亀清旅館の客間「松風」の庭にこの橙色の花が咲いています。撫子の仲間だそうです。今週末からちょうどなでしこジャパン、日本の女子サッカーチームがロンドン五輪に参加する予定、亀清旅館の庭もエールを送っています！
Currently in the garden of Kamesei's "Matsukaze" guestoom, this little orange flower is blooming. It is related to 'Nadeshiko' (Dianthus superbus L. var. longicalycinus, commonly known as "Fringed Pink").
Japan's women's soccer team is nicknamed 'Nadeshiko', named after this flower. With the team in London for the summer Olympics starting this weekend, our flower is blooming just in time!
Nishizawa-san and I in Tokyo
戸倉上山田温泉旅館組合は当温泉の新しい企画の宣伝の為に東京へ行ってきました。今回は旅館ホテル１０社が５班に分けて、旅行会社と業界のメディア―を回りました。
我が亀清旅館は小さくて、旅行会社と契約はないため、私がメディア―の方を担当しました。初めてリーダーに任せてもらって、小石の湯の西澤社長と４件にお邪魔しました。
写真は旬刊旅行新聞に行ったときです。（古沢さん、有難うございました！）
何とか戸倉上山田の認識度アップを目指して、頑張っています！
10 members (including me) of the Togura Kamiyamada Ryokan Association took the Shinkansen into Tokyo for a whirlwind sales trip. We split up into 5 groups and visited travel agents and industry-related media outlets. As our inn, Kamesei, is too small to be contracted with a travel agent, I got to go on the media visitations part.
This picture is from when fellow innkeeper Nishizawa-san and I visited The Ryoko Shimbun office. (Special thanks to Furusawasa-san for the picture)
Hopefully our efforts to spread the word about our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada will pay off.
Great article on the Nagano Inbound Conference. Pictured in the article is the Expedia.com table.
先月に松本で開催した長野県旅館組合インバウンド商談会が７月２１日号の旬刊旅行新聞に取り上がりました。記者の飯塚さんの記事内容は素晴らしいし、写真２枚も付くてくれました。
今回の企画ではインバウンド送客１５社を招いて、長野県のホテル・旅館経営者・予約担当約７０人が集まりました。なかなか珍しい企画だった（全国では事例がないぐらい）のでその意味で旅行新聞が来てくれて、嬉しかった。
商談会の前に私の「欧米人の求めているおもてなし」の講演がありました。飯塚さんは講演内容もきちんと書いてくれました。良くお聞きになっていました！
こうやって長野県の旅館活動が広めて、嬉しいです。
Last months Inbound seminar and trade conference that I put on in Matsumoto last month got featured in this week's edition of the Ryoko Shimbun trade newspaper. The Nagano Ryokan Association's Inbound Committee sponsored the event where we invited 15 organizations that work to send foreigners to Japan. Approximately 70 ryokan and hotel owners / reservation staff members attended and met with the various organizations to get an explanation of their operations. We also allowed time for one-on-one consultation where some inns entered into new contracts right then and there.
The reporter for the Ryoko Shimbun aptly described the conference and added a couple of color pictures to the article, too. Before the conference there was a keynote speech by, Yours Truly, on what Westerners expect when they come to Japan. Iizuka-san covered the main points of that speech in her article, too.
I am glad Nagano's ryokan association efforts on inbound are getting this publicity!
亀清旅館の新しい貸切露天「しなの風呂」の庭に様々な花と植物、木が植えてあって、何が何かわかる様に庭師の岡田さんが花マップを作ってくれました。今度は夏・秋バージョンが出来た。
このマップのお蔭でどの花が咲いているか分かる。例えば、今はちょうど紫の花の植物は２つが咲いている:
タムラソウ と アサマフウロ
どうぞ、亀清旅館の新しい貸切露天「しなの風呂」と庭を楽しんでください。
Kamesei Ryokan's new private onsen bath "Shinano-buro" has a garden that features a wide variety of flowering plants and trees. Our gardener, Okada-san, made a flower map of the garden so our guests can keep track of what flowers when.
The Summer / Fall version just arrived, and just in time. Two plants with purple flowers are in bloom now:
Serratula coronata var. insularis
and
Geraniumu soboliferum
So come and enjoy Kamesei's brand new outdoor bath and its colorful garden this summer.
