酒と枝豆にうるさい:新潟 Picky about sake and beans: Niigata

2009.07.24: 青い目のおもてなし This American’s Omotenashi

Niigata edamame and sake

旅館青年部関係で私の入っている研究会は昨日、新潟の燕・三条の近辺の温泉で集まりました。大変良い勉強になりました。新潟の酒が日本の中でも評価が高いと前から知っていました。そして、泊まった宿はやはり、地酒は6つぐらい並べてありました。しかし、その辺は枝豆の産地なので枝豆の世界があんなに奥深いか、びっくりしました。今までは冷凍食品の感覚しかなかった。ビールのおつまみ程度。でも、お世話になった宿、ホテル小柳は地元の農家さんたちと連携して、規格外の作物を利用してSweetsを作る運動しています。その1つは枝豆入りの生キャラメル。意外に美味しかった。
上山田の周りにりんご農園が多い。今年は表の損が心配なので我々旅館が利用できる方法を皆で考えています。新潟からのヒントも生かしたいですね。
Members of my Ryokan Junior Association Research Team gathered in Niigata yesterday. I had previously known that Niigata is one of the top producers of fine sake in Japan, and was pleased to find that our host served 6 different types of local sake at our dinner. But I was surprised to find out that the area also is a major soybean grower, and that the locals there are very picky about their edamame beans. Our host, Hotel Oyanagi, worked out an arrangement with local farmers to use 2nd-rate produce to make desserts. One of the products is edamame-caramel. It was surprisingly delicious.
Here in Kamiyamada, we have a lot of apple orchards around. Last month's hail caused a lot of damage, and us inns are gearing up to use the cosmetically inferior but superior quality apples in our cooking this fall. I hope to use some of the ideas I got from Niigata!

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.

新潟県湯田上温泉のホテル小柳のHPはこちらClick here for the website of Hotel Oyanagi in Niigata



Yummy edamame caramel (strawberry, too!)


霧ヶ峰のニッコウキスゲ:信州の七大旬の自然? Kirigamine's Day Lillies -- one of Nagano's Seven Seasonal Wonders?

2009.07.23: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

Andy君と去年の霧ヶ峰のニッコウキスゲ Andy with the day lillies at Kirigamine last year

昨日は松本で長野県の「観光シナジー研究会」に参加してきました。行政と大学と我々民間の約40人がお互いにどういうコラボレーションができるかと、観光客がもっと長く滞在して楽しんで頂けるかとの意見交換でした。
そこで、車山高原の方と行き会って、聞いたら、霧ヶ峰のニッコウキスゲは今、ピークだそうです。このごろは花が鹿で大分やられたけど、今年は電気の塀で防げたので高原の表面が真っ黄色になっているそうです。7月いっぱい咲く予想です。
霧ヶ峰のニッコウキスゲは見た事がまだなければ、ぜひ、お勧めです。信州の七大旬の自然だと(勝手に)思っています。
日本人は何でも「三大何とか」を付けるのは好きですよね。例えば、戸倉上山田温泉の近くの姨捨駅は「日本三大車窓」となっています。つまり、電車の窓から見る景色が綺麗だと。我々欧米人は逆に「七大」が好きかもしれません。
従って、この欧米人の「信州七大旬の自然」のリストを発表させて頂きます:

*森「杏の里」の杏の花
*高遠の桜
*上高地の新緑
*鬼無里の水芭蕉
*辰野の蛍
*霧ヶ峰のニッコウキスゲ
*戸隠鏡池の紅葉

皆さんはどうですか?自分の「七大」を教えてください。

Yesterday I went to Matsumoto for a Nagano Prefecture Tourism Synergy Research Meeting. About 40 people from various government agencies, universities, and businesses gathered to discuss ways to get tourists to spend more time enjoying our prefecture.

One of the guys I met there was from Kurumayama. He said the nikko-kisuge day lillies in Kirigamine are in bloom now. Recently, deer have been eating a lot of the flowers. This year, though, thanks to lots of electric wire fencing, the hills of Kirigamine are carpeted in yellow flowers. The blooms usually continue through the end of July.

If you've never seen the nikko-kisuge of Kirigamine, I highly suggest it. Their yellow blossoms cover the highlands -- an amazing sight to see. In fact, I would say it's one of Nagano's top seasonal wonders.

People in Japan have a habit for picking the "Top Three" Whatever. For example, nearby Obasute Station is one of Japan's Top Three Best Views from the Train Window. (It's true -- I couldn't make that up if I tried.) Us Westerners, on the other hand, tend to choose the Top 7 of whatever (except for David Letterman and his Top 10 Lists). For example, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, etc.

