Kumamoto International Archive

Archive of the Kumamoto International Facebook group, 2011–present.

A note from the Tangentially Related to Kumamoto Desk: US Senator Tammy Duckworth has introduced a bill which would allow Senate members with children up to the age of one permission to accompany their child to session. The article notes her bill has received unusual wide bipartisan support. A tendency exists for American mores to trickle down to Japan. We'll soon see how the Kumamoto government reacts. - William
Tammy Duckworth Offers Resolution To Allow Newborns On Senate Floor
She recently became the first senator to give birth while in office.

The other day I saw an NHK program about increasing reliance in Japan on foreign workers. The show mentioned a web site so I checked it out:
https://www.nhk.or.jp/d-navi/izon/prologue.html
I was particularly interested, naturally, in the statistics about Kumamoto. The first map of Japan show that Kumamoto is one of a few prefectures in which the rise in foreign works has been over 30% since 2013. The brown graph provides the details, indicating that Kumamoto is ranked 6th with a 30.93 percent increase. The pink graph show that Kumamoto is also ranked 6th in terms of the percentage of the agricultural workforce that is made up of foreigners (11.99%).
The NHK website doesn't explain properly that most of these people are "trainees" (gino jisshusei; 技能実習生). The "trainee" system is controversial because Japan is essentially using it as a work around for its prohibition on manual labor. People come from Asian countries to do low-pay work, but that's OK, supposedly, because they are "trainees" not laborers. The gap between this fiction and the reality of the lives led by the trainees is quite problematic.
In 2009, a "trainee" murdered his "employers" in Kumamoto:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/11/10/national/murder-suicide-in-three-deaths/
In 2010, "trainees" won a lawsuit against their employers / abusers:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/01/30/news/foreigners-win-17-million-for-trainee-abuses/
Just today, an article was published about how the laws are being changed so that these foreign trainees/workers can train/work in Japan for a total of 10 years:
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201804180052.html
-- Kirk

From the Department of Being on Different Time Zone so Temporally Disconnected Desk (Merged with the Adjunct Professor Desk for obvious reasons): Kumanichi reports that an American helicopter has just made an emergency landing at Kumamoto airport. That is likely your news for today. - William, reporting from south San Jose

"Local government officials designated the deaths of 211 people as disaster-related. That's more than 4 times the 50 fatalities caused by the direct effects of the tremors, such as being trapped under collapsed buildings."
These NHK web videos don't last long, so if you're interested and have a moment, you should probably watch it now.
-- Kirk
Poor conditions led to more Kumamoto quake deaths- News - NHK WORLD - English
An NHK survey suggests that poor living conditions may have caused the deaths of nearly 100 people who survived devastating earthquakes in southwestern Japan 2 years ago.

For all you rugby fans or even novices gearing up for Kumamoto's spot in the World Cup, our friend Ruth Maruki Kai has provided this event announcement:
Interested in an early rugby taster this coming weekend?!
Well, head to Kitakyushu for the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. Tournament Location: Mikuni World Stadium behind Kokura Station
Date(s): April 21-22 🎽🚩
Teams are split into three pools:
A (Australia, Spain, Ireland, China)
B (New Zealand, France, USA, Japan)
C (Canada, Russia, England, Fiji)
Schedule (Japanese only): https://www.rugby-japan.jp/…/02/21/kitakyushu7s_2018_sched…/
Ticket information and the seating map: https://www.rugby-japan.jp/…/wrwss2017-2018_kitakyushu_tic…/
Unreserved GA tickets are 2000 yen per day, or 2500 if purchased the day of the event, or you can buy a 2-day pass for 3500 yen, which can be bought by Friday, April 20th. P-Codes (7-11, FamilyMart, and Circle K/Sunkus) and L-Codes (LAWSON) are on of this link so you can purchase them through at your local conbini.

