温泉タウン戸倉上山田を世界へ 地酒は? Selling Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada to the World: How about sake?

2013.10.10: 活動 Activities

シアトル訪問の際、サケノミの言う店にも行きました。シアトルの歴史的なパイオニア広場地区の中で、酒専門のお店。地酒の販売も、バーで飲むのも出来、ただ食べ物がない。(だから、「酒のみ」と言うそうです。)
オーナーのJohnnieさんは昔からの友達で、久しぶりに会えて、嬉しかった。そして、地酒の物流の事も色々と教えてくれました。
千曲市の地酒「姨捨正宗」と話しておいたので、チャンスかな?

While in Seattle, I stopped at Sakenomi, a sake bar and shop in the historic Pioneer Square district. The owner, Johnnie-san, and I go way back, so it was great to see him again.

'Sakenomi' is a play on words. It can be interpreted as To drink ('nomi') sake, which the shop of course provides, and/or Sake only ('nomi'), which refers to the idea that they don't serve any food -- only sake.

Johnnie kindly explained the process on exporting sake from Japan to the States, advice I passed on to our local brewery, Obasute Masamune.

サケノミSakenomi



Nagano beer to the States by a Seattle-based Importer


温泉タウン戸倉上山田を1世界へ 欧州に参考 Selling Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada to the World: Learning from Europe

2013.10.09: 活動 Activities

Brooks-san outside the global headquarters of Rick Steves'

欧州の穴場的な所を紹介する大手旅行会社リック・スティヴス社は偶々シアトルの隣の町、エドモンズにあります。そのIT担当ブルックス・バーディックさんとの打ち合わせしてきました。
・欧州での最新マーケティング戦略
・コンテンツマーケティングの事例
(rickstevesfriends.com、動画の利用)
・ウォーキングガイドのポッドキャストの事例
・戸倉上山田温泉の現在の商品の評価
・本人の戸倉上山田訪問の打ち合わせ

It just so happens that the headquarters of the leading European travel agency in America, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, is in a suburb of Seattle called Edmonds. Their IT manager, Brooks Burdick, was kind enough to meet with me and explain some of their promotions for Europe. I am hoping to get Brooks to come to Nagano, too.

Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door





温泉タウン戸倉上山田を世界へ: 旅行会社訪問 Selling Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada To the World: Visiting Travel Agents

2013.10.08: 活動 Activities

Sankei Seattle's office

米国西海岸視察で、現地の日本専門旅行会社に訪問したかった。一番のショックは私が住んでいたころの地元の日本系旅行会社の皆が無くなりました。代わりに、大手日本旅行会社HISやJTB,産経トラベル、IACEが主流となった。後はインターネット。
その四件に訪問したが、大半の客さんが日本人だそうです。でも、現地の人達はJRパスの買い求めで来る事がある。中国系の旅行会社にも。
取り敢えず、戸倉上山田の魅力や体験商品、松本城やスノーモンキーの結び方などPRしておきました。

During my biz trip to the US West Coast, I intended to visit as many travel agents as possible. My first shock was that the agents specializing in Japan that were around when I was living in Seattle had all disappeared. The major Japanese agents like JTB, HIS, IACE and Sankei Travel had replaced them. While they get a few local customers, especially ones coming to purchase a JR Rail Pass, most of their business is with Japanese living in the area. Apparently locals research everything on the internet.
I went ahead and explained about Togura-Kamiyamada, our various cultural activities, and how we are central to Matsumoto Castle and the Snow Monkeys.



HIS Seattle


温泉タウン戸倉上山田を世界へ:現地の声 Selling Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada to the World: Local Voices

2013.10.07: 活動 Activities

World Travelers Todd & Keiley

米国西海岸視察、一か所目が私の生まれ育ちのシアトル。
まずは、現地の声。
海外旅行の深い経験者の2人とランチミーティング。お二人は合わせて数十ヵ国に行っている。実は、弟のToddと大学の頃の友人Keiley。シアトルのパイクプレース市場にて。色んな国に行ける中で、なぜ日本?日本の中で、なぜ戸倉上山田?やはり、リアルな生活とのふれあいがポイント。尚且つ、この年代なら子供連れで楽しめるのが重要。
色々と参考になる話が出来、お二人に感謝!

1st Stop on my tour of the U.S. West Coast was my home town of Seattle. And the first thing I did was meet with two globe-trotting travelers for a lunch meeting in Pike Place Market. Actually the two were my li'l brother Todd and a friend from college, Keiley. Between them they've been to over 30 countries abroad. So how to get people like them to come to Japan? And within Japan, to Nagano? They talked a lot about wanting to get as close of a real experience as possible in their travels. And people their age are interested in activities that kids could also enjoy.
Thanks for all the great tips, Todd and Keiley!