So I hereby announce Nagano's Seven Natural Wonders (as chosen by Yours Truly):

*The Apricot Blossoms in Mori "Anzu no Sato"
*Takato's Cherry Blossoms
*Early Spring in Kamikochi
*Skunk Cabbage Flowers in Kinasa (which means "Village Without an Ogre" -- and I couldn't make that one up if I tried, either)
*Tatsuno's Fireflies
*Kirigamine's Nikko-kisuge day lillies
*Autumn Leaves at Togakushi's Kagami-Ike (Mirror Pond)

That's my list. What about yours?

霧ヶ峰・車山高原の詳しくはこちらClick here for details on Kirigamine and Kurumayama





珍しい姿 A rare sight

2009.07.22: 季節 Seasons

Mari watching the eclipse

今日は珍しい日食が行われた。隣の薬局のお兄さんがこの特別なメガネを持ってきてくれて、滞在のお客さんとみなで日食を楽しめました。

Today was a rare event: a solar eclipse. Our neighbor, the pharmacist, brought over these special glasses. So along with some guests from the States, we all enjoyed watching the eclipse.





松代象山地下壕が英字新聞に Matsushiro's Tunnels in the Japan Times

2009.07.21: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

先週に英字新聞「Japan Times」に松代の象山地下壕の特集がありました。第二次世界大戦のころに天皇さまが隠れる場所としてできたトンネルは現在、地震のセンサーの設備地として使われている事。
そのセンサーは5月25日の北朝鮮の原爆テストを感じたと書いてあった。
まあ、この記事は信州の戦争「遺産」のPRしてくれて、嬉しいですが、松代地下壕の大事なストリーが抜けていました。工事の時に、「およそ述べ300万人の住民および朝鮮人の人々が労働者として強制的に動員され1日3交替徹夜で工事が進められました。食糧事情が悪く、工法も旧式な人海作戦を強いられ、多くの犠牲者を出した。」(松代地下壕の正式パンフから)
気象庁精密地震観測質は見れないけど、トンネルの一部は見学ができます。戦争の遺産、そのころの辛さや苦しみが感じれます。お勧めです。

松代象山地下壕 入壕料:無料 午前9時~午後4時まで 休み:第三火曜日と年末年初 Tel c/o長野市観光課026-224-5042

Last week, the Japan Times had an article about the Matsushiro Zozan Tunnels -- the underground shelter that was built at the end of WWII to be used as an emergency military headquarters. The article talked about how the tunnels are now used as a seismological observatory and how the sensors detected North Korea's nuclear test on May 25th.

While I'm glad the J.T. is doing some publicity on one of Nagano's WWII heritage sites, I'm disappointed they missed one of the main stories about the tunnels. An unknown number of people, many of which were Korean, lost their lives in the construction of the tunnels.

Matsushiro is a fascinating little town. It still has many buildings representing its samurai heritage, a unique style of pottery ("Matsushiro-yaki"), important Warring States-era battle site (Kawanakajima), a peaceful, pastoral setting with Nagano's main 'yama-imo' farming, bicycle friendly country roads (free bicycle rental at Matsushiro Station), and the sad WWII history of the Zozan tunnels. One of the passages is open to the public daily from 9am to 4pm (except the 3rd Tuesday of the month and from 29-Dec to 03-Jan).

Japan Times article here.




2009年上山田温泉夏祭りの写真 Pictures from the 2009 Kamiyamada Onsen Summer Festival

2009.07.20: 温泉タウン戸倉上山田 Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

今年の夏祭りは無事に終わりました。県外からお泊りになったお客様からの声で「こんな小さな町にこんな大きくて迫力のある祭りで吃驚した」と。参加する私達がエネルギーの全てを使い尽くしたもの。迫力のある訳だ。妻と二人は今日、へろへろ。ここで祭りの印象を一杯書きたいけど、書く元気もないし、言葉で伝え切れないと思う。代わりに、デンマークから来たお客さんの写真を提供します。Nielsさんは今年で3度目の祭りだ。デンマークからわざわざ来ている訳。上山田温泉夏祭りはそれぐらいな迫力がある。

This year's Kamiyamada Onsen Summer Festival has finally come to an end. Several of our guests that had come from neighboring prefectures to see the festival said they were surprised that this small of a town puts on this big of a festival. I should hope so -- all of us participants put in all of our energy into the event. My wife and I, for example, are completely drained today. Normally, I would write up a report about the festival here in the blog, but not only do I not have the energy to do so, but even if I did, words couldn't do it justice. So, instead, I will put up some pictures from the festival taken by Niels-san from Denmark. This is his 3rd festival. Yes -- he came all the way from Denmark just to see our town's matsuri. It's that impressive of a festival!



























