The new bamboo fence
亀清旅館の家族風呂工事が進んでいます。先日に山からもらってきた竹を組んで、塀を作りました。目隠し用。これでお客様が安心で入って頂けます。10月末が完成目標でしたが、お風呂は間に合うかもしれないけど庭がもう2週間かかりそう。。。
The construction on a family bath here at Kamesei Ryokan is proceeding along. I built a fence with the bamboo I had gotten from the bear mountain. Now guests will be able to bathe in private. We had targetted the end of October as a completion date, but it looks like the garden will take a while longer...
Sakae Village earthquake damage
商工会のセレモニー後の震災地見学ツアーにも参加しました。県道などの道にひびがまだ入っていて、ブルーシートが掛けてあった建物や山崩れがみえました。しかし、道が人売れる様になっていて、ＪＲ飯山線の線路も直られて、皆さんは努力なされています。感心しました。
一番の山崩れは町の温泉施設、中条温泉「トマトの国」の隣でした。県の林務課によると、土砂などを整理するのに10年以上かかるそうです。しかし、温泉施設が横の杉の林で守られた様で崩れが近くまで来たけど建物と温泉の源泉は大丈夫でした。12月に再度オープンするように作業が進んでいるそうです。
最後は道の駅「信越さかえ」に寄りました。地元の野菜や民芸品が大量で出ていて、村人の元気が伝わってきました。トン汁は美味しそうでした！
私達家族は栄村の奥の秋山温泉郷の切明温泉に行きました切りで、栄村の中心辺はこれから冒険したいと思いました。雪国の独特の文化が面白そうです。ＮＰＯ栄村ネットワークで沢山のお勧めコースがある様で、これからも栄村に訪ねてみたいと思います。
栄村のアクセスは上信越道飯山ＩＣから国道117号、もしくはＪＲ飯山線で森宮野原駅。
ＮＰＯ栄村ネットワークのＨＰはこちら。
中条温泉「トマトの国」のＨＰはこちら。
さかえ信越道の駅のＨＰはこちら
After the Chamber of Commerce ceremony, there was a bus tour of the areas in Sakae Village damaged by the earthquake. We saw a lot of houses being repaired but the collapsed ones have apparently been cleaned up. Most of the roads were passable, but a lot of cracks in the road surface remain.
The biggest landslide was next to the town's main onsen bathhouse, "Tomato no Kuni". Fortunately the bathing facilities themselves were protected from the slide by a grove of cedar trees. While the prefectural government plans on taking over 10 years to stabilize the slide zone, "Tomato no Kuni" is on schedule to be repaired and open by this December.
Along the main highway is the Sakae Shin-etsu Road Station. I was glad to see an abundance of local farm products and handicrafts for sale. It looks like the villagers have really bounced back from the earthquake.
Until now, my only experience with Sakae Village has been to enjoy the remote Kiriake Onsen. But now seeing the main village has made me want to come back and explore more. The villagers' lives are shaped in large part by the hardships of deep winter snows, giving the area a unique culture. There is a volunteer organization called Sakae Network that offers tours giving insight into the village's lifestyle -- perfect for further exploration.
Access to Sakae Village is via Route 117 from the Iiyama IC on the Shin-Etsu Expressway, or JR Iiyama Line from Nagano Station (Morimiyanohara Station being the village's main stop).
For More Info:
Sakae Shin-etsu Road Station website
Sakae Network website
"Tomato no Kuni" Onsen website
Landslide next to the Onsen
Cracks from the earthquake
Sakae's Road Station
The Guv (and Arukuma!)