Earlier today I shared a video about an exhibition of Japanese swords in Kikuchi. Here's what I wrote:
"The Kikuchi clan was a powerful daimyo family based in the part of Kumamoto that is still known as Kikuchi. This video is about a exhibition of swords and other artifacts belonging to the family that is currently being held at Kikuchi Shrine. The exhibition will last until the 5th of May."
Here's the URL of the original post (with video):
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1866411983432225
I know that Japanese swords and other artifacts relating the Japan's samurai culture are not everyone's cup of tea, so to speak, but I also have found that quite a few non-Japanese are interested in topic. So, I was amazed that the Facebook algorithm chose not to show this to most Kumamoto International readers -- after 7 hours, just 25 people are reported to have seen it. Normally, almost any post would have several hundred views after seven hours. (For comparison, the attached image shows, in chronological order, how many people have viewed other recent posts.)
I don't know what happened but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a Facebook algorithm, perhaps something intended to cut down on fake news or some other abuse. Smart algorithms can be cool, except when they're not. :(
-- Kirk
P.S. It will be interesting to see how many views this post gets. Granted, the content is slightly different but, nonetheless, I suspect that superficial differences in how I'm posting, not what I'm posting, will lead Facebook's algorithm to treat this post quite differently.

Here's one of the poems quoted in the article:
"Intensity-7 quake/ Sleepless night in my car/ Sounds of helicopters in the dark/ The ground continues to heave."
-- Kirk
VOX POPULI: Poems inspired by Kumamoto earthquakes will long live on：The Asahi Shimbun
"Shinsai Manyoshu," a collection of poetry published in January, contains 3,226 poems by 945 survivors of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, which consisted of two violent jolts striking the region in quick succession.

Pictures convey the emotional impact of a major disaster but numbers like these help us understand the scale.
-- Kirk
P.S. You may not be able to see all of the relevant numbers in the graphic without going to the original article.
2 years after quake, Kumamoto looks to future
KUMAMOTO — Saturday marked the second anniversary of the Kumamoto Earthquake foreshock, which was followed by the main shock two days later.

I saw a related news report on TV yesterday. The point of that segment was that even people with money to rebuild are having to wait because local contractors are still overwhelmed.
-- Kirk
Nearly 40,000 evacuees still living in temporary housing two years after Kumamoto quakes | The Japan Times
Nearly 40,000 people still live in temporary housing in Kumamoto Prefecture, two years after a series of strong earthquakes struck the prefecture and neigh

This is one of two articles on this topic that I know of. Here's the second, also by TokyoReporter.com:
https://www.tokyoreporter.com/2018/04/13/kumamoto-boy-19-arrested-for-stabbing-prostitute-at-hotel/
According the second article, the victim is a sex worker.
-- Kirk
https://www.tokyoreporter.com/2018/04/12/kumamoto-boy-apprehended-after-woman-28-found-stabbed-at-hotel/
Kumamoto: Boy apprehended after woman, 28, found stabbed at hotel | The Tokyo Reporter
Victim suffered a wound to the abdomen that is not considered life-threatening

Tomorrow (April 14) marks the second anniversary of the start of the Kumamoto earthquakes of 2016. Until I read the following comment, it had not even occurred to me that the recent landslide in Oita might have something to do with the 2016 quakes:
"'I am worried because all the residents are my acquaintances,' said a 76-year-old man living some 2 kilometers from the landslide site, adding he felt that the ground in the area had loosened after major earthquakes struck Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in 2016."
The main explanation that I've seen in TV coverage is that groundwater may have caused the landslide, which occurred with an obvious trigger, such as heavy rain or an earthquake. Perhaps the 76-year-old man's association of this disaster with the Kumamoto earthquake is a better indication of the psychological mark that the quake left on people than of the physical cause of the recent landslide.
-- Kirk
At least 6 unaccounted for after landslide in southwestern Japan - The Mainichi
OITA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Six to seven people are unaccounted for following a landslide in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Wednesday, police said

Joe Tomei here with Funky place Friday advance PR edition. The place is Commune6, a lovely coffee shop past Kendai and the Red Cross hospital. Nakamura san, the owner, has spent several years in New Zealand and the coffee shop is a bit off the beaten track. Their FB page is at
https://www.facebook.com/commune6/
click on the link and take a look.
I say advance PR because The English Market (volume 2) will be held here on 29 April. The principle of the English Market is that all the vendors pledge to only use English. The entry is 500 yen (children under the age of 18 are free) It may seem strange for native speakers to pay 500 yen for the privilege of speaking English, but there are some great shops serving some delicious food, and it is to try and make the idea of speaking English a bit more real. The AJET members will be selling English books for very low prices. Hope to see you there!
The FPF map can be found here
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?usp=sharing&mid=1qUH94Bac7Hr939b7_8gtvebaJZffGRsX

This is a long, detailed article. If you have any interest in how Japan's silk industry has modernized, or in Yamaga, where the facility described is located, I think you should check it out.
-- Kirk
Big bioclean silkworm factory in Kumamoto aims to revive Japan's sericulture
The "Silk on Valley" project in Kumamoto is one of the world's biggest bioclean silkworm factories and is part of efforts to revitalize Japan's once-thriving sericulture industry.