Geraniumu soboliferum
serratula coronata
Current Iiyama Station with the new bullet train station being built in the background
長野新幹線が金沢まで伸びる中で、長野駅の次は飯山市に駅が出来る。
新幹線の駅が出来ると、
海外の旅行者が増えるだろう。
皆さんは何を求めるか？
との事で、飯山の信用金庫に呼ばれて、講演会に参加してきました。
飯山市は新幹線の開通に向かって真剣だ。私も応援しています。
しかし、半年ぶりに飯山に行き美したが、新しい駅の工事が進んでいて、吃驚しました。
これからの飯山市はどう変わるか、楽しみです。
The Nagano Shinkansen (bullet train) is being extended to Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu (the main island). The station after Nagano Station will be in Iiyama City.
Iiyama anticipates an influx of foreign tourists with the opening of the shinkansen station. People there are concerned about how to best welcome the visitors from overseas.
One of the local banks their held a conference and called me in to give a speech on what Westerners expect when they come to Japan.
It was my first time to Iiyama in half a year. I was surprised to see how far along the new station's construction is.
It will be fun to see how Iiyama changes over the next few years.
Hydrangeas lining the way to Chishiki-ji Temple's Thatched-Roof Historical main building
戸倉上山田温泉から車で５分、自転車で約１５分に智識寺がある。６月～７月にお寺の参道のアジサイが綺麗に咲いて、「あじさい寺」と言う別名。
今年は智識寺のアジサイは特に綺麗やって気がする。近場に行ったので行ってみたら、写真の様に紫陽花が並べて、彩に咲いていました。
その時に住職が挨拶してくれた。去年の４月から来ていて、若手の住職です。彼が来るまでは無人寺だったので国の重要文化財である秘仏、十一面観音の御開帳は年に一度だけだった。今は声をかければ、本堂を開けてくれるそうです。
本堂こそ、創建は1573年で国の重要文化財に指定されているそうです。茅葺屋根の建物で立派です。初夏の紫陽花の花と似合う。敷地内の木は秋になると赤や黄色に咲くのでそれはまた茅葺屋根の本堂と綺麗な合わせになる。
5 minutes by car or approximately 15 minutes by bicycle from our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada is the venerable Chishiki-ji Temple. It is also known as "Ajisai-dera", or 'hydrangea temple', due to the beautiful hydrangea plants that line the temple's main path.
Since I was in the area, I stopped by to check out the hydrangea flowers. This year the flowers seem to be especially colorful and abundant. I also got to meet the head monk. He's a young chap (not sure, but not even 30 years old?), and just moved to Chishiki-ji last year. Until then, the temple was un-manned, and its sacred image, an 11-faced goddess statue (a designated National Cultural Treasure) was only displayed once a year. Now, just knock at the office and if the monk is there, he will gladly show you the statue.
The temple's main building is also a registered National Cultural Treasure. The thatched roof building was built in 1573. Its magnificent wood construction and timeless beauty of the thatched roof contrast so beautifully with the colorful hydrangea blossoms. And again in the fall, the contrast with the autumn leaves is striking, too.
Tiger Lily gift from nature
亀清旅館の露天「１００年風呂」の庭にこんなに綺麗なユリが咲いています。庭師の岡田さんに聞いたら、小鬼百合だそうです。ただ、岡田さんが植えた花じゃないらしいです。雑木の庭の中で沢山の綺麗な植物があるけど、このユリは鳥が種を運んでくれたかな？
小鬼百合。自然なプレゼント。亀清のお風呂にお入りになる皆様はどうぞ、楽しんでください。
In the garden around Kamesei Ryokan's "100-Year Bath" outdoor onsen, this beautiful orange and black-spotted lily is blooming. According to our gardener Okada-san, it is a "Ko-oni Yuri", or "small ogre lily". The scientific name is Lilium leichtlinii Hook. f. var. tigrinum (Regel) Nichols. Perhaps in common English it could be called a tiger lily.
Okada-san planted so many beautiful trees and plants in the garden around the 100-Year bath, but he admitted that this lily wasn't one of them. Apparently a bird must have carried the seed here.
So our tiger lily is a gift from nature, for all of our guests here at Kamesei Ryokan to enjoy.