3.11の東北地震・津波（とその後の原爆問題）が全国、全世界で知られています。しかし、実はその次の朝、3月12日に午前3時59分に長野県北部震度7の地震が発生した。中心になった栄村で、住宅688軒が破損または壊されて、道路や下水道関係で20億6,900万円余の損、農地や産業に21億5,900円の損がありました。幸いに死亡者は少なくて、3人だけでした。
長野県の全権の商工会は声を一つにして、「信州観光地絆宣言」を発表しました。その宣言セレモニーは10月24日に野沢温泉のアリーナコンベンションホールで行われました。県知事も参加なされました。私は県のインバウンド大使として呼ばれまして、参加させて頂きました。県商工会連合会及び県下70商工会の勢いで感動しました。
On March 11th, all of Japan -- and all of the world -- shook with the news of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, as well as the ensuing nuclear disaster. Early the following morning, March 12th at 3:59am, northern Nagano shook with a major earthquake centered on Sakae Village. 688 homes were damaged or destroyed, road and sewar damage totaled 2.069 billion yen, farm and industrial damage was 2.159 billion yen.
In response, the various Chambers of Commerce from throughout Nagano Prefecture made a joint declaration of tourism unity. On October 24th in Nozawa Onsen, a special ceremony was held to announce the declaration, with the prefecture's governor in attendance. I was invited as a Nagano Inbound Ambassador. The power of seeing all the Chamber representatives making the joint declaration was impressive!
Now that's solidarity!
Cheering on the Brave Warriors
日本プロバスケの新しいチーム、信州Ｂｒａｖｅ Ｗａｒｒｉｏｒｓの初ホームゲーム。場所は何と戸倉体育館。我が亀清旅館からちゃりんこで5分。身長２ｍの私よりでかいプロ選手の試合がこんなに近くて見れて、最高!
子供と達と友人を連れて、さっそく行きました。久しぶりにバスケの試合を見る事。応援しすぎて、喉痛くしちゃった。（我々アメ人の応援と個々の皆のがかなり違っていて、吃驚しました。まあ、私の方が本番かなと勝手に思っていて、とにかく一生懸命応援した!）
応援したお蔭（?）で、Ｂｒａｖｅ Ｗａｒｒｉｏｒｓが勝ちました。次のホーム試合＠戸倉が12月3日・4日です。楽しみだ!
Pro Basketball has come to Togura Kamiyamada Onsen. The new Basketball-Japan Leauge "Shinshu Brave Warriors" had their first home game right here in our onsen town. Togura Gymnasium is a quick 5 minute bike ride from Kamesei Ryokan.
The kids and a buddy of mine rode our bikes down and cheered on the home team. It was so great to be able to watch these huge pro players (some were even taller than me -- and I'm 6'7" tall!) muscling there way through the game. There were more than a few viscious slam dunks -- and we took it all in from basically courtside seats. Awesome!
I cheared so much my throat hurt for 2 straight days. It soon became painfully apparent that cheering at hoops games in America is very different from in Japan. But I figured, basketball is from the States, I'm from the States, I've been to my share of hoop games in the States, heck, I've even played in my share of games in the States, so my cheering must be right and everyone else's wrong. So I kept cheering on like I would back at home. But then it hit me -- at the "Hey" song, I was the only one to pump my fist and shout "Hey!". Come on people, there's only one word to the song so it's not hard to learn the lyrics!
Anyways, perhaps in part due to my cheering, the home team won. Congratulations, Brave Warriors!
Next home game at Togura is December 3rd and 4th. Can't wait!
bush clover flowers
亀清旅館の玄関の松の木の下に萩が毎年に出てきます。この頃は綺麗な花が咲きます。
もう時期、この葉っぱは紅葉になって、また違う表現になります。旬の変更が早い! その日、その日を楽しまないと駄目ですね。
We have a patch of bush clover under the pine tree in front of our inn here at Kamesei Ryokan. It's flowers are in bloom right now.
Before too long, the leaves will all change in a vivid display of autumn color. The seasons change so fast! You have to really enjoy each and every day as they come.
