越後湯沢拠点旅 四季にわたって楽しむ湯沢エリア＜導入＞/ Enjoying Echigo Yuzawa through a year＜Introduction>
「越後湯沢」って何？
越後湯沢を拠点とした旅について、これまでもいくつか紹介してきました。しかしそもそも「越後湯沢」とはどういった場所なのでしょうか。
地理的には東京から約200㎞、ちょうど日本海側の新潟に向けた経路の真ん中辺りに位置しています。また目の前には峻険な谷川岳がそびえ、冬季に日本海側からやってくる湿った雲はこの山脈にぶつかって大量の雪を降らせるため、越後湯沢は日本有数の豪雪地帯として知られています。この地の利を活かして湯沢町にはスキー場が12か所も存在し、ひとつの市町村に存在するスキー場の数としては日本最多を誇っています。
歴史的には、日本海から江戸に抜ける交易路の重要な拠点として栄え、名前通りに豊かに湧き出る温泉が街道を行き来する商人を古くから癒してきた場所でした。日本人で初めてノーベル文学賞を受賞した川端康成の代表作『雪国』は湯沢を舞台として描かれ、小説が書かれた老舗旅館の『高半』は現在でも温泉街の外れの高台で営業を続けており、小説が書かれた部屋がそのまま保存されています。下に掲げたのは湯沢町を2016年度に訪れた観光客の旅行目的別の分類です（出所は湯沢町の観光統計）。スキーが年間旅行客の半分以上を占めており、スキーと温泉を合計すると全体の84％以上になります。
What is Echigo Yuzawa？
I have introduced journeys based from Echigo Yuzawa on this Blog. What is on the earth the place of Echigo Yuzawa?
Geographically speaking, Echigo Yuzawa is 200km away from central Tokyo and it is the southern end of Niigata prefecture and Echigo Yuzawa is the mid-point between Tokyo and Niigata city. On the south of Echigo Yuzawa is very steep mountains of Tanigawa-dake. This mountain range stops moist clouds from Japan sea during winter time and it makes nationally known Echigo Yuzawa as heavy snow area. Yuzawa town has 12 ski resorts in such a small area.
Historically speaking, this place was known as important base point of commercial road between Japan sea and Edo (old calling of Tokyo). And just as it is called, Yuzawa entertained tourists with its wealthy hot springs (Yuzawa means Valley of hot springs). Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese Nobel Literature Prize winner, wrote his representative work “Yukiguni (Snow country)” at this place. Japanese traditional style hotel “Takahan” is still preserving the room where the work was done. The chart below is the purpose breakdown of tourists to Yuzawa in FY2016 (April 2016-March 2017). Ski purpose tourists are accounted for 56.2% and Ski and Hot Spring are accounted for more than 84%.
(English texts continue to the latter half of the page)
湯沢町には負の遺産も
もちろん現在でも「スキーと温泉の町」としての越後湯沢は健在ですが、むしろ一部の人間の間では“バブルの負の遺産”としてのイメージも非常に強くなっているのではないかとも感じています。80年代後半のバブル経済の時代に東京から新幹線で1時間余りの越後湯沢にはリゾートマンションが雨後の筍のように建築されて、その数は58棟、約15,000室に及びます。建築当初は“東京都下湯沢村”と呼ばれてスキー客を中心ににぎわいましたが90年以降のバブル崩壊によって投資収益を狙ってマンションを購入した投機家の中にはその後経済的不振に陥った向きも少なくなく、多くのマンションがその後は“負動産”として
塩漬けになっている状況で、マンションの中にはほとんど“ゴーストマンション”化しているところも見られます。下のURLは湯沢町でリゾートマンションの売り買いを取り扱っている不動産業者のHPですが、大浴場やフィットネスジムを備えた豪華なマンションの部屋が文字通りの“捨て値”で売りに出ているのが見て取れます。
www.himawari.com/search/map_search.php?map_y01=%E6%B9%AF%E6%B2%A2&map_y02=%E5%B2%A9%E5%8E%9F&map_y03=%E4%B8%AD%E9%87%8C&map_y04=%E7%A5%9E%E7%AB%8B&map_y05=%E7%9F%B3%E6%89%93&map_y06=%E8%88%9E%E5%AD%90&map_y07=%E8%8B%97%E5%A0%B4&map_y08=%E6%B0%B4%E4%B8%8A&map_y09=%E6%9C%88%E5%A4%9C%E9%87%8E&price_b=&price_t=&menseki=0&maxrow=1000&submit=%E7%89%A9%E4%BB%B6%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2
湯沢町の真の姿は？－豊かな水が形作る日本の四季
バブルに踊ってリゾートマンションを建てまくって“負の遺産”のイメージを作ってしまったのは、しょせん人間の所業です。しかし豪雪に端を発し、豊かに湧き出る水が形作る日本の四季の移ろいは現在でもまったく変わることはありません。具体的には、雪解けとともに始まる満開の桜と鮮やかな新緑、清らかな小川で乱舞する蛍の姿、夏に獲れる日本でも有数の甘いスイカ、秋の訪れとともに味わう子持ち鮎の美味と紅葉の壮観、そして冬の豪雪とスキー、さらには清く美味しい水が育む日本一のブランド米と最高の日本酒。もちろん豊かな水は現在も観光客を魅了してやまない温泉も生み出しています。このように日本独特の美しい四季の移ろいが一つの地域で年を通してみられるところは非常に稀といえます。
こうした1年を通した湯沢の楽しみをこれからこのHP上で紹介していきたいと考えています。湯沢は決してスキーと温泉だけの町ではありません。また、今では一見すると“お荷物”でしかないようなリゾートマンションの活用まで含めて紹介できればと考えています。
What is Echigo Yuzawa？
I have introduced journeys based from Echigo Yuzawa on this Blog. What is on the earth the place of Echigo Yuzawa?
