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Onsen pump replacement

戸倉上山田は温泉がなかったら、どうなるだろう。亀清旅館はいくら伝統的な旅館雰囲気を出しても、板長はお料理を一生懸命頑張っても、私達は精一杯おもてなししても、温泉がなければお客さんは来てくれるのかな？やはり、温泉が私達の命です。それを守っているのは上山田温泉会社です。源泉14件を利用して、我々旅館に皆さんが目指している温泉のお湯を提供してくれています。
今日はその1つな源泉の水中ポンプの取替え工事が行われました。温泉会社の誘いで、特別に現場を見学させて頂きました。とにかく、偉い工事でした。物凄くでかいクレーンで源泉の小屋の屋根を通して、古いポンプを引っ張り出しました。深さ約400ｍの井戸でポンプの深さは約40ｍだそうです。
とってもいい勉強になりました。実は、亀清旅館も温泉の源泉を持っています。しかし、その水中ポンプは中に落ちているそうです。井戸の上に建物が建てられています。従って、引っ張り出そうと思えば、このようにクレーンが必要となる。
温泉会社の高井様、見学をさせていただいて、有難うございました！
What if Togura-Kamiyamada didn't have a hot spring? What if we at Kamesei Ryokan tried our hardest to provide as traditional of a ryokan experience, and our chef put out the best possible kaiseki meals, and we gave our guests the highest quality service, but we didn't have an onsen bath -- would guests come? The hot spring mineral waters are our lifeline! Fortunately we have the Kamiyamada Onsen Company managing their 14 onsen wells and delivering the mineral water to all of us onsens with professional reliability, so our guests can enjoy soaking in the onsen baths.
Today, the Onsen Company had to replace the pump for one of the onsen wells. They invited me to watch the work be done. It was a special arrangement -- no other ryokan people were invited. They know I am particularly interested in such things. I was amazed at how big the operation was. They had to have a huge crane raise the pump using a hole in the roof of the pump house. This was very useful for me to see, because we have a similar onsen well here at Kamesei, but ours has a building built on top of it. And our pump has supposedly fallen down into the well. So to retrieve it, we would have to do some similar crane action.
Anyways, I want to thank Takai-san for his special invitation to watch the onsen action!

温泉ポンプメーカーの小松製作所のＨＰはこちらClick here for the website of Komatsu Mfg, onsen pump makers.

The old pipes

The new pump

Inside the pumphouse

Onsen Well #43

Hop to it!

今年のイースターエッグフェスティバルin戸倉上山田温泉のチラシのＨＰが出来ありました。イベント実態は4月3日（土）午前10時半からです。温泉の千曲川沿いの噴水公園で行い、公園でお菓子入りの玉子を隠して、子供たちがガーっと探すと言う楽しいイベントです。他には玉子のゲームたっぷり。割った玉子は亀清の板長を含めて、調理師会の青年部たちがオムレツを作ってくれる。馬車乗りも、ケバッブ屋さんも、色々と盛り上がります。最後はそれぞれの旅館がお風呂を提供してくれるのでイースターの遊びが終わったら、温泉へどうぞ。今年こそは私が実行委員長なので宜しくお願い致します。
This year's Easter Egg Festival in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen will be on Saturday April 3rd. The brochure and website are made, and the Chikuma Int'l Cultural Exchange Assoc. and I are busy with the preparations. (Yours Truly is once again the organizing chairperson.) After the huge, 1000-egg hunt we'll have lots of other egg games. And the eggs that get broken will be scrambled up and made into omelets by Kamesei's and other inns' chefs. There will be horse and buggy rides as well as a kebab van, and following the festivities, the guests are invited to take baths using free tickets provided by the town's ryokans. Come and enjoy the fun!

詳しく及び申し込みはここです。For details and reservation form, click here.

