亀清の｢１００年風呂｣のイチョウの木の葉っぱはやっと紅葉してきました。この黄色い美しさを眺めながら露天風呂に入ったらいかがですか？そのうち、葉っぱが落ち来ますので回りが黄色い絨毯になりそうです。
The Ginkgo tree next to Kamesei's 100 Year Bath has finally started to turn colors for this autumn. How about soaking in our outdoor bath while enjoying the beautiful yellow leaves? Pretty soon the leaves will fall, creating a yellow carpet around the bath.
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.
New Wood Accent in the Women's Bath
先日に書いたように、亀清旅館の女風呂のシャワーの調子が悪かったので直す作業を始めた。私が簡単な配管作業及びその配管を隠す為の木箱をやって、基礎の管とのつながり及びタイルの仕上がりは設備屋さんに任せました。
設備屋さんに｢ワシは大工さんじゃないからその木箱は手伝えない｣と言われたが、｢この木箱が簡単なのでこちらで出来る；そのつながりやタイルの仕事は私に無理だから、頼みますよ｣と答えました。作業は大変だったけど、シャワーはやっと直りました。
考えてみれば、温泉旅館でシャワーが調子悪いと言う事は、お客さんに失礼ですね。この間、ある先輩に｢我々旅館はまず、お客さんに失礼な事をしない努力はしなければならない。その最低限の事さえしてない宿は沢山ある｣と言われました。お客さんに喜んで頂ける為におもてなしするのは本来の目的だと思っていましたが、喜ばないようにならない事も大事だと分かりました。
それにしても、私はどうしても積極的に考える方なので、今回の修理を生かして、内装がタイルばかりで多少に硬い感覚のあった内風呂に、もうちょっと人間に優しい木のアクセントを取り入れました。隣の露天風呂はヒバで出来ているので統一する為にヒバの板を使って、配管を隠す箱を作りました。
皆様はどうぞ、楽しんで使ってください。
As I mentioned the other day, our ladies bath's showers weren't functioning properly. I worked on the new pipes as well as a wood box to contain them, and had a plumber come in to connect it with the existing pipes as well as do the tilework. The plumber commented that there was no way he way going to help with the woodwork "'cuz I ain't no carpenter". I told him the woodwork was a piece of cake, and that the pipe connection and tilework was way beyond my abilities. We ended up making a pretty good team, and the showers now work properly!
One of my mentors in the ryokan industry had this piece of advice: We ryokans must strive to avoid providing rude service to our guests. You'd think that would be automatic, but there are plenty of inns out there that fail to do even that most bare minimum.
I had always thought of ryokans as trying to provide guests an enjoyable stay, as opposed to just trying to avoid being rude. But I see his point, and non-working showers was definitely being rude to our guests.
However, I couldn't bring myself to just do the bare minimum. While fixing the showers, I took advantage of the change to add a soft, people-friendly wood touch to the harsh tile interior of the bath. In order to match the yellow cedar outdoor bath, I took some yellow cedar planks and made a wood box to hide the new pipes.
I hope our guests enjoy the improvements.
With journalist Nakamori-san
旅館若旦那の仕事と言うのは、他の温泉地だったら分からないけれど、この戸倉上山田温泉の場合は自分の仕事の半分が宿の為じゃなくて、地域の為です。今日も他の旅館の方々とこの千曲市の市長等と東京へ宣伝して回りました。午前中はいくつかの大手旅行会社の４社に行って、戸倉上山田温泉の姨捨夜景ツアーや、マイ味噌造りなどの体験プログラムをＰＲしました。そして、夕方は旅行会社やメディア関係の８０人にこの戸倉上山田温泉の魅力を伝えました。
実は、今回のキャラバンは私にとって一石二鳥でした。金曜日の旅行会社・メディアのＰＲが終わってから、私が上野に泊まって、土曜日の朝はジャパニーズ・イン・グループのメンバーとよこすかの米軍基地のトラベル・フェアーに行きました。雨のせいで結局中止になったが、グループのメンバーと良い交流が出来ました。
泊まったのはグループのメンバーの勝太郎旅館でした。夜は近所の居酒屋に連れてくれて、盛り上がりました。初めてだったのに、常連の皆さんがすぐ、仲間に入れさせて頂きました。(やはり、下町は良いね！勝太郎さん、ご馳走様でした！）
I don't know about other onsen towns, but here in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, for us innkeepers like me, half of our work is at our own inn, the other half is in support of the town. Today I went with some other innkeepers, Chikuma City's mayor and several other people to Tokyo to do some marketing for our town. In the morning, we made the rounds to the major travel agents to try to get them to feature our town's Obasute Night View Tour and other optional tours. In the evening, we entertained about 80 people from various travel agencies and media outlets.
