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先日の姨捨夜景・伝説ツアーは特別でした。お月様がうんと綺麗でしたと言うのもあったし、お客様に面白い事を教えて頂きました。ツアーの中で地元の伝説をお話します。大げさの話も出る訳です。そして、姨捨山の伝説に出てくる法螺貝をサプライズします。まさか｢法螺を吹く｣という表現が｢法螺貝を吹く｣だけではなく、｢大げさな話をする｣という意味もあると知りませんでした。私の姨捨夜景・伝説ツアーはまさにその両方の意味です。なんという偶然ですね。
A recent Obasute Night View / Legends Tour was very memorable. Not only was the moon particularly beautiful, but one of our guests told me something amazing. During the tour, I give a talk about local legends, some of which make for some pretty tall tales. In the Obasute Yama legend, there is a reference about a conch shell, and I use a real one as part of a surprise. I found out that night for the first time that "to blow a conch shell" is a way of saying "to tell a tall tale" in Japanese. My tour covers both meanings -- What a Coincidence!

(長野放送と言うテレビ局の千曲市代表として書いた分の一部です。This is part of a series I am doing for Nagano Broadcast TV Station's website, as the representative from Chikuma City.）

10月19日に戸倉上山田温泉の足湯がデビューしました：｢カラコロ足湯」。温泉街の中心になる水と緑と潤いのある公園で出来ました。作ったのは温泉のカラコロにぎわい協議会なので町が一緒になって作りました。デザインはこの温泉に住んでいる設計士、木は市から、大工さんは温泉の村越さん、看板は旅館若旦那達が作った、これからの掃除は町の皆が当番でやる、などなど。
今日は早速、息子と一緒に入って見ました。長野県の色々な温泉の足湯に入ってみてます。周りの景色が良いけど足湯の東屋が安っぽいとか足湯の建物が素敵だけどお湯の品質が良くないとかのような足湯が多いです。このカラコロ足湯は入ってみたらどうでしょうか？まず思ったのは、さすがに上山田温泉のお湯で硫黄の香りがいいし、肌がすべすべになります。温度はゆっくり入れる43℃です。(上がったら、私の足が真赤になっていました！）景色について、水と緑と潤いのある公園の池や紅葉になり始まっている植物を眺めながら入れますから入りながら周りの風情も楽しめます。元々ログハウスを作る村越さんの作った東屋は良い木を使ったのでその木の温もりも感じれます。お湯は良し、景色も良し、足湯の建物も良し！
そして、一番良かったのは一緒に入っていた人達と楽しい会話ができた事。こんな素敵な足湯で人が自然に集まりますので足がぽかぽかしている間、集まった皆と色々な話で盛り上がります。これが本当の町興しだと良く分かりました。足湯というのは町興しの「目的」ではない。足湯は一つな道具だけです。町が一緒に作って、一緒に集まって、一緒に盛り上がるというのは足湯つくり、そして町興しの目的だ。その意味で、このカラコロ足湯が成功です！

Togura Kamiyamada Onsen's foot bath made its debut on 19-October. It's located in the town's main park, and was built by the Kara-Koro civic advancement organization, hence the name, "Kara-Koro Foot Bath". ("Kara-Koro" is the sound wooden geta clogs make on the pavement, sort of like "clip-clop". It's a reference to trying to make the town livelier by getting people out and about walking.) The bath is a joint effort by the town as a whole -- it was designed by a local architect, trees were provided by the city, it was built by our local log house builder Murakoshi-san, the sign was made by the innkeepers, and the bath will be maintained by the townspeople -- a true community effort.
My son and I went ahead and tried out the bath. We've been to lots of foot baths at onsens across the prefecture. Some have a great view, but a very cheaply built pergoda. Others have a beautiful surround but the onsen water isn't very good. The Kara-Koro foot bath has a relaxing view of the koi pond and the trees of the park, Murakoshi-san's log house style surround has a wonderful feel to it, and the water, oh the water, is soothing. Of course, it is natural hot spring mineral water from Kamiyamada Onsen.
But the best thing of all was getting to chat with the other people who were soaking their feet with us. That's the magic of a foot bath -- people naturally tend to gather around it. And that's the reason why the Kara-Koro group made it. The foot bath isn't a goal in and of itself -- it's a tool. It brings people together, both in the making and the enjoyment of it. That's civic advancement.

カラコロ賑わい協議会のHPはこちら　Click here for Kara-Koro website.

全体の写真はNBSのHPへClick here for a picture of the bath at the NBS website.

週２,３回な程度で私が｢姨捨夜景・伝説ツアー｣で夜の姨捨に行っています。そしてお昼も時々言っています。夜は善光寺平の夜景、お昼は有名の｢田毎の月｣の棚田の風景、それぞれの魅力があります。夕べは黄昏時の姨捨を始めて見ました。町のイルミネーションが見えていると同時に、空の最後の光で棚田クラシックな姿がまだ見えると言うダブルな美しさ。
実波、どうしてその時間帯で姨捨へ行ったかと言うと、山梨県の大学Consortiumの先生達を姨捨駅までお送りした訳です。来月に私が｢インバウンド｣の事を話すように呼んでいただいていますのでそのために打ち合わせで亀清旅館まで来てくれました。山梨県も海外からの観光客を呼ぶのに悩みがあるようです。でも、長野県が逆に学べる部分もあり：Mt. Fuji Welcome Cardという、外国人を受け入れているお店を紹介する素晴らしいシステムがある。
Two or three times a week on average, I see Obasute at night as part of the Obasute Night View / Legends Tour I do for our guests. And from time to time, I visit Obasute during the day. At night, you can see the lights of the Zenkoji Plain, and during the day, the terraced rice paddies famed for the moon reflecting in the individual paddies. Last night, I went to Obasute at dusk for the first time. The lights of the city down below were starting to come on, and the classic rice paddies were still visible -- the best of both views.
Actually, the reason I went to Obasute at that time was to drop off at Obasute Station a couple of visiting professors from Yamanashi Prefecture. They have invited me to speak at their University Consortium next month on "Inbound" matters. Yamanashi also apparently has concerns about how to better invite tourists from overseas. But actually, I think Nagano has some things it can learn from Yamanashi, such as their "Mt. Fuji Welcome Card" program.

亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

Click here for info on Mt. Fuji Welcome Cardの詳しくはこちら

夕べの姨捨夜景・伝説ツアーは特に印象的でした。空気が澄んだお蔭で夜景の光が綺麗でしたし、お月様は満月に近い、そして、お客さんがその場で尺八を吹いてくれました。姨捨駅でミニ演奏でした。その綺麗な夜景を眺めながら、尺八の日本的な音の響きで、素敵でした！
Last night's Obasute Night View tour was an especially memorable one. Not only was the air really clear making the night view lights prettier than normal, and not only was the full moon shining bright, but one of our guests brought his 'shakuhachi' (traditional Japanese flute) and played a song for us. While enjoying the twinkling lights of the night view, we were treated to the enchanting sounds of the shakuhachi.

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website