I'm Watanabe, the Sales Manager of Toshimaya Tsukihama No Yu.
This ryokan has a long history.
The business has been operating for 113 years.
The current CEO is the 5th generation and currently the 6th generation is taking over.
Here is the CEO and the okami-san (Chief Female Manager).
This is the previous generation, my grandfather and grandmother.
My grandmother passed away, but my grandfather is still living
and this year he turned 99 years old.
- 99 years old! - 99 years old!
He walks on his own.
Your seat is to the right.
Where should I look? Is here OK?
Sorry to interrupt you.
Originally it was a travel lodge, but there's been various changes.
It was a tobacco shop, and then after a specialty shop.
And to tell you the truth, it was a convenient store in the Showa 40's (mid 60's).
In Showa 6 (1931), the hot springs started to flow.
We have the culture of taking a long bath to relax.
One of the ways to relieve your fatigue is going into a big onsen,
taking your time, loosening up, spreading your legs out, soaking your entire body...
Since a long time ago, this has been a way to relieve your tension.
For Japanese, a lot of people think onsen equals the reason for a trip.
Myself, I love onsens, and our guests say they come here for the onsen experience.
Welcome.
Please follow me.
Here you are.
Welcome to Toshimaya Tsukihama No Yu. Thank you very much.
Please excuse me.
We catch a lot of this flounder in Northern Ibaraki.
This is today's assorted sashimi. There are 2 big ports in this area: Otsuko and Hirakata...
Okay, there you go, good.
Yep.
Shaking it.... good!
Oh it's smoking up my thing (lens).
Guess it's not a bad thing.
So I often hear from my guests that they talk to each other, asking where they're from and why they came.
Onsens are a place of communication where we Japanese like talking to each other,
having fun, and relaxing in big baths.
[Lots of people talking over one another]
And then you mix it.
Kind of hard to mix it all.
Yeah.
When my grandparents were running the business,
those truck drivers who drove on this route #6
would for sure stop at our 24 hour drive-in.
So it's around this time, this time.
I heard my grandfather and grandmother worked without sleeping.
When I was in elementary school I watched my grandfather and grandmother work hard
from dawn until dask.
I'm the eldest son in the family,
so I was told by my grandmother Iso, the one who passed away,
this grandmother.
Since I was little, she'd repeatedly say, "You'll take over this business."
I was being brainwashed.
So I believed that's what I would do.
So now I tell my son, "When you grow up, you'll work together with your Daddy."
I say that all the time.