射的大会を開催しています。その目玉イベントとして、８月１０日に温泉街の射的屋さん４件が特別でお昼に営業してくれる(普段は夜だけ)ので私達旅館若旦那が立ち上げて、お客様と「射的で勝負」！　勝てば、無料宿泊券が当たるので、かなりいいチャンス。８月１０日に戸倉上山田温泉にいれば、是非、射的大会に参加して下さい。

いつ：　８月１０日(水)１６：００～１８：００
どこ：　戸倉上山田温泉の射的屋さん４店
なに：　射的大会：　若旦那と勝負
いくら：　５００円・１回
なんで：　無料宿泊券が抽選で当たる。旅館組合や我々旅館青年部の提供で、２万円分宿泊券を３組に。
目的：　旅館で販売している射的券の500円の内の200円を岩手県山田町支援として義援金で送ります。

All the month of August here at Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, we are running a shateki contest in support of the 3.11 disaster relief effort. The main event for this charity deal will take place on Wednesday August 10th -- a charity contest where contestants take on us ryokan junior association members. The 4 shateki stands in town have agreed to open in the afternoon (normally they only operate at night). And if the contestants beat us ryokan guys, they are eligible to win a free night's stay at one of the ryokans. So if you are in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen on 10-August, come and try your hand at the contest!

When: Wednesday August 8th from 4pm to 6pm.
Where: Any of the 4 shateki stands in the onsen.
What: Shateki contest where contestants take on one of us members of the ryokan junior association.
How Much: 500 yen per try.
Why: A chance win a free night's stay at one of the ryokans. (The ryokan association and us junior ryokan guys are offering 3 20,000 yen ryokan passes.)
Purpose: Of the shateki tickets sold at the ryokans, 200 yen will be donated to Yamada Town in Iwate Prefecture to help with the tsunami relief effort there.

夕べは戸倉上山田の裏にある城山を見たら、びっくりしました：「戸倉上山田+温泉マーク」の看板が光っていました。我が温泉のシンボルは３．１１以降、ずっと暗かった。震災関係の節電もあったが、LEDに切り替える工事も入りました。

工事は先月の夏祭りまで間に合う予定だったが、遅れたせいかまだ暗かった。そして、昨夜はテストしていたらしいので、久しぶりに光っていました。工事が早く完成して、我が温泉のシンボルが復活するといいね。

Hollywood has its famous sign on the hills above the town. Here in our onsen town, Togura Kamiyamada, we have a sign with our town's name in kanji on Jo-yama, the hill behind us. But since the March 11th disaster, the sign's lights have been dark. Partially due to saving electricity in the disaster's aftermath, but also to allow for construction to switch the lights over to LED.

Last night, the workers must have been testing it, because the sign was lit up. I hope the testing is completed soon so we can have our town's symbol back in operation!

(Picture courtesy of Kodaira-san)

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!)

獅子のチュチュ