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Iwatake Lilies

先週は長野地方事務所の手配で白馬村を見学してきました。白馬の観光局にインバウンド（＝外国人観光客の誘客）の取り組みを説明して頂きました。白馬は三、四年前からオーストラリアからのスキー客を積極的に呼んで、比較的に成功している地域です。長野県の中で進んでいる方です。我々長野地方の人達はその経験から習いに行った訳です。

ついでに、白馬のグリーンシーズンの代表のイベント、「花三味」に参加しました。町の中からリフトに乗って山の頂上まで、１１箇所に花がそろっている場所を見れる。私が行ったのは５番の「白馬せせらぎの里」と８番の「いわてけユリの園」でした。せせらぎの里は江戸時代からの石造りのせせらぎで、所々にかわいい橋があって、アジサイが綺麗に咲いていました。写真を撮りたくなる風情。
その後は岩竹地区に行って、リフトに乗って、１２８９ｍの頂上まで登った。５０万球のユリが咲いていて、下は白馬村の谷、上は白馬岳、感動的な景色。その日は曇っていたが、晴れたら最高な眺めになるでしょう。この夏は残念ながら晴れている日が少ないけど、その分で観光客も少ないからすいていて自由にうろうろ出来る。
お昼は綺麗に直された庄屋まるはちと言う古い民家でした。実は、このお店に入れて、ちょっと嬉しかった。と言うのは、庄屋まるはちのパンフは半年前に出来たのでそのパンフの英語は私の作品です。文章を書いた時に、「本当にそんなに素敵な建物か」と思ったが、実物を見れば、作るのにそして綺麗に直すのにどれぐらいな努力がかかったか、感動しました。機会があれば、入ってみて下さい。

As part of the Nagano Area Office, myself and some of the other various town officials made a trip to Hakuba last week. Hakuba has been actively pursuing ski tourists from Australia the past 4~5 years and the efforts have paid off -- Hakuba is one of Nagano Prefecture's top attractions for "Inbound" (guests from overseas). We met with their Tourism Commission to get ideas for promoting Inbound tourism in the Nagano City area.

As part of the tour, we took part in Hakuba's premier green season event: "Hana San-Mi". There are 11 areas in the village, from flower-lined streams in town to alpine flowers at 2000-meters, reachable by a special shuttle bus and/or ski lifts that operate in the summer. Our group got to see 2 of the areas. The "Seseragi-no-Sato" is in town. It's a little rock-lined stream with quaint bridges over it and flower pots all over and bushes and bushes of brilliantly blooming hydrangeas. The scene just begs to be photographed. After that, we moved to the Iwateke area and rode the lift to the Iwatake Lily Garden. 500,000 lilies are planted around the 1289-meter peak. The colorful flowers with the Hakuba Valley below and the massive Hakuba peaks above makes for a dynamic scene. The day we were there it was cloudy -- on a clear day the view must be even more impressive. This summer, there have been an unusually few amount of clear days. That also means fewer tourists, so you can have the nature to yourself.
For lunch, we stopped at Shouya Maruhachi, a feudal merchant's house that has recently been renovated to bring back its original Edo-era glory. It is located along the Seseragi-no-Sato. I was really pleased to get to see the residence, because when Shouya Maruhachi's brochure was made last winter, I was the one tapped to write the English. It was great to see it in person. I realized, though, that my words didn't do justice to the workmanship that went into the residence. If you get a chance, check it out.

Links:

白馬村観光局・花三味 Hakuba Tourism Commission / Hana San-Mi
庄屋まるはちShouya Maruhachi
Lodging: Ski Japan Holidays; JHN Travel

Shouya Maruhachi

Seseragi-no-Sato

先週末にBJリーグの富山グラウジーズというプロのバスケットボールのチームが長野県にExhibitionの試合をやりました。夜は亀清にお泊りになった。長野県にもプロ・バスケットのチームが出来るように努力している「長野県ｂｊリーグ参入協議会」が富山のチームを呼びました。
もちろん、子供のころからず～っとバスケットをやっていた私が応援します。信州にもプロのバスケットを！

Last weekend the Toyama Grouses professional basketball team of the bj League played an exhibition game in Nagano. After the game, they came to Kamesei Ryokan to spend the night. A group of businessmen have put together an organization to promote bringing professional basketball to Nagano. Me having hooped from my childhood on, of course I'm in favor of a local pro team.

Now, you're probably asking yourself, "Grouses? What kind of name is that for a hoops team?" And, "Can't 'Basketball Japan' come up with a better acronym?" Valid questions. And I'm not sure what the answers are. All I can suggest is maybe Pro Basketball Japan -- PBJ. But then that would get me hungry for sandwiches...

Anyways, we thank Coach C.J. and the players for coming to Kamesei.

長野県ｂｊリーグ参入協議会のHPはこちらClick here for info on bringing pro hoops to Nagano.