温泉タウン戸倉上山田を世界へ 米国西海岸出張 Selling Onsen-Town Togura-Kamiyamada to the World: Biz Trip to US West Coast

2013.10.06: 活動 Activities

この戸倉上山田温泉は日本経済産業省から支援を頂いて、温泉タウンを海外に売り込む「クールジャパン」事業を行っています。その一部は海外のどこかへ視察する出張が必要でした。私が申請した者で、私が一番なじみの深い、尚且つ戸倉上山田に興味がありそうアメリカ西海岸を選びました。10月の上旬にシアトル・サンフランシスコ・ロサンゼルスに行ってきました!
現地からの写真を提供したいと思います。

Togura Kamiyamada Onsen won a "Cool Japan" grant from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to promote our onsen town overseas. Part of the program included taking an exploratory trip abroad. Since I was the one who applied for the grant, I got to decide where: the U.S. West Coast. So at the beginning of October, I flew to Seattle, San Francisco and L.A.
Following are some pic's from the trip.

温泉タウン戸倉上山田「クールジャパン」





朝ヨガ@戸倉上山田温泉 Morning Yoga at Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen

2013.10.05: 温泉タウン戸倉上山田 Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

「温泉」って寛いで、良いお湯に入って、美味しいお料理を食べて、ゆっくりリラックスして…朝ヨガ?!

2013年10月の毎週土曜日と日曜日の朝6:30から、カラコロ足湯の公園で朝ヨガが行われます。

私も頑張って、初日に参加しました。生まれてから初めてのヨガ。先生を真似しながら、その綺麗な朝の空気を吸って体を伸ばしたりして、朝から良い気分になりました。

温泉で朝ヨガはありやなと思いました。

旅館青年部仲間の荻原館の健太君がこの事業を計画してくれました。感謝感謝!

An onsen is a place to relax, soak in the hot springs, indulge in some gourmet food, and overall forget the hectic pace of one's normal, stressful life. Add to that ... Morning Yoga!

Every Saturday and Sunday morning at 6:30am during the month of October, 2013, morning yoga sessions will be held in the main park in the center of our onsen town, Togura-Kamiyamada.

I tried it myself (my first time for yoga in my life ) on the first day, and came away blissfully relaxed. What a great way to start a day!





Cool Japan: Geisha Show at Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

2013.10.02: その他 Miscellaneous

Togura-Kamiyamada has historically been the onsen resort town that people stay at after a pilgrimage to the Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City. Guests come to soak in the onsen baths and throw a big banquet, call in some geisha and have an exciting night before returning to their normal lives. Today, various organizations that hold their banquets here have the geisha come to liven things up. Normally the geisha come for a minimum of 2 hours with most of the time spent chitchatting and pouring drinks for the guests. With this 30-minute Geisha Show, the geisha will perform some songs such as our area's traditional love song Kamiyamada Ko-uta, teach the group how to dance to the 'Tanko-bushi' (Coal-Miner) or similar song and have the guests join in dancing around the room. Then the geisha will challenge everyone to Konpira Funafuna or other geisha parlor games, followed by time for pictures with the geisha.





クールジャパン: 着物着付けwith戸倉上山田温泉芸妓さん達 Cool Japan: Kimono Wearing with the Togura Kamiyamada Geisha

2013.10.01: その他 Miscellaneous

戸倉上山田の温泉街を「クールジャパン」として海外に紹介する事業が始まりました。その中で芸者さん達と話し合ってみた結果: 着物着付けwith戸倉上山田温泉芸寮組合

芸者さん達とお話ししたら、着物はとにかく沢山ある!そして、皆さんがその着物文化に誇りを持っていて、海外の皆様にも提供したいと。
この着物着付け体験と言う商品が生まれました!

この間はモデルのJさんがボランティアーしてくれて、テスト的に着物着付けを行いました。アメリカから来たJさんは着物に憧れて、実者の芸妓さん達三人係りで豪華の着物を着て、夢の様だったと本人が仰った。
これからはどんどんと戸倉上山田温泉のクールを磨いて、海外に売り込みます!

New Activity for onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada: Kimono Wearing by the Geisha.

Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada is proud of its geisha heritage. Today there are around 20 active geisha that provide dancing and musical entertainment for guests at banquets at the many onsen inns and hotels. One thing the geisha often mention is the pride they have in the kimonos that they wear, and love sharing the experience of wearing their elegant kimonos with guests. You, too, can try on a real-life geisha kimono with assistance by actual geisha.

Many locations in Japan offer kimono-wearing experiences, but Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen is likely the only place where you can try on an actual geisha kimono with real geisha assisting. The intricate layering, wearing the 'katsura' wig, the decorative tying of the obi ... the whole process will amaze you and interacting with the geisha each step of the way is certain to be a memorably joy. At the end, the geisha will help you strike a captivating pose for a once-in-a-lifetime picture.