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亀清旅館に泊まる海外からのお客さんの約8割ぐらいは長野県に来る目的が地獄谷のお猿の温泉です。つまり、スノーモンキーズ。その温泉に入っているお猿の顔の表情が綺麗な訳。亀清旅館に2，3泊して、一日は日帰りで地獄谷へ行ってくると言うパターンが多いです。（今日もシンガポールから6名、カナダから二名がその様にお猿を見に行っています。）その足は長野駅経由で電車とバスのコンビネーションです。そのつながりは割りと分かりつらいです。ちょっとでも分かりやすくする為に、このオールマイティーな時刻表を作りました。電車やバスの予定が変り度に、更新します。2010年の春・夏・秋の戸倉上山田温泉から地獄谷までの予定表をここで発表いたします。
Approximately 80% of our guests from overseas here at Kamesei Ryokan come to Nagano for the purpose of seeing the snow monkeys at Jigokudani. The most common pattern is to spend 2 or 3 nights at our inn in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen. Then on one of their full days here they make a day trip to Jigokudani to see the monkeys soak in their onsen bath with that oh-so blissful expression on their faces. (There are 6 guests from Singapore and 2 from Canada doing something similar to that today.) The trip involves a combination of train, bus and walking and can get rather confusing. I matched up the various train and bus schedules into this one master schedule, and have just updated it for the Spring / Summer / Fall 2010 period. So come and see the Jigokudani snow monkeys and enjoy staying at Onsen Town Togura Kamiyamada!

軸谷野猿公苑のＨＰはこちらです。The Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park website is here.

このごろで亀清旅館の中庭の亀は甲羅干しの姿がよく見ます。それと偶然かもしれないけど、「100年風呂」露天風呂の庭の中に作った「鶴亀」の亀の背中に立っているもみじは深い色になってきました。この亀も甲羅干しをしているように見えた！
(この写真じゃ見つらいですが、「亀」の頭、前足、後ろ足と尻尾は丸い石で出来てい、真ん中の立ている石と広がっているもみじは「鶴」のイメージです。）

Lately, our koi pond here in the middle of Kamesei Ryokan has been graced with the presence of our namesake turtles coming out and sunning themselves in the grass by the pond. The "crane / turtle" motif feature in the garden around our "100 Year Bath" outdoor bath has a Japanese maple whose leaves have developed into a deep red color, making it look like it, too, has been sunning itself.
It's a bit tricky to see in this picture, but the round river rocks make up the head, foreleg, back leg and tail of the turtle, and the rocks standing up along with the branches of the maple are in the image of a crane spreading its wings.

先輩の中央ホテルの小平さんによると、姨捨の「田毎の月」で有名な棚田はここからの写真写りが一番良いそうです。棚田も、善光寺平も、遠くの飯綱山も見える、尚且つ、電線が邪魔になっていない。小平先輩がここから通年で写真を撮り続いているそうです。田植えの準備で土が掘り起こされた時、水が払ってある時、苗が出ている時、真夏の真緑のころ、穂が出ているころ、収穫の時、お米を干す時、そして冬に棚田が雪がかぶっている時。それぞれの時期にそれぞれの魅力があると。戸倉上山田温泉から車で約5分の所に既に変わっている景色のスポットがあって、嬉しいね。

注：写真の様に、田んぼの水払いは始まっています。例の「田毎の月」を見たい方は今日の満月より、5月27日の方が水払いの田んぼが多いのでお勧めです。

One of my senpai (elders), Kodaira-san from Chuo Hotel, told me this is the best spot to view the Obasute Terraced Rice Fields. These are the fields that are situated in such a way as to reflect the moon in the individual rice fields. Many a haiku poet has come to be inspired by the sight.

This particular vantage point allows a perfect view of the rice fields as well as the Zenkoji Plain and the mountains in the distance, with the added bonus of there not being any electric poles or wires to block the view. Kodaira-san apparently comes here at various times throughout the year to take pictures. The rice fields put on a different face depending on the time of year: a deep brown after the dirt has been worked in preparation for planting, reflections of the sky when filled with water, lines of seedlings after they've been planted, lush green once the plants are at full growth in the summer, golden fuzz when the tips grow, mesmerizing patterns as the rice is harvested, rows and rows plants set out to dry, a pale brown as the fields go fallow for the winter, white and brown designs as snow falls and melts. It's great having such a scenic spot that changes by the season only 5 minutes away by car from our onsen, Togura Kamiyamada.

小平さんの撮っている写真は中央ホテルにＨＰにて。See Kodaira-san's pictures on the Chuo Hotel website.