Onsen History Museum
旅館青年部の「温泉塾」勉強会＠上山田温泉株式会社の後半は今度、温泉資料館見学。
館長の滝沢先生がまた親切に案内して頂いて、戸倉上山田の位地、歴史、温泉の背景、その歴史を作った人達、色々と紹介・説明してくれました。
お陰様でその歴史が生きてくるし、私達旅館経営者としてその歴史の次のページを作っている事、良く分かりました。
実は、その説明を聞いたのは私の2回目でした。内容があまりにも奥深いからすべてを把握する為に何度も聞かないと駄目です。今回は大変お世話になりました。
As a continuation of the Onsen Jook x Kamiyamada Onsen Company study session, we next took a tour of the Onsen History Museum.
The curator, Takizawa-san, kindly explained about our onsen town's location and geology, the history behind the onsen and about the people who made that history. He really made the story come alive. And he made us innkeepers realize that we are writing the next page of that history.
Special thanks to Takizawa-sensei!
上山田温泉資料館 Kamiyamada Onsen History Museum
One of Kamiyamada's Onsen Wells
この2年間、私がこの戸倉上山田温泉旅館組合青年部の部長としての計画で月1回のペースで勉強会・地域連携を開く「温泉塾」で、今回は上山田温泉株式会社にお世話になって、上山田温泉の源泉巡りしました。
上山田温泉株式会社は源泉が18個を持っている。その内の3戸は休止。深さは３００～６００ｍ。源泉の井戸の穴からお湯が浮いてきて、２０～１００ｍの深さでパンプでそのお湯を引っ張り出す。
と言う制度を温泉会社の宮本さんが親切に教えてくれました。パンプのタイプ、どうやって温泉を温泉でブレンドして温度調整するかとか、色々説明して頂きました。
私達温泉にゃどの経営者としてその「温泉」が「命」だと言ってもおかしくないので、その奥深い中で少しでも把握して、非常に良かった。
宮本さん、有難うございました! 全部を手配してくれた雄山のＨｉｄｅｏさんにも感謝!
During my 2 year tenure as Togura Kamiyamada Onsen's Ryokan Junior Association top, I am having our members get together for a monthly study session. This time was to have the local onsen company take us around to our town's onsen wells.
Miyamoto-san from the onsen company kindly explained about how the 18 onsen wells work with their varying depths of 300 to 600 meters and the onsen water rising up to within 20 meters of the surface, from where it is pumped up and distributed to all of us onsen ryokans.
The onsen water is vital to our business, so it was very useful to get to know a bit about how the system works.
Special thanks to Miyamoto-san from the onsen company and Hideo-san from Ryokan Yuzan for arranging everything.
上山田温泉株式会社Kamiyamada Onsen Company
Onsen water distribution
Miyamoto-san explaining how it all works
Bamboo and Bear Droppings
今作っている亀清旅館の家族風呂の庭に竹の塀を作りたく、知り合いの山へ行って竹を取りに行きました。それは良いけど、竹株に熊の糞がありました。糞があるという事は本人（本熊?）もちかく? ドキドキしながら竹を取りました。
For the new outdoor family bath I am building here at Kamesei Ryokan, I needed bamboo for a fence. A buddy of mine took me to his lot out in the woods and let me cut down bamboo. That was all fine and well, but there was bear poop by the bamboo patch. Which means bears nearby. So I nervously collected the bamboo I needed, and got the heck out of there!
Onsen Water Turned Green!
この間は亀清旅館のお風呂を見たら、ミルキーになっていてびっくりしました。今度は見たら、真緑となっていました。
普段は透明のお湯は時々外の気温の変更によって、色が変わります。自然の現象で面白い!
The other day, when I looked at Kamesei's outdoor bath I was surprised to see it had clouded up and became a milky white color. Today I when I looked it was a deep green color.
Our normally clear, colorless hot spring mineral water occasionally changes with fluctuations in the outside temperatures. These naturally occurring changes are so fascinating!
亀清旅館の家族風呂工事は進んでいます。湯船のタイル作業の様子です。10月末の完成目標は間に合うかな?
The work on Kamesei Ryokan's family bath is progressing. Here is how the bath tiles are looking. I hope we can make the end-of-October completion date goal.
