My family was invited to attend a dinner party and stay for one night at a Japanese inn in Yuzawa. We arrived at the inn, Shosenkaku Kagetsu, a little before three o'clock in the afternoon, earlier than the kanji (organizer), and we were invited to take a rest in the lounge by the inn staff.
私たち家族は、湯沢にある旅館に招待され、宴会に出席し、そこに一晩泊まりました。午後３時ちょっと前、幹事さんより早く旅館（松泉閣 花月）に着いたので、旅館のスタッフの方のお計らいで、ラウンジで休ませてもらいました。
おしぼりと、
和菓子と、
抹茶を頂きました。
We were then introduced to our room. The other guests showed up, and we all took a bath before the dinner party began at 18:00.
Corridor leading to the main bathhouse.
それから、部屋に案内されました。他の招待客も来て、宴会が18:00に始まる前に、みな風呂に入りました。
大浴場に続く廊下。
Banquet room
宴会場
もちろん、カラオケの機械も。
全部で10人分の食事。
I sat on the seat designated by the organizer.
幹事さん指定の席に座りました。
Five zensai (appetizers) on a single tray:
５つの前菜が一つのお盆に乗っています：
Hitashi (Ohitashi) refers to a dish made with boiled food (that is seasoned with soy sauce-based sauce)
Top right: Takigawa (lit. waterfall and river) tofu
Center: Small potato dressed with sunda (zunda?) (edamame paste)
Bottom left: Spaghetti squash kinpira
Bottom right: Steamed abalone dressed with yolk-and-vinegar sauce
左上： 紅ずわい蟹とかきのもとの浸し
右上： 滝川豆腐
中央： 小芋のすんだ（ずんだ？）和え
左下： 糸瓜のきんぴら
右下: 蒸鮑黄味（黄身？）酢掛け
Nabemono:
鍋物：
越後もち豚と白舞茸 清酒鍋
酢物（すのもの）：
Sorry, I don't know what "hakata" means.
八海山サーモンとチーズ豆腐の博多
すみませんが、「博多」とは何のことか分かりません。
Aperitif:
食前酒：
白こうじの上善
Jozen is the name of a locally produce sake, I suppose.
上善（じょうぜん）とは、地酒の名前だと思います。
Shiizakana (appetizer that goes well with sake)
強肴（しいざかな）：
鱸（スズキ）と夏野菜の辛味噌焼き
Suimono: Chawanmushi with suppon (soft-shelled turtle)
吸物（すいもの）： すっぽん茶碗蒸
造里（つくり）： 海の幸盛り合わせ
日本では、食事にはご飯はつきものです。 このような宴会では、ご飯は食事の最後に出されます。普通は、味噌汁も一緒に。
Mizu-gashi is literally watery confection, and some people use this term to mean a watery confection like yokan or jelly. This usage is considered wrong by many.
水菓子（果物）：
水菓子とは、文字通りには「水っぽいお菓子」で、羊羹やゼリーのような水分の多いお菓子を指すのに使う人もいますが、多くの人は、この使い方は間違いだと思っています。
Yairo is the name of the place in Minami Uonuma city where high-quality watermelons are produced.
八色（やいろ）西瓜の練乳ソース
八色とは、南魚沼市にある、高品質な西瓜が生産されている場所の名前です。
Hojicha (roasted green tea):
ほうじ茶：
Usually, a dinner party should end with such a mizu-gashi and some tea, but we had two special cakes, made especially for my father-in-law, who has turned 88, and my sister-in-law, who has turned 60.
After the dinner, we all enjoyed karaoke.
普通なら、宴会は水菓子とお茶で終わるのでしょうが、私たちは、米寿（べいじゅ）を迎えた義父と還暦（かんれき）を迎えた義理の姉のために作られた特別な２つのケーキを食べました。
夕飯の後は、みなカラオケで楽しみました。
***
The next morning:
翌日の朝：
私は午前６時頃起きました。他の人達と同様、朝食前に朝風呂に入りました。
この旅館では、早朝、ユニークなサービスを行っています。
Help yourself to the miso soup.
味噌汁を自由に飲めます。
We had breakfast at the banquet room.
宴会場で朝食を食べました。
温泉たまご：
自家製豆腐：
こんにゃく
辛く味付けしたマイタケ
商品名は忘れました。
Rice and miso soup
ご飯とみそ汁
味噌汁には、お麩と長ネギが入っていました。
We were also served this big bowl, which contained
この大きな椀も出ました。その中には、
のっぺ汁（新潟の一部の地域で人気のある汁）が入っていました。
Needless to say, we all had a wonderful time together at the inn.
言うまでもありませんが、この旅館で一緒に楽しい時を過ごしました。
13 comments:
Wow, this looks delicious and amazing! What a wonderful dinner and stay! :)
Yangsze: Thank you! We all enjoyed the dinner, stay, and breakfast, and above all, taking a bath in the big bathroom.
This looks like an amazing experience! Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos so I can live vicariously through them.
muskratbyte: What I didn't mentioned in the post was playing games and cards together until late after singing lots of songs with the maraoke machine. I will remember the dinner and the stay for a long time. I hope I can hold a similar party when my father turns 88 next year.
Obviously not maraoke but karaoke!
What a wonderful trip! A nice way to end the summer.
Yubun: Yes, and a good (and extravagant) way to celebrate someone's birthday.
Thanks for sharing your pictures and experience at a Japanese banquet. Sure is a wonderful way to celebrate birthdays. The dinner and breakfast look amazing.
日本旅館の朝食が大好き！自家製豆腐は美味しそう、食べたいんですね！
okasan: We hope to be able to hold a similar party for my father-in-law's sotsuju (卒寿), 90th anniversary, in two years from now.
自家製豆腐は、美味しかったですが、豆乳とにがりがあれば、いつでも作れますよ。
私はあまり料理が得意じゃない!笑！
義父の卒寿の投稿楽しみにしています。
Thank you for sharing this experience which for a European, like me, is particularly exotic and unusual. It reminds me what a Japanese friend told me: Japanese traditional food is particularly light while European traditional food is horribly heavy and/or fatty most of the time...
I wish I were invited to such an event (though I'm not sure how much time I'd be able to stay on the floor before fainting ;-) )
Sissi: You don't have to be invited to such an event to have dinner and stay at a Japanese inn. All you have to do is to make a reservation at a Japanese inn of your choice. Don't forget to enjoy a morning bath before breakfast! (laugh)
If only my husband liked the idea of a Japanese inn... Maybe one day I'll convince him.
Actually, you might be surprised but I take a quick bath every morning, so for me it'd be more than natural to take it in such a beautiful traditional place! The best way to wake up in a delicate peaceful way... Showers are reserved for hot summer afternoons or/and evenings only. Of course European style and it's nothing compared to onsen ;-) (Unless I'm on a trip because I don't like using hotel bath tubs).
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