For me, this trip was a "2 birds, 1 stone" deal. After the PR work in Tokyo on Friday, I spent the night in Ueno. Then Saturday morning, I went with several other members of the Japanese Inn Group to the U.S. Naval Station at Yokosuka to participate in a travel fair. Unfortunately, it got rained out, but I got to know some of the other JIG members better.
For Friday night, I stayed at Ryokan Katsutaro. The owner took me out to a nearby izakaya pub, where the locals immediately accepted me into their lively conversation. The area is part of Tokyo's "shitamachi", the older section of the city where people tend to be more friendly. I certainly found that to be the case! (Katsutaro-san, thank you for your hospitality!)
旅館勝太郎のＨＰはこちらClick here for the website for Ryokan Katsutaro.
日本の部屋作りは面白いです。アメリカの家は無駄が多いです。知り合いの何人かの家が馬鹿でかくて、１年に一度も使わない部屋がある。アメリカはそれだけ広くて、余裕があるわけ。日本は逆に狭くて、例えば、こういう旅館の場合は同じ部屋はリビングとして、そして食事にも寝る時にも使う。効率良いといえば良いですね。しかし、日本の部屋はいくらでも狭くて、いくらでも効率を優先的に考えても、思い切り無駄の場所は必ずある：床の間。すごい不思議な存在です。
そして、その床の間に何を置くか、何を飾るか、いつも不思議に思っています。何でもありという訳に行かないと思いますが、どういうルールがあるでしょうか？書画と生け花が基本ではないかと思いますが、亀清旅館の客室の床の間は大体、壁に何かの江がかけてあって、下に何かのオブジェが置いてある。
以前は風呂前の養老の間の床の間のオブジェは「燕を踏んでいる馬」の小さな銅像だとお客さんに気付かされました。そのお客さんは詳しい事が知らなかったけど、とにかくどっかからな有名な銅像だと言う話になっていた。まあ、信州で馬刺しが名物になっているから何か｢長野｣と｢馬｣のつながりかな・・・と思いました。
そして、先日に泊まったお客さんが、「あっ、馬騰飛燕だ！私は本物を見に行った事がある！」と仰った。これでこの銅像の有らいが分かると私が喜んで、期待して聞いた：「本物はどこですか？」
どこだと思いますか？ヒント：長野じゃない。日本でもない。中国だ！何百年前に死んじゃった王様のお墓に。
ショックや！何で日本じゃない者は日本の床の間においてある？まあ、こうやってこのお客さんが感心して喜んでくれたけど、私が来て４年間の間で初めてでした。もっと一般な人に関心となる物の方が良いのではないかな？
とは、私の床の間の悩みです。
It always amazes me how no matter how constricted a traditional room is in Japan due to the lack of space, without fail there is space set aside for the tokonoma alcove. I mean, here you have a room that can be a combined living, dining and bed-room, totally maxing out the functionality (compared with houses in the States that are so huge, they have rooms that are hardly ever used!), yet you have this one section that has absolutely no practical function. But that's what makes a room a traditional "Japanese" room, and all of our guest rooms here in Kamesei Ryokan have a tokonoma.
I have been curious as to what the "rules" are for a tokonoma. I think the orthodox style is to have a caligraphy scroll hanging on the wall with a ikebana display set on the base. Most of ours have some painting (deer, Mt. Fuji, koi, etc.) and some "object" set on the base. One of our rooms, Yoro, has this bronze statue of a horse stepping on a swallow. I had never noticed it before until one of our guests said, "Hey, that's a copy of the famous horse-stepping-on-a-swallow statue!" When I asked for details, all I got was a "I dunno, but it's famous."
So, imagine my surprise when one of our recent guests said, "I've been to see the original statue." Initially, I had thought that since basashi (raw horse meet) is a delicacy, that horses and Nagano have a historical connection, and that the swallow horse is related to that Nagano connection somehow. So I was a little chagrined to learn that the original is not from Nagano, nor even from Japan -- it's from China. It was a decoration in an ancient burial chamber for some emperor.
