Waterfall revisited

Ardent readers will remember our summer guests going bonkers at the nearby waterfall. We revisited the place this weekend.

Leaves are already past prime

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A steep rock face lines the path; it takes about 10 minutes to walk up.

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I will come back to see it frozen.

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Falcon Attack

Wildlife is nice. As long as it behaves reasonable. Unfortunately one inconsiderate specimen - and honestly speaking a rather foolish one - decided he doesn't like our house.
While Hiro-san worked nearby, a sudden bang as loud as a gunshot made him duck. He found that a falcon broke our kitchen window...

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After ejecting this juvenile delinquent, he fixed the window provisionally until its replaced, and cleared up the debris.

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Exploring the Nakasendo

The Nakasendo is one of the main roads of old Japan. Those of you who have looked us up on the map, may have noticed that Arisaka is very close to this road. Just driving about 15 minutes down the road, you can find a village with many old houses from that era.

This building used to be a Ryokan for special guests who travelled the Nakasendo. Daimyo (local nobles) has to travel to Edo every few years to show their loyalty. On their way they staid in this nicely restored house.

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Another restored house nearby harbours a country side restaurant: Kaa-san's.

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We enjoyed tasty and fresh Inaka-soba, together with sansei forest vegetables.

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This lady runs the place:

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Travelling a bit higher we found snow left over. The ski-season starts only end of December, but the road already required winter tires further up.

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Retro Style Music

Our living room provides an excellent space for listening to music. But most amplifier and sound systems have a rather clinical and cold digital sound. We have now installed a Hifi set that will satisfy even distinguishing guests with wonderful warm analogue sound:

Analogue valve type amplifier - It takes a few seconds until the valves heat up, and glow. The reward of patience is a fantastic sound with volume and depth.

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Second, a turntable to play vinyl records. The analogue nature of these recordings create a much more accurate reproduction of the original recording than modern CD players can do. This machine, despite being built in 1980, can effortlessly compete with modern equipment !

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Financial Times prints Patrick's Comment on Carbon

The Financial Times recently quoted an investment Manager who criticised the usefulness of voluntary Carbon Emission disclosure by companies. Because I don not agree with this view, I am glad that the FT printed my letter (on Tuesday November 25) responding to this statement.



The text is as follows:

Carbon units and company value

Published: November 25 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 25 2008 02:00

From Mr Patrick Niessen.

Sir, I was interested to read two contributions on the usefulness of carbon reporting in your November 17 edition. James Murdoch pleaded for a mandatory disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions (“Carbon disclosure should be mandatory by 2010”), and Rory Sullivan was quoted as criticising such disclosure for being irrelevant to investors (“SRI veteran questions ‘spurious’ data”).

Of course Mr Sullivan has a point: GHG emission estimates for a company can vary strongly depending on who prepares the data, which method of estimation is used and where organisational boundaries are drawn.

Voluntary disclosures of companies may tend to err on the side of self-interest, and critical examination and adjustment is required before the data can be used (corresponding to how most information provided by a company should be treated). On the other hand he is wrong on two counts.

First, even voluntary reporting can have comparison value: progress over time can be observed even with a bias (if the estimation method remains the same), and an approximate grasp of scale can be gained. Second, reporting standards do exist, and third parties are available to verify and certify these standards (admittedly they could be improved).

GHG figures may be poor indicators of future investment performance, but on the other hand they are good indicators of a company’s environmental performance and the sustainability of its business model. For instance, how many cars can each consumer own at the same time? Can car sales growth be sustained forever?

Carbon accounting will eventually have a strong impact on a company’s value, when legislation forces accurate measurement, introduces taxes on emissions and requires all agents in the economy to pay for their contribution to global warming in one way or another. I agree with Mr Murdoch that mandatory disclosure is necessary, but would go even further in that the entire life cycle of a product must be considered.

To take the guesswork out of the emission counting, perhaps we will one day see carbon units printed on our purchase receipts. At that time companies will need to treat such receipts with the same care as normal expense receipts, and keep them on file to allow detailed audits to confirm disclosures.

Patrick Niessen,
Tokyo, Japan

Local Tourist Association

We are now also listed on the page of the local Tourist association. This page is also useful to find out what's going on in the area, and what kind of sights and restaurants exist.

Nagawa Tourist Association(http://www.nagawa.info)

Going up to the Ski area and the lake, it gets very touristy, and it will be difficult to meet true locals. On the other hand, there may be some good restaurants, although I cannot recommend any yet...

Event updates Takeshi

Takeshi is another village near our house. Actually you can walk there easily, but from an administrative viewpoint, they belong to Ueda City, where Arisaka belongs to Nagawamachi.