夏祭りの顔 Faces of the Summer Festival

2009.07.19: 温泉タウン戸倉上山田 Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

Wife Mari, in charge of the 500-person dance procession

上山田温泉の夏祭りの週末です。家族は皆、仕事をしながら祭りにも参加しています。「仕事を休まないで、祭りに出なきゃいけないって、大変ですね」とよく言われます。でも「大変」じゃなくて、「当たり前」と思っています。この温泉に住んでいる限りで、温泉夏祭りに全面的に参加するのは当たり前。

我々家族の祭りの顔の写真を送りします。

This is the weekend of Kamiyamada Onsen's big Summer Festival. Our family participates in the festivities while at the same time running our inn. We often get comments about how most other participants are off of work for the weekend so it must be bothersome for us to have to work at the same time. We don't see it as "bothersome", but rather a "privelege". As long as you we work and live in this onsen town, we participate fully in the festival.

Here are some pictures of our family's participation.

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



Kenny carrying the o-Mikoshi


Andy carrying the o-Mikoshi


Tyler playing the Okagura Flute


Tyler and buddy Igaraa after the shi-shi


水の神様の祭りの朝:やはり、雨 Start of a Summer Festival For a Water God: Rain

2009.07.18: 温泉タウン戸倉上山田 Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

上山田温泉の夏祭りは水天宮の祭り。元々は千曲川の水が暴れないように神様の為の祭りだそうです。水の神様の為、そのお陰か、必ず雨が降る。今年の祭りは今日と明日なので今朝はやはり、雨です。午後からやむ予定なので、皆様、是非、この迫力のある神やまだ夏祭りにおいでやす。

Kamiyamada Onsen's Summer Festival is for the Suitengu, a water god. Originally it was in the hopes that the waters of the Chikuma River stay within the banks of the river. Nowadays, the levees pretty much take care of that. But the festival is still for the Suitengu, and perhaps because of that, it rains every festival. This year's festival will be held today and tomorrow and, of course, this morning it's raining. But the rain is forecasted to let up for this afternoon. So if you have a chance, come and check out our exciting festival!





Meaningful Comment from a Guest

2009.07.17: 亀清旅館 Kamesei Ryokan

A couple of days ago, I posted a kind comment from a Japanese guest. Today it's English time. Guest I.S.-san from Canada wrote us this comment:

Hi Tyler.
M. and I had hoped to see you before checking out Wednesday morning. We wanted to personally thank you for the wonderful hospitality provided to us at Kamesei this week. We had an unforgettable three days at your inn, and I can honestly say that Kamesei is among the nicest and most "authentic" ryokans I have seen in Japan. We loved our tatami room, the gardens, onsen, dinner, and most of all the quiet, peaceful ambience of Kamesei. We would love to visit again in the future (to see the snow monkeys!!). Thanks again Tyler. All the best to you. I.S.

I.S.-san,

Thank you for your e-mail, and for coming and staying with us at Kamesei Ryokan. I apologize for having to leave early for a meeting and not being able to say good-bye.

I am grateful that you and M.-san enjoyed your stay at our inn. And I appreciate your kind words.

Sometimes I think my fellow ryokan-owners here are forgetting the real purpose of the traditional Japanese ryokan (hence all the Western hotel-style concrete/steel boxes around). As an outsider, I am in a unique position to honor the ryokan's "essence" in my work here at Kamesei. When I read your comments, it made me realize that some Japanese travelers have forgotten the true purpose of staying at ryokan, and could learn from your words.

You and M.-san are most welcome to come and stay with us again. Maybe we could all go to see the snow monkeys together.

Take care, and we wish you the best.

