JAPAN and the WORLD Magazine APRIL ISSUE 2016 #Issue 15 | страница 53

TOURISM IN JAPAN
YAMAGATA
NAKATSUGAWA, YAMAGATA PREFECTURE
RETREAT 静養地で英気を養う
AND RECHARGE
WORDS: ADAM FULFORD
INTRODUCTION
You took a bullet train out of Tokyo
and now you’ve arrived at Akayu
Station in Yamagata on a Friday
afternoon in mid-December. A bus is
waiting for you, and you’re soon on
your way to your final destination:
the 300-person community of
Nakatsugawa in Iide-machi. The bus
journey takes about 45 minutes.
12月半ば、新幹線で東京を離れ、金曜の午
後に山形県の赤湯駅にたどり着いた。
これ
からしばらくバスに乗れば、人口300人の
コミュニティ、最終目的地の飯豊町の中津
川に到着だ。バスの旅は45分ほどだ。
I
t’s your third trip to Nakatsugawa this
year, and once again you’ll be spending
Saturday night at a farmhouse bed &
breakfast. When you first visited, in
late May, you stayed at a B&B run by a
woman who told fascinating stories about the
old days as you sat around an open hearth
and enjoyed an excellent meal featuring fresh
wild vegetables. The next morning you picked
some yourself, and ate them for lunch. On
your second trip, in late September, you stayed
at a farmhouse B&B that was even equipped
with an elevator, improving accessibility for a
visitor in a wheelchair. You learned about what
they grow in local greenhouses and saw where
Nakatsugawa maple syrup is made.
be getting together with some elderly residents
who graduated from the local school in 1956.
They should have some fascinating tales to tell.
It’s been an enjoyable journey along snowy
roads, and now you’re arriving at Hotel
Forest Iide. You’ll be staying here tonight. On
the main TV screen in the lobby, a photo of
everyone boarding the bus at Akayu Station is
already being displayed by the digital signage
system. What will come up after the photo? Ah,
information about where to go for the yoga and
zen tomorrow morning.
Look outside! The
lake has frozen
over. Stunning.
Look outside! The lake has frozen over.
Stunning. There’s a tempting bowl of mulled
wine over there, and also a bowl of something
else... A drink made from maple water and
ginger? Ah, you remember now: a British
participant proposed this at a product
development workshop in September.
Before you settle down for a drink and a chat,
you take your bag to your room. What’s in that
box on the bed...? The sake cups that you made
at the pottery workshop in May! Nakatsugawa
has special permission to make rough sake.
With these cups, you’ll be able to enjoy freshly
brewed Doburoku Nouveau in style!
There’s definitely something great about this
place, you think, as you walk downstairs to the
lobby. When you left Tokyo, you were exhausted,
but you already feel completely revived.
Thanks to a pottery workshop, forest walkshop,
and barbecue in May and then a straw-craft
workshop, park-golf tournament, and water
walkshop in September, you have made plenty
of new friends. In May, some of them showed
you how to plant rice the old-fashioned way;
in September, how to harvest rice the old-
fashioned way. Then everyone got together to
enjoy a meal featuring fresh mochi that you
yourself had helped to pound.
JAPAN AND THE WORLD MAGAZINE
今
年中津川を訪れるのはこれが3度
目だが、今回も土曜の夜に朝食付
きの農家民宿に泊まる。5月の終わ
りに初めてここに来て民宿を利用
した時には、民宿の女将さんが昔
のことを語るのを聞きながら、地元のおいしい山菜
料理を囲炉裏を囲んで楽しんだ。
その翌朝には自分
で実際に山菜を採りそれを昼食に頂いた。9月下旬
の2回目の旅では、車いすの人も利用できるように
エレベーターが導入された農家民宿に泊まった。
そ
の時は地元のグリーンハウスで何が作られているの
かを教えてもらい、
中津川のメープルシロップが作ら
れている場所を見学した。
5月の陶芸ワークショップ、森林散策ウォークショッ
プ、
バーベキュー、
そして9月のわら細工ワークショッ
プ、パークゴルフ大会、水のウォークショップのおか
げで、多くの人たちと知り合いになることができた。
この方々とは既に会話を楽しんだが、中には一緒に
仕事をした人たちもいる。5月には、昔はどのように
して米を収穫していたかを見せてもらった。9月には
昔ながらの米の収穫を見せてもらい、実際に自分で
ついた餅を使った食べ物を頂いた。
週末の予定を見直してみる。明朝はヨガをしてから
禅の瞑想だ。
今回の旅ではどんな新しいつながりができるのだろ
うか。明日の夜は地元の学校を1956年に卒業した
高齢者の方々と会うことになっている。かなり興味
深い話がきける筈だ。
You take another look at the schedule for
the weekend. Tomorrow morning you’ll be
starting the day with yoga followed by zen
meditation.
In what new ways will you engage with the
community this time? Tomorrow night you’ll
The mountain vegetables are delicious.
Typical farmhouse B&B fare.
美しい雪景色を見ながらの旅も良いが、
そろそろホ
テルフォレストいいでに到着だ。今夜の宿はここだ。
赤湯駅でバスに乗り込む私たちの姿を映した写真
が、デジタルサイネージシステムによって既にロビ
APRIL 2016 // 52