Power Walk your way to healthiness

体は嘘を付けない。いい栄養そして良い運動を与えないと、毎日はストレスばかりで、ガンなどの医学的な問題がどんどんと出てくる。
温泉旅館に泊まるのは、日々のストレスから離れて、綺麗な空気を吸って、お散歩など普段やらない運動をして、温泉のお湯にゆっくり入って、宿の落ち着いた雰囲気でリラックスして、栄養たっぷりの会席料理を食べて、つまり、体へのギフトとなります。
今日はこの戸倉上山田温泉でパワーウォーキングの講習会が行われました。東京から来た古賀先生が足を動かして心臓への効果を説明してくれました。この秋のＪＲグループの特別なキャンペーン、信州を宣伝してくれるキャンペーンの一部です。キャンペーンのテーマは「歩き」です。パワーウォーキングの様に、体を大事にする事です。信州に来れば「健康」になる！

Our bodies don't lie. If we don't provide our bodies with beneficial nutrients, and provide proper exercise, with all the stress from work and our surroundings, our bodies will develop cancer and other medical conditions.
That's where we onsen ryokans come in. We provide a setting for our guests to get away from their daily stress-filled lives, to stretch those muscles they normally don't use, to soak in the onsen baths, to relax in the calm ambience, and to nourish their bodies with the traditional meals.
Last night, Togura Kamiyamada Onsen put on a presentation on Power Walking. Koga-sensei came from Tokyo and explained techniques for walking that stimulate beneficial blood flow. It is part of our preparation for this Fall's campaign by the JR group to promote Nagano -- the theme is "Walking". Like Power Walking. Getting healthy. Come and stay at a ryokan in Nagano and get healthy!

Caravan tea party in Tokyo -- the cookies are going fast!

今日はまた東京への宣伝キャラバンでした。戸倉上山田温泉旅館組合連合会の7人と、エージェントや旅行威新聞、鉄道雑誌など、あちらこちらを回って、そしてＭｅｄｉａ関係向きでＴｅａ　Ｐａｒｔｙを開きました。戸倉上山田温泉の新しい観光本を案内して、そして地元の食材の試食会を行いました。亀清旅館のお茶菓子として出す私の前日に焼いた手作りクッキーも。
この日は亀清で日帰りで95歳のおばさんを連れた地元のご家族のお客様が来はって、「タイラーさんは？」と聞いてきたようです。うちの妻は「キャラバンで東京に行っています」と答えたら、娘達が「キャラ何？」と言ったけど、95歳のおばさんは「キャラバンだよ。昔は旅館の皆がそういう宣伝を良くしましたよ」と言ったらしいです。
私の昔の先輩達の宣伝の努力のお陰で戸倉上山田温泉は高い知名度になりました。私の世代こそ、その努力をしなきゃ。

I headed into to Tokyo today for another "Caravan" marketing blitz. Myself and six other ryokan members visited the offices of several travel agents, tourism magazines, even a railroad fan newspaper office. Then we put on a tea party for a group of industry media people. We presented our town's new tourism booklet, and put on a tasting party of local foods, including Kamesei Ryokan's home made oatmeal cookies that we give to our guests as tea sweets. I had baked a batch the night before.
While I was away in Tokyo, we had some guests back at the inn for lunch -- a local family with their 95 year old grandmother. They apparently asked where I was, and my wife told them I was in Tokyo for a caravan. The daughters said, "Cara-what?" But the grandmother said, "A caravan. The ryokan owners used to always go on those to promote the town."
It's thanks to the marketing efforts of the innkeepers from generations ago that Togura Kamiyamada's name recognition is as high as it is. Now it's up to my generation to continue those efforts!

Our onsen's new signs -- With English!

戸倉上山田温泉で十数か所にガイドの看板が新しく設置できました。温泉のお客さんが下駄を入って、カランコロン歩きながらこの看板は案内になります。
実は、場所に寄って以前にも案内の看板があった。しかし、行政が忙しくて作ったので、とってもドライでした。今回はホテル雄山の若旦那、Ｈｉｄｅｏさんが頑張って、デザインしました。よく見ていただけたら、英文もちゃんとある。（どうでも良いけど、私の訳です。）
これで戸倉上山田温泉にお越しになる皆様がより楽しんでいただけると思いますので宜しくお願い致します。

Here in Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, we have about a dozen new signs. Each one explains a little bit about the local history. Guests of the inns can go for a walk around town in their yukata robes and wooden geta sandals and wander from sign to sign to get a better feel of the town. Each sign has a bit of English explanation, too, thanks to Yours Truly. These are actually the 2nd version of the signs. The first was made by the tourism department at City Hall. They must have been in a hurry or something, because they were dreadfully boring. This time around, one of my fellow innkeepers, Hideo-san from Hotel Yuzan, did the design, so they are much more visually pleasing.
So if you come to Togura Kamiyamada, make sure to go for a walk and read all of the stories about our town on the new signs!

Ｈｉｄｅｏさんのホテル雄山のＨＰはこちらClick here for Hideo-san's Hotel Yuzan website