Tyler Lynch
Kamesei Ryokan




インバウンド的な諏訪「体験」 Doing Suwa through Inbound Eyes

2009.07.16: 長野に来る理由 Reasons to Come to Nagano

長野インバウンドサミットの仲間と一緒に、昨日は諏訪市で集まりました。2つなエクスカーションそして「パワー・ランチ」で諏訪地方を体験しながらいい情報交換・交流が出来ました。
1つ目のエクスカーションは真澄の酒倉の見学でした。海外担当のキースさんが親切に長野県の代表が出来る真澄の酒を説明して、工場を案内してくれました。キースさんの熱心さが伝え割れましたので私も真澄のファンになりました。
そして、社長のボス(?)、Kumiさんが真澄のコンセプトを説明してくれました。普通な酒倉は酒の作り方に集中するけど、真澄では消費者はどうやって真澄の酒を楽しむかという事も考えている。お店の中はいかに酒の楽しみ方を高めるか、そして販売店で真澄に合う酒のカップや県内も県外ものおつまみを扱っている。
2つ目のエクスカーションは御柱ミニ体験でした。下諏訪町木遣保存会の小松さん(akaミスター御柱)が諏訪市の新しく出来た御柱体験公園を案内してくれて、御柱の流れを説明して、木遣を教えていただきました。地元の伊藤さん(B&BめぐハウスZuKu)は外国人向けの英語説明もくれました。
柱の大きさは印象的でしたが、小松さんの木遣が一番の思い出になりました。周りから響いたぐらい。
エクスカーションの間、真澄で弁当を食べながら(Kumiさん、お味噌汁が美味しかった!)、長野県のインバウンドの人たち11人と情報交換しました。諏訪の伊藤さんが地元の外国人をVolunteer Guideとして育っていく事業や、松本の清風荘の「浴衣を着て松本城散策」、南信州観光公社のエコ体験実例などなど、外国人観光客が長野県をさらに楽しめるようにの努力を聞いて、感心しました。これからはここでも詳しく紹介していきたいと思っています。
最後で諏訪大社下社秋宮を見学しました。なんとなくその周辺の雰囲気が好きです。「決めた。下諏訪ファンになった」と言ったら、仲間が上社を見てから決めるべきだアドバイスをくれました。仕方がない、また来なきゃ。
I met up with some of my fellow "Nagano Inbound Summit" participants for a meeting in Suwa yesterday. We did 2 'excursion' tours with a power lunch in the middle.
The 1st excursion was a tour of Masumi Sake's brewery. Their Export Manager, Keith-san, graciously showed us the facilities and explained Masumi's sake production. His enthusiasm for sake and Masumi was impressive -- I think I've become a Masumi-fan, too.
The owner's boss (?), Kumi-san, proceeded to explain Masumi's sake "concept". Most sake brewers just concentrate on how to make sake -- Masumi also focuses on how to enjoy sake. Their sake-tasting room provides the proper ambience for guests to properly enjoy Masumi's sake, and their gift shop has everything from sake cups to a wide variety for local and other foods to complement their sake.
The 2nd excursion was to see Suwa City's new "Onbashira Experience Park". The park just opened last weekend and features two pillars of the same size as that will be used in next year's once-every-seven-years Onbashira Festival. An important component of the festival is the Kiyari, a traditional work song. We were fortunate to have Komatsu-san of the Shimo-Suwa Kiyari Preservation Society come and lead us in a chant. Another local, Itoh-san of B&B Megu House ZuKu, provided English explanation. Seeing the massive pillars was impressive, but hearing Komatsu-san's (aka Mr. Onbashira) chant reverbrate off the far away buildings was most memorable.
In between the excursions, we met over bento at Masumi (compliments to Kumi-san for her miso soup!) and shared info on recent Inbound-related activities. Itoh-san gathering local foreigners to be volunteer guides, Seifuso in Matsumoto organizing a "Wear a Yukata to Matsumoto Castle" event, Minami-Shinshu Kanko Corporation's successful eco tourism, and so much more. I hope to introduce some of these activities here in this blog.
It was impressive to hear everyone's efforts to make Nagano Prefecture a more enjoyable place for tourists from overseas.
At the end, some of us stopped at Shimo-Suwa's Aki (Fall) Shrine. I was really enthralled by the area, and announced I had become a fan of Shimo-Suwa. One of my buddies said I should wait until I've seen the shrines at Kami-Suwa before deciding. I guess that means I'll have to come back to Suwa again soon!

リンクLinks:

真澄 Masumi

御柱 Onbashira

B&B めぐハウス Meg House ZuKu

南信州観光公社 Minami Shinshu Kanko Kosha


Entrance to Masumi


Bottles with Braille -- new Barrier-Free


Shimosha Onbashira


Kamisha Onbashira


Shimosha Aki-Miya's ancient, peaceful shrine


「紬」のオブジェ An 'Objet' for Tsumugi

2009.07.15: 亀清旅館 Kamesei Ryokan

客室「松風」を「紬」に改造する次のステップ:床の間にこのオブジェが出来ました。親戚の前島おじさんから頂いた糸巻きの機会です。彼の民家の屋根裏から出てきたようです。昔はお蚕さんを育っていたらしいのでそのころに使っていた機会です。何十年間に使われなかったのでちょっと黒くなっていましたから私と女将社長が半日をかけて、磨きました。再来週で私が上田紬の体験をする予定なのでその作品はうまく出来たらこの部屋で飾りたいと考えています。
この部屋は段々と「紬」というコンセプトの雰囲気になってきています。

As part of the remake of guestroom "Matsukaze" to "Tsumugi", I placed this 'objet' in the room's tokonoma alcove. Our Uncle, Maejima-san, gave us this thread reel to display. His family apparently used to raise silkworms, and he had this antique reel in his attic. Our 'okami-san' and I spent a half a day cleaning it and polishing it up. It goes well with the tsumugi silk weaving concept for the room.