Okagura Performance at Kamesei's lobby
温泉夏祭りで上山田お神楽保存会は亀清旅館のロビーにも披露してくれました。お客様の皆様が喜んでいただきました。（私も獅子笛で頑張りました！）
As part of making their rounds for the Onsen Summer Festival, the Kamiyamda Okagura group stopped to perform at Kamesei for our guests. It was a lively performance here at our lobby. I played the flute as part of it.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
亀清旅館の玄関に祭りの提灯が設置してあるし、若女将が民踊連の役員でその準備してきました。そろそろお祭りだ！
We have our Festival 'chochin' lanterns hanging in front of Kamesei, and Mari is just getting back from setting things up for the Minro Dance (she's one of the organizers this year). The Festival is almost here!
Go! Go! Turtle Go!
女将社長の「あっ！」と言う声で飛んで行ったら、中庭の池から逃げた亀が亀清の廊下を歩いていた。お風呂へ行こうとしていたかな？
Our Okami-san screamed, and I went to go see what happened. It turned out one of our turtles from the naka-niwa garden koi pond had escaped and was walking down Kamesei's corridor. Maybe making a break for the mineral bath?
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
healing waters
日本は全国的に温泉があるけど、その中で「なんちゃった」のもある。上山田温泉は硫黄泉で香りも感覚も温泉らしいお湯です。この間、それの証拠が出来る例がありました。
週末に91歳のお客様が来はって、足が弱い為にロビーからお部屋までは車椅子でした。でも次の日にお帰りになった時にお部屋から歩いてきました。「車椅子は？」と聞いたら、温泉のお陰で歩かれましたと。
もう1つなお客様は珍しいアレルギーがあって、調べたら上山田のお湯の成分が良いと、泊まりに来ました。そうすると、朝に私が布団上げしに行ったらお客様が寝坊していました。聞いたら、普段はアレルギーのせいで夜は2時間おきで起きるけど、温泉のお陰でぐっすりと眠れた。おまけに2泊延長も！
上山田のお湯は何でも効くとは言いませんが、本格の温泉だと自信を持って言えます。
上山田温泉の効能はここ
Japan is blessed with onsens all over the country. However, many are of questionable quality. Togura Kamiyamada's is a sulfur hot spring, and is the real deal. We recently had a couple of guests who exemplified just how good our onsen is.
Over the weekend, we hosted a 91-year old lady who had to be wheelchaired from the lobby to her guest room due to weak legs. However, the next morning, she walked to the lobby. I asked about the wheelchair, and she said that thanks to soaking in our mineral bath, her legs felt good enough to walk!
Another guest had a rare allergy. Her research said our onsen would be good for her condition, so she came to stay the night. The next morning when I went to put away her futons, she was sound asleep. Apparently her allergy usually causes her to wake up every two hours, but thanks to our onsen she didn't wake up at all. She even decided to extend her stay 2 nights.
We don't say that Kamiyamada Onsen is a cure-all, but we can say with certainty that it is the real deal.
More on Kamiyamada Onsen's effects here.
Yearly Geta Offering
日々の「どうやってお客様に来ていただくか」の努力の中で「来たお客様に感謝」と言うことが忘れちゃうことが多いです。それで、上山田温泉夏祭りの一部で「下駄供養」が行います。今日はこの一年間でお客様が利用した下駄を集まって、水天宮の横で設置しました。今週末の祭りで供養します。
この一年間でお越しになった皆様に感謝しております。
When one's daily routine is based around how to attract more customers, it's easy to forget to be thankful for the guests who have come. As part of this weekend's Kamiyamada Onsen Summer Festival, the other ryokan owners and I perform a special Geta Offering. We gather the wooden sandals that our guests have used throughout the year, and offer them up in thanks.
I'd like to take this time to thank all of Kamesei's guests from the previous year. Arigatou!
