夏の良い天気の日に脱衣室から露天風呂へのアプローチはドアを最近に開けておいています。そうすると、皆様がもっと気楽に露天風呂へ行って頂けます。ドアが開いていると、脱衣室から露天風呂の中庭も眺めれます。良い雰囲気ですよ。皆様、どうぞ、お入りください。
On these nice summer days, we have been leaving the doors open between the changing room and the outdoor bath, giving a clear approach to the bath. This way, our guests can also enjoy the outdoor bath's garden from the changing room. Please, come and enjoy our bath!
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
先日はＮ石油の社長だった方が亀清に泊まりました。５ヶ国語が喋れました。やはり国際的な会社の社長らしいと思いました。本人はこの辺で色々なつながりがありましたので引退なされても周りの皆がうんと尊敬していました。
それと比較したら、夕べは全然違うタイプな社長が泊まりました。駅に迎えに行ったら直ぐに信州の悪口を。文句や命令ばかり。まあ、それは良いのですが、夜中に起こされました。本人は飲みに行ったので、飲み屋さんでトラブルを起こしたり、帰りは迷ったり、結局は亀清に着いてもどの部屋か忘れて、ロビーで寝ちゃった。亀清のお客さんの殆どは嬉しい事でもう一人の社長と同じく我が宿の伝統的な落ち着かせる雰囲気の良さ、そして信州の自然の価値、が分かって頂いております。
A few days ago we were honored to host the retired president of N. Oil Corporation. I was impressed to hear he speaks 5 languages. That must be part of being the president of a multinational corporation. Over the years, he's had a lot of connections with the area, and even though he's retired the people here treat him with the utmost respect.
Last night, we had a 'shachou' (company president) from the opposite end of the spectrum. When I picked him up at the train station, he asked why I moved to this dump of a place. When I brought him his meal, he complained, "Hey, Ty [Note: I HATE being called 'Ty'], why do you serve 'maguro' sashimi even though your inn is in the mountains?" [Note: our chef uses an abundance of local ingredients. However, over half of our guests are locals, and they would be disappointed if no 'maguro' sashimi.] I don't mind such opinions, but then this morning we were woken up at 3:15am when he came back from drinking. Apparently he had forgotten to take cash with him, and the barkeep accompanied him by taxi. But he had forgotten which inn he was staying at, and went to the wrong one (a ryokan of my 'senpai', no less), then made it to Kamesei but he had forgotten his room so he slept in the lobby. I really don't want Kamesei's image tarnished by the likes of this guy. How can people here tolerate such a rotten shachou? I am thankful most of our guests are like the first shachou, and appreciate the relaxing atmosphere of our traditional inn.
Togakushi Schedule
亀清旅館に泊まる海外からの旅行者の９割ぐらいは信州に来る目的が地獄谷のスノーモンキース（温泉に入るお猿さん）。亀清からの日帰り行き先人気＃２は戸隠です。奥社へのハイクの途中の何百年の杉の並びが私のお勧めです。そして、おそばは我々欧米人も好き。後は、戸隠の忍者！奥社の近辺に忍法センターがあります。大人も子供楽しめる。
この間は地獄谷への電車・バスの予定表を作ったので今日はと額へのを作成しておきました。マイカーじゃない方はどうぞ、お使いになってください。
Approximately 90% of our guest here at Kamesei that come from overseas come to Nagano to see the snow monkeys of Jigokudani. The 2nd most popular day trip is to Togakushi Mountain above Nagano City's Zenkoji Temple. My favorite spot is the section of the trail to Okusha Shrine that's lined with ancient cedar trees. Togakushi's famous soba noodles are popular with us Westerners, too. And to top it off, there is are a couple of ninja sites. Previously, I made a train/bus schedule to get to the Snow Monkeys. Today I made one for Togakushi. Feel free to use it!
若若女将とお墓参りに行ってきます。
Our Misaki preparing to go the family grave to pay O-Bon respects.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website.
