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この旅館の仕事の楽しみの一つは色んな方との出会いがある事です。

週末に愛知県からのハーレーダビッドソンのグループが泊まりに来ました。集めた役としてのはハーレーのお店の女社長でした。今回は２０台ぐらいできました。駐車は玄関の屋根の下じゃ足りなくて、ロビーの中に３台も!亀清がハーレーのショールームのようになった。

そのライダーの一人との出会いが特に思い出深かったです。ＮＨＫにも紹介されました渡辺ちず子さんが４０歳過ぎてからバイクを乗り出しました。バイクのライダーって、若い男性のイメージがどうしてもあります。渡辺さんはそのイメージを繰りかえっている。尚且つ、大型のハーレーで。私だったら、そんな大きいバイクを持ち起こせる自信がないけど、渡辺さんは得意だそうです。えらい!こんなに頑張っている方と出会いができて、嬉しいです。

One of the perks of this job of running a ryokan is getting to meet so many outstanding people.

Last weekend, we had a group of Harley Davidson riders come and stay with us. A local Harley dealership in Aichi Prefecture organized the ride. (The owner of the dealership is a lady by the way -- how rare is that!)

One of the riders in the group was a lady named Chizuko Watanabe. She has been featured on NHK (the national TV broadcaster) for being a lady motorcyclist who learned to ride starting after she turned 40. Chizuko-san is an amazing lady. I doubt I could lift up one of the huge Harleys, but she is apparently a specialist at it. I am glad to have met such an enthusiastic person!

渡辺さんのＨＰはこちらClick here for Chizuko-san's website.

Pt.1で書いた様に、自販機の飲み物選択を改善しました。亀清旅館の扱っている地ビールも改善しておきました。（私は地ビール天国のシアトルから来たというのもあるし、長野の旅館としてお客さんに長野のビールを提供したいのもある訳です。）今までは割りとリーズナブルな値段の軽井沢からの地ビールを扱っていたが、缶しかなかったです。地ビールはやはり瓶だなと思って、高くなってしまうけど志賀高原の地ビールに進化しました。色んな種類があるけど、取り合えず代表のＩＰＡそして私が個人的に好きな真っ黒のポーターを扱う事にしました。値段は、うちの利益をまた薄くして、何とか１コイン（５００円）にしました。女将社長に怒られているが、お客様さえ喜んで頂けたら・・・　
扱ってみたら、見事に売れています。お客様にかなりヒットしています。また有難い事で!

As mentioned in Part 1, we recently made an improvement in our drink machine's selection by adding healthy, local apple juice. We also recently made an improvement in our microbrew selection. Until now, we had been offering a reasonably priced microbrew from Karuizawa. However, it only came in cans. So we finally made the step up to Shiga Kogen's microbrews that come in bottles. They are a little pricier, but by shrinking our profit margin a bit (sorry boss!), we're able to offer it for 1 coin (500 yen). Shiga Kogen Beer, which is a neighber of the snow monkeys, has a wide variety of brews. We decided to start out with their popular IPA and (my favorite) the Porter. Our guests are apparently happy with the improvement, as the new beers are selling much better than the old ones.
So when you come and stay at this Nagano ryokan, you can also enjoy a hearty Nagano microbrew, too!

志賀高原ビールのＨＰはこちらClick here for Shiga Kogen Beer's website.

亀清旅館のお風呂の入り口に小さな自動販売機があります。前から何かヘルシーな飲み物を入れたいと思っていて、そしてうちのビール配達業者に聞いたら、信州産のりんごジュースがあると分かりました。早速、見積もりしてもらった。輸入のと長野産の２タイプがあって、長野産の方は運送料が比較的にかからないにかかわらず、多少に高かった。

（いつもそうやな。４年前までは、私はワシントン州産の玉葱を神戸の業者に輸出していました。距離は倍以上あるのに、北海道産のよりいつも安く提供ができていた。やはり、生産のスケールの違いやな。）

ところで、信州のリンゴ園と付き合いがたっぷりある亀清旅館はもちろん、信州産のりんごジュースを選びました。利益は薄くなってしまうけど、地元のリンゴ園の応援や、お客様の喜びを考えれば、その方が良いと思います。

お客様の反応は今のところでなかなか良いです。「そんなヘルシーな物は誰も買わない!」と周りに言われましたが、チョコチョコ売れています。お客様も喜んで頂いているし、信州のリンゴ園もきっと喜んでいます。

Here at Kamesei Ryokan, we have a little vending machine in front of the onsen baths. I had always wanted to have a healthy fruit juice selection in it, so I asked our beverage vendor. He gave me a quote for apple juice, both a local Nagano maker and one from overseas. Despite the freight having to cost considerably less, the local juice was more expensive.

(Isn't it always like that? Up until 4 years ago, I was shipping onions from Washington State to a processor in Kobe. Our pricing was always less than Japan's domestic Hokkaido onions. It's all about production scale!)

Anyways, being that Kamesei has great relations with a lot of local apple orchards, we of course chose the Nagano apple juice. Judging by how well it's selling, I think our guests appreciate it (and I assume Nagano's apple growers appreciate it).

