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先日に書いたように、亀清旅館の女風呂のシャワーの調子が悪かったので直す作業を始めた。私が簡単な配管作業及びその配管を隠す為の木箱をやって、基礎の管とのつながり及びタイルの仕上がりは設備屋さんに任せました。
設備屋さんに｢ワシは大工さんじゃないからその木箱は手伝えない｣と言われたが、｢この木箱が簡単なのでこちらで出来る；そのつながりやタイルの仕事は私に無理だから、頼みますよ｣と答えました。作業は大変だったけど、シャワーはやっと直りました。

考えてみれば、温泉旅館でシャワーが調子悪いと言う事は、お客さんに失礼ですね。この間、ある先輩に｢我々旅館はまず、お客さんに失礼な事をしない努力はしなければならない。その最低限の事さえしてない宿は沢山ある｣と言われました。お客さんに喜んで頂ける為におもてなしするのは本来の目的だと思っていましたが、喜ばないようにならない事も大事だと分かりました。

それにしても、私はどうしても積極的に考える方なので、今回の修理を生かして、内装がタイルばかりで多少に硬い感覚のあった内風呂に、もうちょっと人間に優しい木のアクセントを取り入れました。隣の露天風呂はヒバで出来ているので統一する為にヒバの板を使って、配管を隠す箱を作りました。

皆様はどうぞ、楽しんで使ってください。

As I mentioned the other day, our ladies bath's showers weren't functioning properly. I worked on the new pipes as well as a wood box to contain them, and had a plumber come in to connect it with the existing pipes as well as do the tilework. The plumber commented that there was no way he way going to help with the woodwork "'cuz I ain't no carpenter". I told him the woodwork was a piece of cake, and that the pipe connection and tilework was way beyond my abilities. We ended up making a pretty good team, and the showers now work properly!

One of my mentors in the ryokan industry had this piece of advice: We ryokans must strive to avoid providing rude service to our guests. You'd think that would be automatic, but there are plenty of inns out there that fail to do even that most bare minimum.

I had always thought of ryokans as trying to provide guests an enjoyable stay, as opposed to just trying to avoid being rude. But I see his point, and non-working showers was definitely being rude to our guests.

However, I couldn't bring myself to just do the bare minimum. While fixing the showers, I took advantage of the change to add a soft, people-friendly wood touch to the harsh tile interior of the bath. In order to match the yellow cedar outdoor bath, I took some yellow cedar planks and made a wood box to hide the new pipes.

I hope our guests enjoy the improvements.

写真は女湯のシャワーです。真ん中のシャワーは問題ないです。右はお湯が出なくて、左はお水が出ないという悔しい状態になっています。配管は壁の中ですから、なおさら直せられへん。でも、このままじゃお客さんに良い迷惑やからなんとせいへんとまずいです。
従って、今日からは配管を壁の表面に通しなおして、シャワーをつながりなおします。そして、木の棚で隠す・・・と言う作戦です。

改善、改善！

Pictured are the three shower fixtures in our women's bath. The middle one works fine, the one on the left has no hot water, and the one on the right no cold water. The problem is compounded by the fact that the pipes are buried in the wall. I always thought the bath needed a little wood accent to soften the tile floors and walls, so I started running new pipes on the surface of the walls and will cover them with a wood counter. Wish me luck with this new job!

このごろ、亀清旅館の客室に入ると、「あっ、良い香り」と言われています。花梨のお陰です。スタッフの一人から客室分のかりんを持ってきて頂いて、それぞれの客室においてあります。素晴らしい香りです。尚且つ、ファブリーズなどのスプレーや人口の香りより、花梨は体にも環境にもやさしいです。

Lately, guests have been entering the guestrooms and exclaiming, "Wow, what a pleasant smell!" It's thanks to the "karin" quince fruit that we have put out. One of our staff members brought enough karin for all of the guest rooms. Their fragrance fills up the rooms. And unlike febreeze and such sprays or man-made fragrances, the quince smell is natural and is fine for the body.

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.

夕べはマジックでした。亀清旅館のロビーでインドと日本の伝統的な音楽のコラボレーションで、タブラ(インドの太鼓）とお琴、尺八にインドの歌、意外に合う音楽のコンサートが行われました。以外に合うと言うか、良く考えたら、同じアジアですから、合うのはある意味、当たり前。そして、その日印音楽の場面は亀清旅館のロビー：伝統的な和風旅館造りと薪ストーブのまた良いコラボレーション。お聞きになった方・参加した方は欧州、米国、インド、そして日本；年齢は２歳から８０歳までというそもぞもな地域と年のまたいいコラボレーション。
お聞きになった皆様、亀清旅館にお越しになって頂いて、有難うございました。Ｔｉｍ　Ｈｏｆｆｍａｎさんとのメンバーにも感謝しております。そして、全部を繋いだＦｒｉｔｚさんも、有難う!

Last night was magical. Here in Kamesei's lobby, we had an American playing melodies and rythms from India on traditional Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi flute and the koto harp, accompanied by his wife, a Japanese lady, on a sitar (a kind of traditional Indian guitar?), and a musician from India on the tabla drums. This took place in the very traditional lobby of this Japanese ryokan where we were all gathered around the wood burning stove, something very familiar to Westerners. And the audience was made up of Japanese, Scots, and Americans, from 2 years to 82 years old.

Call it World Music, call it a melting pot, just don't call it "fusion". The main musician, Tim Hoffman, pointed out the musical similarities of Japanese and Indian traditions. The match each other too well to be called fusion; he likes to call it Classical Crossover instead.

I suppose the same could be said of, for example, the fireplace in the ryokan lobby. While a wood burning stove may be a Western concept, ours was made by a local shop and the wood we burn is from the trimmings of local apple orchards.

All in all, it was a sublimely magical evening. Thank you all who attended, as well as Tim-san and your fellow musicians, and Fritz for making the connection.