I'm glad one of our guests was pleased to see the statue, but that's the first time in the four years since I've come here. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to display something more people are familiar with, maybe something from Nagano or at least from Japan in our traditional Japanese tokonoma alcove? That's my tokonoma dilemma.
紅葉見風呂
戸倉上山田温泉の周辺の山は一週間前ぐらいから緑から黄色、茶色・赤色に切り替えました。今度は亀清旅館の中庭や露天風呂の庭などの番。中庭のもみじが綺麗なオレンジ系な黄色になったし、１００年風呂の庭のそれぞれの木はさまざまな色になってきました。｢紅葉見｣風呂って感じです。お風呂の隣のイチョウの木は湯気せいか、色の変更が遅いです。変わったら、真黄色になります。
自然で恵まれている信州、庭が所々にある亀清旅館、紅葉の合う場所です。
The hills around Togura Kamiyamada Onsen started changing from green to yellow, brown and red last week. Now down here at Kamesei Ryokan's gardens, fall colors have finally arrived. The maple in our naka-niwa garden is starting to change to its orangeish yellow color. And the various trees in the garden of our 100-Year Bath outdoor bath are changing to various colors. The ginkgo tree next to the bath is slow to change, perhaps because of the warm onsen vapors coming off the bath. But when the leaves do change, they become a brilliant shade of yellow.
Nagano is blessed with beautiful nature, and Kamesei Ryokan is fortunate to have gardens throughout our inn. Fall colors are a special treat 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.
Naka-niwa garden in full fall colors (from last year)
写真は女湯のシャワーです。真ん中のシャワーは問題ないです。右はお湯が出なくて、左はお水が出ないという悔しい状態になっています。配管は壁の中ですから、なおさら直せられへん。でも、このままじゃお客さんに良い迷惑やからなんとせいへんとまずいです。
従って、今日からは配管を壁の表面に通しなおして、シャワーをつながりなおします。そして、木の棚で隠す・・・と言う作戦です。
改善、改善！
Pictured are the three shower fixtures in our women's bath. The middle one works fine, the one on the left has no hot water, and the one on the right no cold water. The problem is compounded by the fact that the pipes are buried in the wall. I always thought the bath needed a little wood accent to soften the tile floors and walls, so I started running new pipes on the surface of the walls and will cover them with a wood counter. Wish me luck with this new job!
お客様の送迎の途中で、戸倉上山田温泉の上の善光寺別院に寄りました。お客様に上からの温泉街や千曲川の眺めを見せたいと思っていました。行ってみたら、お寺の入り口のイチョウの木の葉っぱが黄色くなっていて、見事に綺麗でした。提灯と灯篭とイチョウの紅葉・・・日本は美しい国ですね。
On the way back from picking some guests up at the station, I took them to the Zenkoji Branch Temple on the hill behind town. I had intended on showing them the view of Togura Kamiyamada Onsen and the Chikuma River valley from above. However, when we got there, we found the ginkgo tree at the entrance was in peak autumn colors -- the leaves were a brilliant yellow color. Something about the contrast of the fall leaves with the huge chochin lantern and the stone "toro" was one of those only-in-Japan special scenes.
戸倉上山田温泉では、芸者さんはまだ３５人ぐらいいます。
我々外国人は芸者さんに興味がある。
何とかその２点をつなげたいと思っています。特に、私はこの旅館若旦那というユニークな立場のお陰で、この温泉の芸者さんのマジックは何度も見れています。外国人の旅行者はそれを見れば、絶対喜ぶと思います。
問題は、値段です。芸者さんは夜の宴会に最低二時間、１万８千円です。
そこで、色々と考えた結果は以前に発表したLunch with a Geishaと言う商品です。手ごろの値段（6200円）で上山田の温泉らしいお湯のお風呂、我が板長の懐石風のお料理と、芸者さんとの一時間のふれあい。
今日はやっと実施が出来ました。長野県観光協会のつながりで香港のＴＶ撮影が亀清旅館に来てくれました。この温泉宿で、会席風のお料理を召し上がって、そして芸者さんの文化と触れ合う事でした。せっかくでしたから白馬の宿泊施設の経営者も呼んで、皆で盛り上がりました。｢もみじの橋｣と言う歌は三味線と踊りで見せて、そしてお座敷ゲーム(香港チームも白馬チームも芸者さんにぼろ負け！）、最後はちょっとしたお酌しながらお話が出来ました。時間があったら、参加者は芸者さんに教えてもらって、踊りの体験の予定もありました。
このLunch with a Geishaのお陰で皆さんと良い出会いが出来ました。海外のメディアも始めてこの千曲市に来られました。どんどん、こうやって良い結果を出して生きたい！
Our town here of Togura Kamiyamada Onsen still has around 35 active geisha ladies.
