長野市で一石三鳥 Killing 3 Birds with 1 Stone in Nagano

November 25, 2008: Uncategorized

今日は会議、会議、会議、会議。そして明日は泊まりの会議。女将社長に怒られながら、あちらこちらに飛んでいます。今朝は上山田温泉会社と2つ目の露天風呂の為にお湯の量を増やして頂けるように打ち合わせ、それから長野市へ3の会議に出かけてきました。まずは長野市のロータリークラブに欧米人の旅行者は何を求めているかのお話を、そして長野県の「エコ」泊の会議、最後は広告会社と千曲市の英語のパンフの打ち合わせ。
そして明日は2年に一度の旅館組合青年部全国大会@名古屋。
Rotaryで沢山の素晴らしい人達と良い出会いが出来ました。そして、広告会社のDesignと私の千曲市の英語の内容、そして市のお金(!)、皆で力を合わせて良い結果を目指しています。明日の大会で全国の若旦那達と会えるので「井戸の中のかわず」にならないように勉強してきます。
でも、そろそろ、この沢山の会議にあちらこちらに引っ張らないで、良いのを選択して、役に立たないのを切り捨てなきゃ。改善、改善!
Today was Meetings, Meetings, Meetings and more Meetings. And tomorrow I have to attend a 2-day Meeting in Nagoya.
The first meeting was with our town's Onsen Company to see about increasing the amount of Onsen water for the 2nd outdoor bath I've started building. Then it was on to Nagano City to give a talk at the Nagano Rotary Club on what draws Westerners to Japan. After that was a meeting by the Prefecture on making ryokans more "Green". Finally I stopped at an ad agency to discuss Chikuma City's upcoming English pamphlet.
Meeting the folks at Rotary was a great experience. Working with the ad team was great -- hopefully with their design and my content and the city's money (!), we can put together a pretty fancy brochure. But one thing I learned today was I have to do a better job of picking and choosing which meetings to attend so I can be back running our inn more!




蒸気の感動:黒姫にD51 A (Steam) Blast from the Past at Kurohime

November 24, 2008: Uncategorized

D51到着 The SL puffing into the station

JRの特別列企画でこの連休の三日間に長野市と黒姫駅の間に蒸気の機関車画はしていました。今日は休みを取って、家族で見に行きました。新潟の知り合いのBlairさん達と黒姫で待ち合わせし、軽い雨の中でSLの到着を見ました。SLの素晴らしい所は目で見るだけではなく、耳で聞こえ、体で感じる事。うちの子供達(子供のパパも)が大喜び。本当はそのSLに載ってみたかったけどきっぷがすぐに売り切れになった。
一緒に見ていたは野尻湖に別所を持っているLarryさんでした。実は彼が三世なので子供のころに名古屋から機関車に乗るって来る覚えがありました。そのころは煙が汚いと言う印象が強かったそうです。確かに、今にもうと、SLはエコじゃない。それでも、感動的でした!
For this holiday weekend, Japan Rail ran a special Steam Locomotive (=SL) between Nagano City and Kurohime Station. Our friend Blair and his kids came up from Niigata and met us at Kurohime to watch the big engine pull into the station. Actually, you don't just 'watch' an SL -- you hear it and feel it, too!
Watching with us was Larry, who has a cabin in nearby Nojiri Lake. He's actually a third-generation American-Japanese and remembers riding steam engines to hear from Nagoya when he was a kid. His biggest impression was of the sooty smoke. When you consider that, they aren't really environmentally friendly, but they sure are cool to experience now!



Waiting for the SL, with some of us kicking back with a beer


Impressive Steam


Mari and the kids


上山田の魅力:りんご It's Apple Time in Kamiyamada

November 23, 2008: Uncategorized

りんごと柿、ご自由にどうぞ。Apples and Persimmons, Help Yourself!

県外からのお客様にいつも長野に来る理由をお聞きします。この連休はりんご関係が多いです。マイ木を持っている家族が収穫しに来たり、ジャムを作る為にりんごを取りに来たり、子供達にりんご狩りを体験さす為に来たり、等など。亀清旅館のロビーに宮下農園から頂いたりんごをまた「ご自由にどうぞ」とフロントにおいてあります。上山田は本当にりんごに恵まれています。

Whenever we have guests from out of the prefecture, I always ask them their reason for coming to Nagano. For this holiday weekend, for many of them their purpose for coming to Nagano was: Apples! One family sponsors a whole tree and came to harvest it, another came to get apples for making jam, another came to give their kids the experience of picking apples, etc., etc. One local apple orchard, Miyashita Farm, gave us a bunch of apples and we have them set out at our front counter for the guests to have. Kamiyamada is certainly blessed with delicious apples!



