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亀清旅館の地酒飲み比べセットで提供している「夜明け前」はなかなかレアの地酒です。この辺で唯一扱っているのは千曲市屋代地区の「生坂屋酒店」。

先日も買付に行きましたが、とにかく地酒の種類が多い事。

東京の酒店でプレミアムが付く地酒でも普通な価格で売っています。だから観光客も買い求めて来るそうです。

生坂屋酒店は戸倉上山田温泉から車で約２０分。温泉にお越しになる方、地酒ファンなる生坂屋酒店に寄って行くのがお勧めです。

Kamesei Ryokan's Sake Tasting Set includes "Yoakemae", a very hard-to-get local sake. The only sake shop around here that carries it is Ikusakaya in Chikuma City's Yashiro district.

I recently went to Ikusakaya to stock up on Yoakemae. Their shop never ceases to amaze me with the extensive varieties of sake they offer. Some of them would carry a premium in Tokyo, but Ikusakaya sells them at regular prices. Hence, it is popular with tourists, too.

生坂屋 Ikusakaya

文化の日の連休の最初の日で、

信州は秋映えの青空。

戸倉の天狗の周りは桜の木が紅葉してきました。

そろそろ、戸倉上山田温泉の標高（３７０ｍ）で紅葉になりそうです。亀清の庭のモミジやイチョウ等の木はこの秋、どんな綺麗になるか、楽しみしています。

'Tis the first day of the 3-day Culture Day holiday weekend, and Nagano is blessed with blue sky and crisp autumn sunlight.

Above Togura Station is a park with this Tengu statue. A tengu is a sort of Japanese goblin. Togura's looks over the town, both literally and (according to legend), figuratively. He is surrounded by cherry trees which in the spring attract multitudes of merrymakers for viewing the blossoms. But I think the colors of the trees' leaves in the fall are equally beautiful. And no crowds -- just the tengu.

It's probably safe to say that the fall color 'horizon' is starting to come down to our elevation here at Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen (around 370 meters above sea level). I can't wait to see the leaves change in our gardens here at Kamesei Ryokan, with the momiji (Japanese maples), ginkgo and all the other colorful trees.