東京テレビの「男はつらいよ」記念トラベル番組の中で亀清の取材もありました。今晩に放送されたので見た親戚から「よく映っていたよ！露天風呂と若女将の食事の案内と若旦那の夜景ツアー、良かったよ！」と言う声を頂きました。そして、放送された最中に「今、テレビを見ているけど予約をしたい」と言うお電話も。やはりテレビの力がすごいですね。
Tokyo TV aired a special travel program tonight that featured Kamesei Ryokan. We heard from a relative that watched it that they showed our outdoor bath, Mari's serving the meal, and my Obasute Night View tour. We even received a call during the broadcast by a viewer wanting to make a reservation. That shows you how strong the power of TV is! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Tokyo TV for choosing Kamesei for their program!
満車？
今朝に亀清のロビーを見れば驚きました：ベビーカーは何と４つが駐車してありました。（まあ、１つは我が美咲ちゃんの）。やはり夏休みと言う事で子供連れのお客様が多い訳です。亀清の雰囲気はさらに「アットホーム」に。
I was a little surprised this morning when I looked at our lobby and saw 4 baby strollers parked. (Well, one of them is our Misaki's.) You can definitely tell it's summer vacation -- a lot of our guests are here with their children. Kamesei's 'at-home' feel is becoming even more so!
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
吹き戻し遊び
先週に泊まった森田様からこの川越の駄菓子を頂きました。我が娘が大喜び。森田さんが亀清旅館の伝統的な良さを気に入っていただいた様でこの伝統的な駄菓子を送っていただきました。有難うございました！
（注：他のお客さんから最近に言われましたが、「青い目の若旦那はいいけど、亀清の本当のスターは若若女将の美咲ちゃんだ！」と。その訳でもないですが、美咲ちゃんの写真をまた提供いたしますので宜しくお願い致します。）
We got a gift in the mail from a guest, Morita-san, who stayed at our inn last week. She sent us traditional 'dagashi' sweets and toys from Kawagoe. Our daughter Misaki enjoyed playing with the toys. Apparently Morita-san enjoyed Kamesei Ryokan's traditional feel enough to send us these traditional 'dagashi'.
(Note: One of our recent guests commented that it's nice Kamesei has this American innkeeper, but the real star is their daughter, Misaki. So, here is another picture of her!)
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
川越のおもちゃ
ＪＲのコネからお聞きしましたが、次の姨捨スイッチバック列車が１０月２４日（金）と２５日（土）に行うそうです。今回はお昼も夜（夜景！）もやるそうです。ＪＲのＨＰを見たが明細がまだ出ていないそうです。明細を手に入ればすぐにお知らせいたします。
My special contact at JR told me the next Obasute Switchback Special Train is scheduled for Friday and Saturday October 24th and 25th. This time, there will be afternoon AND evening (=Night View!) runs, and the train will be pulled by.... a steam engine! JR still doesn't have details on their website yet, but as soon as I get them I will present them here.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
Misaki at the water fountain
今日はまた夏らしい暑い日です。亀清の浦にある中央公演に娘を連れて行きました。ブランコで遊んだけど滑り台が熱すぎた。遊び終わったら、水を飲んだ。これが一番楽しかったかもしれない。信州のお水が冷たくて美味しい！
Today is another hot summer day. I took our daughter to the park behind Kamesei. We played on the swings but the slide was too hot. Then we stopped for a drink at the park's drinking fountain. That was probably the funnest part.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
Mikaちゃん、来てくれて有難うね！
信州と言えば、そば。しかし、実を言うと、信州のそばが他より美味しいかどうか、それより信州の自然の環境の中で食べるのは美味しいではないかと思います。今日は遠くから来た友人のご家族を連れて、この蕎麦屋さんに行って来ました。どっかな田舎の農家に見えるでしょう。実は、戸倉駅前の「萱」と言うレストランです。この渋い雰囲気の中で食べる信州そばが最高！
Nagano is famous for its soba (buckwheat noodles). However, to be honest, I'm not sure if Nagano's soba is better than anywhere else. What I can say is eating soba in Nagano's natural setting makes the noodles taste better. Today we had some friends come from afar, and we took them to this soba restaurant. It looks like the inside of some ancient farm house somewhere in the boonies, right? Actually, it's 'Kaya', a soba restaurant inside an old sake brewery in front of Togura Station. And eating noodles in this classic setting was fantastic!