体験天国
軽井沢観光協会に呼んで頂いて、軽井沢町をインバウンド関係の方々と一日回りました。テーマは「雨の日でも楽しめる」と言う事で、楽焼やグラス吹き、皮グッズ造り、Ｓａｕｓａｇｅ造り、体験コースたっぷりの楽しい一日でした。個人的に軽井沢でしか出来ないレンタル自転車ぶらぶらや軽井沢彫工場見学の方が軽井沢らしさが出ると思いました。でも、実際にグラス吹きを始めてやってみたら「こんな楽しいことがあるんや！」と思ってしまいました。軽井沢が長野県の観光の宝物だとよく分かりました。
As a guest of their Tourism Bureau, I was invited to partake in a special 'Inbound' tour of Karuizawa. The theme was enjoying Karuizawa on a rainy day, and went around to various shops and tried our hand at making sausage, painting ceramics, blowing glass and stamping leather. While Karuizawa is also popular for its woodwork and cruising round town on rental bicycles, a day of craft-making was really enjoyable.
軽井沢観光協会はこちらClick here for Karuizawa Tourism
Summer show-off
亀清の最近に植えなおした坪庭を良く見たら、この青い花が綺麗に咲いている。ガーデナーの岡田さんによると、日本の夏の花を代表する「桔梗」だそうです。この伝統的な昔ながらの日本旅館に日本の花がやはり一番合うよね！
Our most recently re-done tsubo niwa garden has this showy flower blooming now. According to our gardener, Okada-san, it is a Japanese bellflower, a summer-blooming flower native to Japan. It's a great match for our traditional Japanese inn!
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
Shrine shrouded in Zeldova trees
いつも思いますが、日本の神社の作りが美しいです。戸倉上山田温泉から車で１５分ぐらいに武水別神社があります。先日は久しぶりに見ました。そして、裏側から入りました。周りのでかいケヤキの木のの緑の葉っぱと神社の建物の細かい木造の合わせがうんと綺麗でした。
昔は戦いの神様だったので、信玄も謙信も来ているようです。現在は交通安全の神様だそうです。えらい変わりましたね。
I've always been impressed by the beauty of Shinto shrines in Japan. One such shrine is about 15 minutes away from Togura Kamiyamada Onsen by car: Takemizuwake Shrine in Yawata, Chikuma City. I went there for the first time in a long time a couple of days ago, and was amazed by the detailed woodwork of the main building.
This shrine was traditionally dedicated to a god of war, and was visited by many major samurai warriors. Nowadays, it's dedicated to safe driving. That's a big change!
武水別神社のＨＰはこちらClick here for info on Takemizuwake Shrine (Japanese only)
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
Kamuruki Summit Camp
長野に引越ししてきて良かった理由の１つは周辺にキャンプが出来るところが沢山ある事です。いきなりキャンプしたいと思えば、出来ちゃう。夕べは正にそうでした。息子達を連れて、テントと寝袋をしょって、戸倉上山田温泉の裏の１２５２ｍの冠着山の頂上でキャンプした。（登山口は温泉から車で１５分、そして歩いて２０分で頂上に到着）。朝に早く起きたら、千曲川の谷の雲海の上からのご来光がちょうど見えて、夢のような世界でした。
One of the things I like about Nagano is being able to readily go camping. There are mountains all around us, so if you decide at the last minute to go camping, it's very easy to do. Like our sons and I decided to do last night. We packed our tents and sleeping bags, and drove to the Mt. Kamuriki (1252m) trailhead (about 15 minutes by car from Togura Kamiyamada Onsen), walked the 20 minutes to the top, and camped out. We woke up early in the morning, and were treated to the dream-like scene of the sun rising over the cloudy Chikuma River valley.
亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website
ご来光 Sunrise
雲海 Sea of Clouds
頂上からの眺めView from the Summit
sunrays
登山口trailhead
千曲市の皆様、ご迷惑をかけいます。
今週は千曲市会議員の選挙の応援活動をやっています。もう１人の若旦那のサポートです。私が始めて日本に来た時に、選挙車がうるさくて迷惑だと言う印象を受けました。まっさか私はこうやって乗るようになると思わなかった。。。
All this week I am helping out one of my fellow ryokan owners in his campaign for city council. When I first came to Japan, I thought these campaign sound trucks were obnoxiously loud. I had know idea that one day I would be riding in one!
千曲市がこんなに広いんだ！（休憩所）