Information of Takeshi area

11/15-16
新そば祭り　武石観光センター　10:00-15:00 new Soba festival
もりそば、かけそば　各500円
もち　つきたて即売
http://www.unkeiso.com/center.html

12/22
番所ヶ原スキー場　オープン Open of Banshogahara ski area
当日(22日)リフト無料 free ski lift, only 12/22
スノーボード滑走可能スキー場
http://www.unkeiso.com/ski.html

うつくしの湯　営業時間10:00-21:15 Utsukusino-yu
12/30 休業　close
12/31 営業 open 翌2:00amまで　年越しそば販売
09/1/1-1/3も営業 open
http://www.unkeiso.com/utsukushi.html

hiroyuki yanagisawa

Inakahome director featured on Staralliance

Inakahome director Tomohisa Miyauchi is currently featured as a "young and dynamic entrepreneur" in a documentary recorded for Staralliance. If you remember, it was already mentioned in an earlier post here. The program is called "A Meeting of Minds" and follows Tomo and two other young entrepreneurs as they "meet with famous international business leaders and find out what it truly takes to go global".

You can find the episodes on the star alliance website, on this special campaign page.

You can see our Arisaka House for a few seconds in the background.

Events around the House

Fresh from our event co-ordinator:

Updated Homepage, with Arisaka House Detail

Now that we accept bookings for Arisaka House in Nagano-ken (near Ueda), we took the opportunity to update our official homepage, and add more Detailed information about the house.

http://www.inakahome.com

Please feel free to explore Arisaka House from all angles:

Arisaka House

Hülsta Sleep fair special campaign

Inaka Home and hülsta have teamed up for the "Fresh Life, Every Day" campaign promoting healthy sleep. Visitors to the hülsta Tokyo showroom have the chance to win a week-end at Inaka Home and would be able to experience highest quality of sleep in the tranquillity of Nagano's beautiful country site. A special discount for hülsta customers is also provided by Inaka Home.

As you may know from earlier posts, our Arisaka House's living/dining and bed-rooms are furnished by hülsta.

Please check out the company's homepage for details of the campaign:

www.hulsta.co.jp

Kitchen fine-tuning

Last week's guests already enjoyed the fully equipped kitchen, to produce French / Asian fusion cuisine. This weekend I optimised the usability for future guests by adding rails, and storage options.

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The kitchen is not just great to cook, or have a small snack in - it also look fantastic from the outside! The neighbours have peeked in and envy our excellent facilities ever since.

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Tsukimi - Watching the Moon

The full moon gave a wonderful illumination of Arisaka house. No need to say more than that.

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Waste Management

Partys are fun, but sifting through other people's garbage is not as enjoyable as it sounds - its worse.

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Arisaka operates a strict waste management system, in order to maximise the recycling of refuse. To help reduce your ecological foot-print, please contribute your share when visiting us by separating the garbage.

We have a guide at the house that explains the different categories, so it should not be too difficult to do your share.

Inspection of previous week's work

After our last work weekend I was keen to see how everything came together.

First of all, I was very happy with the way the mud walls dried, and their nice natural appearance.

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This light sculpture was added by Tomo, who stayed one day longer than us. It is a truly unique piece of art.

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This place is definitively ready to use.

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The main lights in the bed room are also wonderful, and cast a comfortable glow on the bed and walls.

Putting the kitchen to use

I had a bunch of business to sort out in Arisaka, but one main objective was to unpack all the shiny new kitchen gear that was delivered this weekend. As a hobby cook I enjoyed buying al my dream gear, but of course I am sad I cannot have such nice equipment in my Tokyo home (its too small).

Most of the gear unpacked, washed and ready to cook:

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I could not resist the temptation and invited the Yanagisawa family over for lunch. On the menu - Spaghetti Bolognese (admittedly a simple meal but tasty nevertheless).

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Good food is a function of the chef's ability, and the quality of the ingredients. Fortunately thanks to the wonderful fruit and vegetables available in the village the taste was exquisite!

Fresh freeland organic Tomatoes harvested (probably) the same day:

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Big Pots! Can cook for many people!

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My idea of good bolognese is that its not like making a sauce, but more like cooking a jam. The more time available the better, so cooking tomatoes and meat for 1-2 hours would be perfect. However, we were starving, so opted for about 20 minutes - enough to evaporate a bit of the wine (purchased in the small liquor store in Tateiwa).

I was very please - my guests all had seconds, and there was nothing leftover!

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Visiting Arisaka House by Bicycle

After the Taifun passed, at last a sunny was forecasted, and I was keen to ride my bike. So I rode down to Ueno station, packed the bike into the obligatory "bike-bag", and took the Asama shinkansen to Ueda.

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Patrick of Team Gerolsteiner - ready to roll!

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The route was pretty straight forward. However, instead of the busy 141 for the initial traverse to the east, I stayed near the river to avoid traffic. It was really easy to navigate and the ascent was extremely slow and easy. From Maruko onwards, the road was not in good condition - on my racing bike I could feel every single pock mark and imperfection on the surface.

Ueda to Arisaka House (inakahome)

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Although initially overcast, the weather turned out really pleasant and sunny around lunch time.

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Cosmos was blooming all over the place, contrasting wonderfully with the rice, whose still wet heads hang down heavily, with harvest only days away.

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Finally the house.