Lettuce and Pork 'nabe' hotpot is back for this summer
亀清旅館のChef武井の懐石料理で夏の人気あるお鍋：
高原野菜と信州ポークに特製梅ソース
菅平のレタスがまた出始まりましたので、その人気の夏鍋が戻ってきました。
しゃきしゃきしている菅平の新鮮なレタスの味と触感が最高です。ぜひ、食べてみてください。
Kamesei Ryokan's Chef Takei introduced a new summer hotpot to his kaiseki-style dinner last year: Nagano-raised pork with what we call 'Highland Veggies' -- greens raised in Suga-daira and other high-altitude plateaus here in Nagano.
With Suga-daira's lettuce crop's harvest just starting, once again Chef Takei has started offering this special summer 'nabe' hotpot.
Crispy fresh lettuce and delicious local pork with a specially-made original 'ume' plum sauce. Come and taste our summer 'nabe' again!
Jalan-net rankings for our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada
私ども旅館経営者にとってはお客様からの口コミがうんと大事です。例えば、大手予約サイトじゃらんネットでの口コミを見れば、改善すべきなところの把握が出来るし、満足度を測る事が出来る。まあ、じゃらんの口コミに注意を払い過ぎたら危険ですが、重要な参考になる。
自分の宿の満足度を見るのに大事だし、周りの宿と比較するのも重要。戸倉上山田温泉・千曲市では宿泊施設31件がじゃらんネットと登録しています。時々そのトップ宿を見て、総合、夕食、朝食、接客、掃除、お風呂、お部屋の比較する表を作る。ちょっと気になっていた事があって、また作ってみた。
亀清旅館は相変わらず上の順位になっていて、安心しました。特に、接客と夕食の点数が高い。お風呂とお部屋も少しずつ上がってきています。露天風呂造りや客室改造の影響が出ています。
今回、一番驚いたのは口コミの数。トップ13軒の口コミの数は合計６３５件でした。前回の時、２０１０年２月１７日には全部で１３９５件もあった。約半分まで減りました。これはFacebookと他のSNSの影響だと思われます。口コミは相手を知っているSNSにシフトしてきた。一般の口コミは相手が知らない;書いた人がアホかもしれない。Facebookの場合はクチコミを書いた人がアホがどうかは分かる。
宿泊の業界も変わって行きますね。
Guest reviews are a key part to an innkeeper's business. They give you indications on things that need to be improved and measure your guests' satisfaction level. Here in Japan, leading reservation site, Jalan-net has a thorough Guest Reviews section that travelers and innkeepers alike use.
Not only is it important to monitor your own inn's reviews, but innkeepers should also compare their reviews to those of nearby inns. Jalan-net lists 31 properties for Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen and Chikuma City. From time to time, I make a chart listing the top inns and showing their overall score, dinner, breakfast, cleanliness, service, rooms, and onsen bath scores.
I was glad to see that Kamesei Ryokan once again came in at near the top in all of the categories. We got especially high marks in service and dinner.
The thing that surprised me the most with this year's tally was that the overall number of reviews has decreased dramatically: from 1,395 in February of 2010 to 635 now. That's almost half! More people are shifting their 'reviews' patterns to Facebook and other SNS venues. With a generic review, you don't know if the person writing it is an idiot or not. With Facebook, at least you know the person writing the review (and whether or not they are an idiot).
Our industry is a-changing!
Someday we'll have ping pong at Kamesei, too.
この間は家族とお出かけした所に卓球台があった。若女将と久しぶりに少しやってきた。楽しかった！（もちろん、勝たせました。）
そう言えば、温泉旅館の文化の中で、卓球もどこかで入っていますよね。浴衣のままで、懐石料理の夕食を食べてから、温泉に入る前に、ちょっと体を動かしたく、卓球がちょうどいい。
亀清旅館にもいつか卓球の部屋を作りたいと考えています。その内に出来るので、またお知らせします。お楽しみに。
On a recent outing with the family, the restaurant we ate at had a ping pong table. The wife and I played a match. That was the first time in a long while to play -- and we loved it! (Of course, I let her win.)
I seem to recall that ping pong often plays a role with onsen ryokans. Several inns we have stayed at in the past have had ping pong rooms. It's the perfect after-dinner activity, great for stretching your body after the gourmet dinner and before one last dip in the onsen bath -- and can be played wearing your yukata robe!
One day I want to make a ping pong room here at our inn, Kamesei Ryokan. I have just the room picked out for it. When I get it set up, come and play a game with me. Stay tuned!