長野興農のＨＰはこちらClick here for the juice maker, Nagano Kono.

４年間我慢しました。４年間ですよ。今に思うと、よく我慢しましたなと自分で思います。

何の話?

亀清旅館の「千歳」と「末広」の２つの客室の庭のことです。

「Ｂｅｆｏｒｅ」の写真を見ると、笑っちゃう。馬鹿でかいコンクリートのブロック塀に狭い、さびしい庭。季節感は全然なかった。

夏に私がそのブロック塀を壊して、光と風が通れる木の塀を作りました。そして、先週は庭師の岡田さんがその２つの庭を作りました。

岡田さんの庭のコンセプトの説明：

『信州の光と風を感じる果樹の庭』です。

「末広」は長野を代表する果物「リンゴ（紅玉）」を植えた『リン
ゴの庭』。
「千歳」は千曲市の春には無くてはならない「アンズ（大実）」を
植えた『アンズの庭』。

どちらも、この部屋を訪れたお客様が、窓を開けて風と光を感じ、
お部屋と庭の両方を楽しんでもらえると嬉しいな。
庭が明るくなれば、お部屋も明るくなり、空気も軽く、爽やかにな
ります。
庭の植物の成長と一緒に、毎年違った風景がお客様を迎えてくれます。

お庭の成長を楽しみにしてください。

Four years. I put up with them for four stinking, long years.

Put up with what, you say? With the sorry excuses of gardens for 2 of our guest rooms, Chitose and Suehiro. Looking back, I don't know how I did it. The "Before" pictures are soooo pitiful. Ugly tall concrete block walls and a couple of scraggly plants.

All of that has changed now. Over the past months, I demolished the concrete walls and built a wooden fence that lets in light and air. Then last week, our gardener, Okada-san, built two new gardens. The difference is like night and day.

The concept for the gardens is a Nagano Fruit Orchard. In Chitose's garden, he planted a heritage variety apricot tree, in honor of the nearby Mori "Apricot Village". In Suehiro, he planted an apple tree in honor of the many area apple orchards. And not just any apple tree, but kogyoku variety, a heritage type renowned for its tartness.

More pictures available at Okada-san's website:
詳しい説明と写真は岡田さんのＨＰをご覧ください。

千歳「杏」 Chitose's "Anzu" Garden

末広「紅玉」Suehiro's "Kogyoku" Garden

東京の英字タウン誌、メトロポリスから問合せがあって、亀清旅館はウィンタースペシャルに広告を出す事になりました。東京に住んでいる英語圏の皆がこの寒い冬に亀清の温泉に暖まりに来るように、尚且つ、スノーモンキー（地獄谷の野猿公園）や信州のスキー場（白馬、野沢、志賀高原）に近い事もＰＲしたいと。その為に書いた文章は下記です。

Tokyo free weekly magazine Metropolis contacted us about their upcoming Winter Special. We worked out an arrangement for them to feature Kamesei, in hopes of getting English speakers living in Tokyo to come this winter to warm themselves in Kamesei's onsen. Also, we're letting them know that we are central to a lot of Nagano's winter wonderlands: Hakuba, Nozawa, Shiga Kogen, and of course the snow monkeys.

Here is the text we prepared for the magazine:

Experience the heart and soul of Japan this winter and make Kamesei Ryokan your base for exploring Nagano. Our traditional Japanese inn features a soothing onsen hot spring bath. Enjoy the gentle heat of our wood stove and the warm wood construction of our lobby. Kamesei Ryokan features gardens throughout and spacious 10 tatami mat guest rooms where you can relax while lounging in a yukata robe.

Both main onsen baths have outdoor baths as well, hand-built by our proprietor. One is wood, made from yellow cedar. The other is a garden bath made of river stones, and is open to the winter sky allowing you to bathe in the starlight as you soak in the onsen water.

Gourmet Kaiseki-style dinners featuring local and seasonal ingredients as well as full Ryokan Breakfasts are available and are highly recommended in order to truly appreciate the ryokan experience. (Vegetarian meals available upon request.)

Our town of Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen is unique because it is an onsen town -- feel free to use our wooden geta sandals and walk around in your yukata. Browse the many local shops, soak your feet in the footbath, or wander down by the Chikuma River. Or hike up to the mountain castle on the hill behind our town, or rent a bicycle and ride along the Chikuma River. For dinners out, our guests enjoy a wide variety of restaurants.

Kamesei is located central to the best of Nagano: Jigokudani’s snow monkeys, spiritual Togakushi Mountain, magnificent Matsumoto Castle and the Japanese Alps are all popular day trips. We are also a little over an hour by car from Nagano’s top ski areas – Hakuba, Nozawa and Shiga Kogen. Make an onsen stop-over on your way to or from or between skiing.

Helpful itinerary planning for Nagano is gladly provided by our proprietor. Tyler is an American who would be happy to share insight into his adopted home here in the Japanese countryside. Night View tours, 5am Zazen Meditation, Thursday Night Lion Dance practices are just some of the complimentary "excursions" offered to our guests.

メトロポリスのＨＰはこちらClick here for Metropolis' website.