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Despite the slight uphill route and a head wind for the initial escape from Ueda, I reached the house only 35 minutes and 17 km later. I am looking forward to spend a long weekend here with my cycling buddy. Using the house as a base, we can explore the mountain passes to the south, west, and east and return to a pleasant house with peace and quite for recovery.

WARNING: Country roads are not well lit at night - if at all. If you travel after sunset, please ensure you have plenty of lighting (front and back)+ reflectors, so that cars can see you, and maybe even take an extra flood light to see the road in front of you. I put on a Climber's headlight on my forehead, and that worked pretty well. While cycling during daytime, there are many alternative routes that may be more scenic. In any case, I STRONGLY advise to stay on the route described here after dark, in the interest of your safety !!

End of Summer Events in Arisaka

I just talked about reservations - why not send out a mail straight away to us, fix a date and take part in one of those great countryside events.Our local expert Yanagisawa-san notifies us of the following:

2008 Sept 21Flea market in Nagawa フリーマーケット
at MichinoEki 8:00-15:00　道の駅　

2008 Sept 28 Megamiko festival　女神湖感謝祭
At Megami-lake open space front of center , starting from 10:00am. Bring your chopsticks. 箸持参のこと。
You can eat Tatesina's pork and soup of kind of mushroom, Trout, .cher, etc. Free of charge.
http://shirakabakogen.jp/event/kansyasai.pdf

Reservations

Did I mention we accept reservation for stay and events? Thomas and I are right now working on a super-duper online reservation system, but unfortunately its not finished yet. Until then, please send e-mail "reservations at inakahome dot com" (replacing the "at" with "@" and the "dot" with ". "). Let us know your preferred period of stay, and we will let you know availability and price.

Final Sprint

Even though the house is essentially ready, and usable for guests, Tomo and PeterA came up with Victor and me to put a strong effort into fixing some "cosmetic" outstanding items. Even though cosmetic, they were no less hard and tiresome: I applied a finishing layer of mud plaster to the remaining wall panels. Some of them still had the first "scratch" layer of mud, and now needed a more beautiful finish. Some others consisted of the original blackened old mud cover, that was dirty and cracked.

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Tomo focused on detail work, such as staining wood parts with natural oil, and tackling other smaller jobs.

Peter and Victor kept me supplied with mud mixture.

This weekend was very special for us in the sense, that for the first time we were able to use the fully functioning designer kitchen. You can see Peter on dish wash duty.

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We also had great fun in the evening, when we took off to Ueda with Hiroyuki, our local service manager. Admittedly, we only had curry at the excellent Jaipur restaurant, but after a hard day's work, there is nothing like a proper Butter Chicken Curry!

Adobe wall with hidden secrets

This weekend saw the return of our eager volunteer Victor. If you think back to May this year, you may remember the episodes titled "Blue paint scrub" and "Mud bricks". In the latter, Victor helped us to make the mould for the mud bricks.

Now he was able to complete his work, by actually laying the bricks into their final location:



As you can see on this picture, a small section is laid out with solid mud bricks, to provide thermal mass in the centre of the room.

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Behind the bricks, a small cavity exists, and not wanting to simply waste the space, we decided to put it to a long term use: We use it as a time capsule. That is, we place things from our time into the cavity, so that future generations may get an idea of what it was like in our days. To accomplish this goal, we purchased a selection of contemporary Japanese magazines and newspapers.

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After quick handy work by Victor, the capsule was sealed until ...

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Shoji and - again - mud walls

Tomo spent the week at the house doing paper work, and checking the kitchen progress while his two kids collected insects and frogs. He also managed to use these exquisite artist's washi (=Japanese paper), for our Shoji.

This one is blue, but we have the other side in green.



He passed the baton on to me, and I went again at my normal occupation - the preparation, application and finishing of mud-walls (again!).

The weather was on Saturday, so I first created adobe bricks to fill the special heat storing wall segment. Last time I made a start on it, but ran out of material. So on Saturday I made 24 bricks, which was three 20kg bags of sand and an nearly same amount in volume of red earth. My back muscles bear witness to the magnitude of the task.



Later it started raining and kept doing so the whole Sunday. But fortunately the DIY market had the Silica sand in stock, that is key ingredient of the finish wall layer. Despite the rain and the absence of volunteer helpers, I mixed up with pulverised straw, clay, a lot of silica sand and worked from 06:00h till 16:00h nearly without break.

I managed to finish 5 panels on the western side (darker coloured patches), covering the cracked and smoke blackened original wall, as well as one of our new wall panels (not shown on photo). The quantities of sand and clay should be chosen such that the clay merely makes the sand sticky. The trowel, then pushes the sand over the wall, evening out bumps. The straw prevents cracking. With a helper, the remaining panels should be finish-able within one day.

Taking shape

The two bedrooms are now ready for action - I confirmed the excellent comfort myself .. but I nearly slept over. But with so much work remaining for the weekend, it was just something I could not afford.

Here the left room:



And the one on the right:


The Kitchen is is also nearing completion, and is scheduled to be operational end of next week.