Many foreigners are interested in mystique behind "geisha".
With my unique job as an innkeeper, I have had the privelege many times to witness the magic of geisha entertainment, and I am certain travellers from overseas would enjoy it, too.
The problem is, geisha entertainment can be pricy -- minimum 18,000 yen for 2 hours for at an evening banquet.
After giving the issue due thought, I came up with our previously announced "Lunch with a Geisha" package: a soak in Kamiyamada's wonderful onsen baths, our chef's gourmet kaiseki-style meal, and an hour of Geisha entertainment. All for the reasonable price of 6,200 yen per person.
Today, the "Lunch" finally happened. The Nagano Prefecture Tourism Assoc. brought a tv crew from Hong Kong, and I invited an innkeeper from Hakuba, and we had a very enjoyable time with two of our town's finest Geisha ladies. First they played "Momiji Hashi", a song with the theme of autumn colored Japanese maple leaves and a bridge. The shamisen music and dance was mesmerizing. Then the ladies challenged the guests to some drinking games. Neither the Hong Kong nor the Hakuba contingent could beat the Geisha ladies. Finally, the ladies poured drinks for the guests while making small talk. We ran out of time, but I was hoping for the ladies to show the guests one of the traditional dances and for everybody to dance.
Just as I thought, the Geisha ladies were pros at entertaining, and everyone had a fun time. Thanks to this program, our town had its first exposure to an overseas media crew. I certainly like being part of making positive results like this happen!
香港チームHong Kong Team: JP Time TV
白馬チームHakuba Team: White Horse Hotel
このごろ、亀清旅館の客室に入ると、「あっ、良い香り」と言われています。花梨のお陰です。スタッフの一人から客室分のかりんを持ってきて頂いて、それぞれの客室においてあります。素晴らしい香りです。尚且つ、ファブリーズなどのスプレーや人口の香りより、花梨は体にも環境にもやさしいです。
Lately, guests have been entering the guestrooms and exclaiming, "Wow, what a pleasant smell!" It's thanks to the "karin" quince fruit that we have put out. One of our staff members brought enough karin for all of the guest rooms. Their fragrance fills up the rooms. And unlike febreeze and such sprays or man-made fragrances, the quince smell is natural and is fine for the body.
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.
夕べはマジックでした。亀清旅館のロビーでインドと日本の伝統的な音楽のコラボレーションで、タブラ(インドの太鼓）とお琴、尺八にインドの歌、意外に合う音楽のコンサートが行われました。以外に合うと言うか、良く考えたら、同じアジアですから、合うのはある意味、当たり前。そして、その日印音楽の場面は亀清旅館のロビー：伝統的な和風旅館造りと薪ストーブのまた良いコラボレーション。お聞きになった方・参加した方は欧州、米国、インド、そして日本；年齢は２歳から８０歳までというそもぞもな地域と年のまたいいコラボレーション。
お聞きになった皆様、亀清旅館にお越しになって頂いて、有難うございました。Ｔｉｍ Ｈｏｆｆｍａｎさんとのメンバーにも感謝しております。そして、全部を繋いだＦｒｉｔｚさんも、有難う!
Last night was magical. Here in Kamesei's lobby, we had an American playing melodies and rythms from India on traditional Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi flute and the koto harp, accompanied by his wife, a Japanese lady, on a sitar (a kind of traditional Indian guitar?), and a musician from India on the tabla drums. This took place in the very traditional lobby of this Japanese ryokan where we were all gathered around the wood burning stove, something very familiar to Westerners. And the audience was made up of Japanese, Scots, and Americans, from 2 years to 82 years old.
Call it World Music, call it a melting pot, just don't call it "fusion". The main musician, Tim Hoffman, pointed out the musical similarities of Japanese and Indian traditions. The match each other too well to be called fusion; he likes to call it Classical Crossover instead.
I suppose the same could be said of, for example, the fireplace in the ryokan lobby. While a wood burning stove may be a Western concept, ours was made by a local shop and the wood we burn is from the trimmings of local apple orchards.
All in all, it was a sublimely magical evening. Thank you all who attended, as well as Tim-san and your fellow musicians, and Fritz for making the connection.