As the title indicates, this article describes several shops and places to visit in Kumamoto. Personally, I found the description of And Coffee Roasters, which is said to have "hip, English-speaking baristas," intriguing.
-- Kirk
Kumamoto, Japan, City Guide: Where to Eat, Shop, and Stay
With a thriving natural wine scene and restaurants remixing western and Japanese traditions, the city of Kumamoto should be your next destination in Japan.

Filming of the NHK the taiga drama (that serial from 8:00 - 8:15 each morning that everyone watches before dashing off to work) "Great Runner - Tokyo Olympic Tale," 「いだてん～東京オリムピック噺」, which depicts the life of Kumamoto native Kanakuri Shiso (1891-1983), the first Japanese Olympic participant, began in April at the abandoned Jyoshima Elementary School in Ashikita, chosen as it resembles that of Kanakuri's school in long-ago school in Tamana.
I've written about Kanakuri before and will do so again but thought I would draw attention to the Japanese title, particularly the phrase rendered in hiragana 「いだてん」. I'd first thought it was a Higo dialect idiom, but a bit of research provided a more interesting story. Weblio renders it both in hiragana and kanji (韋駄天) as a "great runner" - 「韋駄天走りに走る」could be translated a "run like the wind."
Apparently, 韋駄天 is the Hindu god of war with many names but known mostly as Skanda in Sanskrit - somewhat akin to the Greek god Hermes/Roman, Mercury. We'll be back later with more info, but jot this one down so that you can amaze your friends. - William
「金栗大河」県内撮影スタート　四三役の勘九郎さんら熱演 - 熊本日日新聞
「いだてん～東京オリムピック噺～」のロケに臨む中村勘九郎さん（左から３人目）＝７日、芦北町（池田祐介）　日本人で初めて五輪に出場した熊本出身のマラソン選手、金栗四三（１８９１～１９８３年）を描く来年の...

"Oda, who is from the city of Kumamoto, has launched a reconstruction project with the cooperation of local governments hit by the April 2016 earthquake, and other organizations, according to the prefectural government."
Copied and pasted by Kirk
Kumamoto Pref. honors ‘One Piece’ artist
KUMAMOTO — The Kumamoto prefectural government announced Wednesday it will bestow a prefectural honor on manga artist Eiichiro Oda, 43, praising the feat of his famous “One Piece” series selling more than 430 million copies across the world, as well as his support of reconstruction work after ...

This is a picture of snow-covered sakura blossoms -- a rare combination -- that was taken in the Aso area today. NHK reported the snow in the Aso area on its nationally broadcast evening news program today. You can see another video news segment (the one from which I took the image of the snow on the sakura blossoms) here:
http://www.news24.jp/articles/2018/04/07/07389925.html
The current temperature in Kumamoto City is 7 degrees celsius (45 F). I've had to look for sweaters and other warm clothing just to keep from shivering as I work at my computer!
Thankfully, warmer weather is predicted for tomorrow.
-- Kirk

Sakura Machi is the area between the bus terminal (交通センター) and Shinshigai. Along with the area near the train station, major redevelopment is underway. A recent photo displays the main building slated to open next year. The abundance of greenery spread over its terraced 15 stories looks very attractive. - William http://shutten-watch.com/kyushu/

Joe Tomei with another Funky Places Friday and an agepan edition. I've been told that this has been featured on several TV programs, but I only discovered after visiting last Friday's Funky place. Despite the great risk to my own person (because I was so full I thought I was going to explode) I did try an agepan. (The things I do for y'all)
In a real Airstream trailer, the shop has been there for 10 years. Agepan is like homemade doughnuts, 5 flavors, including garlic, kibisato and kinako.
The FPF map is here
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qUH94Bac7Hr939b7_8gtvebaJZffGRsX&usp=sharing

7200 tiles have been placed on the roof of the castle keep (tenshukaku) and the temporary cover has been removed. Another step in the restoration of the castle is complete.
By the way, this has been in the Japanese media for a few days now but I haven't been able to find an article about it in English.
-- Kirk
熊本城　２年ぶり…瓦まとう“大天守”の姿｜日テレNEWS24
地震で大きな被害を受けた熊本城の復旧工事が進められる中、３日、天守閣にある仮設の屋根が取り外された。