Geographically speaking, Echigo Yuzawa is 200km away from central Tokyo and it is the southern end of Niigata prefecture and Echigo Yuzawa is the mid-point between Tokyo and Niigata city. On the south of Echigo Yuzawa is very steep mountains of Tanigawa-dake. This mountain range stops moist clouds from Japan sea during winter time and it makes nationally known Echigo Yuzawa as heavy snow area. Yuzawa town has 12 ski resorts in such a small area.
Historically speaking, this place was known as important base point of commercial road between Japan sea and Edo (old calling of Tokyo). And just as it is called, Yuzawa entertained tourists with its wealthy hot springs (Yuzawa means Valley of hot springs). Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese Nobel Literature Prize winner, wrote his representative work “Yukiguni (Snow country)” at this place. Japanese traditional style hotel “Takahan” is still preserving the room where the work was done. The chart below is the purpose breakdown of tourists to Yuzawa in FY2016 (April 2016-March 2017). Ski purpose tourists are accounted for 56.2% and Ski and Hot Spring are accounted for more than 84%.
Yuzawa has “negative Legacy”, too
Echigo Yuzawa as “the town of Ski and Hot Spring” is still active. But on the other hand, the name Echigo Yuzawa reminds some people of impression of negative Legacy of Bubble economy (Japanese Bubble economy -Crazy heated economy in late 80s). Echigo Yuzawa is only 70minutes by Shinkansen from Tokyo. Geared by this geographical merit, so many Resort condominiums were constructed in this area, 58 buildings, around 15,000 rooms. In the beginning Yuzawa was called “Yuzawa village, Tokyo metropolitan region” and full of Ski tourists. However after the crash of Bubble in 90s, speculators who purchased condominiums aiming capital gains have fallen into serious conditions and most of them remain only as “cost making asset” and some of buildings look like “Haunted houses” now. The URL below is the site of real estate firm who trades resort condominiums in Yuzawa. You can observe that quite many number of condominiums are sold off at giveaway prices. For example 59㎡ flat just beside Ski site with luxas Hot spring Spa and swimming pool is sold at $900! I have not slipped my mind to add 3 more zeros, it is absolutey $900 (100,000 yen!
www.himawari.com/search/map_search.php?map_y01=%E6%B9%AF%E6%B2%A2&map_y02=%E5%B2%A9%E5%8E%9F&map_y03=%E4%B8%AD%E9%87%8C&map_y04=%E7%A5%9E%E7%AB%8B&map_y05=%E7%9F%B3%E6%89%93&map_y06=%E8%88%9E%E5%AD%90&map_y07=%E8%8B%97%E5%A0%B4&map_y08=%E6%B0%B4%E4%B8%8A&map_y09=%E6%9C%88%E5%A4%9C%E9%87%8E&price_b=&price_t=&menseki=0&maxrow=1000&submit=%E7%89%A9%E4%BB%B6%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2
What is true Yuzawa？－Fertile pure water makes rich scenes of Japanese four seasons
It is human doings who made negative Legacy through constructing devastating scale of resort condominiums inspired by Bubble illusion. However Japanese natural passage of four seasons with rich pure water generated by heavy snow has not changed. Apparently you see full blooming of cherry blossoms and young green leaves in spring, in summer you see dances of fire flies on pure and clean creeks and you tastes well-known sweet watermelons, you tastes Ayu (Japanese original species of trout) and brilliant autumn color of leaves, and then you enjoy Ski in heavy snow in winter. Off course you have Japan’s best Rice and Sake which was polished by pure and tasty water. And water turns into Hot Spring which gives healing to all tourists. Yuzawa is very rare place where you can see passage of typical Japanese seasons through a year.