お客様の車にお土産りんごBoxes of Apples to take home


旬のイメージ:干し柿 A seasonal portrait: dried persimmons

November 22, 2008: Uncategorized

亀清旅館の前に斉藤さんの自宅があります。今日は柿をざるに丁寧になれべて、秋の最後(?)の太陽に干した。この辺は柿の木が多いです。10月のかぼちゃに次いで、11月にもオレンジ色の作物が多いです。

Across the street in front of Kamesei is the Saitoh's house. Today they had persimmons out drying in the last of the Autumn sun. The persimmon slices were laid out carefully on bamboo trays. There are persimmon trees all over the area. In October, you see orange pumpkins here and there. In November, its orange persimmons!

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.





冬のイルミネーションの飾りつけ Putting Up the Winter Lights

November 21, 2008: Uncategorized

Hideo putting up the lights

戸倉上山田温泉の中心にある公園に今年はまた冬のイルミネーションをやります。我々旅館青年部が飾り付けしました。長野の寒い冬にイルミネーションの温もりをどうぞ、お楽しみに。

This year once again their will be winter lights in the park in the middle of Togura Kamiyamada Onsen. The other innkeepers and I put up the lights today. Nagano's winter is bitingly cold, but hopefully these lights will warm peoples' hearts.






初霜 First Frost

November 20, 2008: Uncategorized

私達の住んでいる部屋から戸倉上山田温泉の周辺の山々が見えます。今朝、起きたら、城山の天辺が白くなっていたことを見ました。やはり、秋が終わって、冬が始まりましたね!

The bedroom where we sleep here at Kamesei Ryokan has a view of the mountains surrounding Togura Kamiyamada Onsen. When we woke up this morning, we were greeted by the sight of Jyou-Yama (Joe Mountain?) covered in white. Alas, Autumn is gone and Winter is starting!





美咲ちゃんvs天狗 Misaki vs. the Tengu

November 19, 2008: Uncategorized

おきゃくさまに戸倉駅へ連れて行く途中で駅の上の天狗公園によりました。日本一大きい天狗と言う説があるので美咲ちゃんは納得できたようです。公園の桜の木の葉っぱの皆が落ちていました。冬がこれから始まりそうです。今年の秋の紅葉は遅れてきたけどうんと綺麗でした。
On the way to dropping a guest off at Togura Station, we stopped at the Tengu park on the hill above the station. The Tengu (=goblin) statue is supposedly the tallest in the country. Our daughter Misaki sure was impressed by the size. The leaves on all of the cherry trees in the park had already fallen. It feels like winter is just around the corner. The fall colors seemed to take their time in coming this year, but they sure were beautiful!

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







イチョウ風呂 Ginkgo Bath

November 19, 2008: Uncategorized

イチョウの木は生きている化石と言われています。恐竜のころにもあったようです。歴史のある木の種類。上山田温泉の100年+の歴史を記念する亀清旅館の「100年風呂」の横にイチョウの木があります。今日、その落ち葉とこのお風呂、歴史的の物同士でなんとなく似合っています。

The ginkgo tree is considered a living fossil, with forebearers dating back to the era of the dinosaurs. Kamiyamada Onsen dates back over 100 years. Here at Kamesei Ryokan, we have one of these historical ginkgo trees right next to our "100 Year Bath", which honors the history of our onsen. Today, the gold leaves had mostly fallen and were mingling with our bath. The two historical objects complemented each other well.

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.





第2露天風呂造り:その6 ペンキ塗り Building an Outdoor Bath Round 2: Painting

November 19, 2008: Uncategorized

2つ目の露天風呂造りの次の作業:ペンキ塗り。元の色が黄色でした。その黄色は昔に流行っていましたでしょうかね。うちの地元のアメリカにも1950年代とか60年代にはやっていた金色とか緑が今に思うと、かなりひどいです。この壁の黄色はそれほどひどくないけれど、白く塗りなおすのにすっきりで綺麗になります。
The work on our second outdoor bath goes on. Today I did some more painting. The original color was a hideous yellow. It reminds me of remodelling our home back in Seattle. Some of the base colors were putrid golds and ugly greens from the 1950s and 60s. What were people thinking back then? The yellow on our exterior here wasn't that bad, but is sure looks cleaner and prettier with a fresh coat of white paint.

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.





落ち葉遊び Playing with the Leaves

November 18, 2008: Uncategorized

上山田保育園に寄ったら、子供達が落ち葉と遊んでいました。昔、実家で落ち葉をでかい山にレーキングして、その葉っぱの山にジャンプした遊びを思い出しました。日本の子供達もその遊びするかな?

When I stopped by Kamiyamada Preschool, I spotted this scene of the kids playing outside with the fallen leaves. It reminded me of when I was a kid, how we used to rake the leaves into a huge mound and then jump into them. I wonder if kids here in Japan do that, too?