Kumamoto International Archive

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

Here's some tourism news about Kumamoto. I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news regards cruise ships coming to Yatsushiro port.
First, the following Japanese article, which came out in May of this year, says that the port is expecting 75 cruise ship visits this year, 7.5 times last year:
http://www.sankei.com/region/news/170526/rgn1705260016-n1.html
The next article, also in Japanese, says that they are doing work on Yatsushiro port to make it possible for 220,000 ton cruise ships to dock there. The work is scheduled to be completed by March of 2020, in time for the olympics.
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLZO11845140Y7A110C1LX0000/
The bad is that 2016, the year the earthquake hit, was a bad year for tourism -- no surprise there. The number of foreign tourists visiting Kumamoto dropped to 4.6 million, down about a million from the previous year. It was the first time to go under a million in 9 years.
On the positive side, I think the increase in cruise ships and other factors should lead to significantly better numbers in coming years.
-- Kirk

Here's a bit of jaw-dropping news that is not specific to Kumamoto but definitely strikes me as relevant discussions we've been having recently.
The opening sentence of the article, which summarizes the ruling, says that a Kobe judge has ruled that a law, currently in force, that allows the husband to declare that a child borne be his wife is not his, but does NOT allow the wife to make such a legal claim, is constitutional. (Insert image of jaw dropping to floor here.) It seems to me that the woman might have some idea of who the father of her baby is (I'm not sure, you know, being a man and all, but I think many women probably notice who it is that they are engaging with when doing the business of baby making) but the woman has no legal right to declare that, if I have understood the ruling correctly -- and the judge says this is all constitutional and no problem in terms of equality of the sexes. Someone, please tell me that I've misunderstood this. I heard about it on the news today and couldn't believe my ears. Reading the Japanese text gives me the sinking feeling that I understood the news report correctly the first time.
「妻が産んだ子どもを法律上自分の子どもではないと求める手続きを、夫にだけ認めた民法の規定が、憲法に違反するかどうかが初めて争われた裁判で、神戸地方裁判所は「法律的に子どもの身分の安定を保つもので、合理性がある」として、憲法に違反しないという判断を示しました。」
-- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20171129/k10011239771000.html

The problem of suspects being pushed to make false confessions is not unique to Japan but, since protections for suspects being interrogated are relatively weak, it has long been recognized as a serious problem in Japan's legal system. The first death sentence in Japan to be overturned because the confession was eventually ruled to have been forced was that of Menda Sakae of Kumamoto. Here's another such case regarding a crime that occurred in Kumamoto. This one, however, isn't over yet.
-- Kirk
High court upholds retrial of man convicted of 1985 Kumamoto murder | The Japan Times
A high court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision to retry an 84-year-old man who served prison time for fatally stabbing an acquaintance in Kumamoto

In this post, I'd like to present two articles that provide some additional information and updates on the Ogata Yuka baby-in-city-council controversy. First, the image you see is from a BuzzFeed article about the case. The second article
Lawmaker who brought baby to assembly receives written warning
https://japantoday.com/category/politics/lawmaker-who-brought-baby-to-assembly-receives-written-warning
is, as the title indicates, about a formal warning she has received.
-- Kirk
https://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/yuka-ogata?utm_term=.lvop7nnnR#.bpZnpVVVA
Everything You Need To Know About The "Controversial" Japanese Politician Who Brought Her Son To Work
The Kumamoto Prefecture assembly waited 40 minutes before Japanese politician Yuka Ogata left the chamber with her son.

Sojo University is one of a relatively small number of universities in Japan that train aspiring pilots. The university's training facility (with small aircraft) in Kikuyo-machi was part of a story broadcast nationally by NHK last night on the shortage of pilots and efforts to train more. A video of the broadcast can be found (while it lasts; NHK takes stuff down pretty quickly) on the page I'm sharing. In the video, Sojo University President Nakayama can also been seen participating in a meeting of university leaders about the topic.
I once had a very good student who wanted to become a pilot but failed the examination. According to his explanation, if you failed once you were told that taking the exam again would do any good -- you only had once chance. From talking with this student, I got the impression that it's very difficult to become a pilot in Japan.
Perhaps the difficulty of gaining entry to the profession in combination with increased demand are behind recent news reports such as this one about pilot shortages:
Pilot shortage prompts Air Do to cancel 34 flights in November
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/11/01/business/pilot-shortage-prompts-air-scrub-34-flights-november/#.Wh4a_LaB3_Q
-- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20171128/k10011238091000.html
パイロット養成を後押し奨学金制度を来年度から導入へ | NHKニュース
国内の航空会社で欠航便が出るなどパイロット不足が深刻化する中、若手パイロットの養成を後押ししようと、航空会社や私立大学などが連携してパイロッ…

There are two main roads to Yabe, 445 to the north and 218 to the south. I find 218 preferable as its slopes are marginally less panic-inducing, but it's understandable that those who live along 445 have not been pleased with the continued severance of a 4.3KM section of the road since the quakes. (There is a bypass, but it's even more tortuous.) Kumanichi reports on bad news: engineers are shrugging their shoulders at any imminent restoration due to a combination of mountains and gravity (the accompanying photo gives a hint at the challenges). The article quotes a local gas station owner who commented with laconicism typical of Kumamoto: "Business has been up due to the number of construction vehicles, but still, I suppose it would be good to reopen the road."
Aside from Route 57 through Tateno (which is being rerouted through a tunnel via Ozu), this is apparently the final road that remains severed due to the quakes. - William
国道445号、復旧見通せず　想定上回る被害判明　御船町 - 熊本日日新聞
熊本地震に伴う斜面崩落で激しい損傷を受けた国道４４５号の路面＝２８日、御船町滝尾　熊本地震で被災し、一部で全面通行止めが続く熊本県御船町の国道４４５号について、県が目標としていた本年度中の開通が見通せ...

The new world champion you see on the right is a student a Kumamoto Gakuen University. This is the first victory for Japan in a couple decades. Needless to say, it's a first for Kumamoto. -- Kirk
BOWL.com | Netherlands, Japan win singles at 2017 World Bowling Championships
The first medals have been handed out at the 2017 World Bowling Championships, with the singles titles going to the Netherlands and Japan.

As the article indicates, this article discusses the debate that has been heating up on Twitter and other forums about this issue. No mention is made of raging debate on the Kumamoto International Facbook page, though ;)
At any rate, it's a good, moderately long article. Worth reading, I think. (It also provides some historical background.)
-- Kirk
Japanese lawmaker sparks nationwide debate by taking her baby to work | The Japan Times
A female politician's decision to bring her baby to an assembly session to highlight the difficulties faced by working mothers is drawing support on Twitte

If you would like to read an academic study on last year's earthquakes, you can read this one free-of-charge online.
-- Kirk
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/11/e1700813.full

The other day I posted about an RKK video in which it was explained the the City Council is considering reprimanding (or, would "censuring" be a better translation?) Ms. Ogata. Unfortunately, the link I posted went dead almost immediately. If you would like to see that video, it seems to be available on Yahoo now. -- Kirk
赤ちゃん連れで市議会に出席　緒方市議を処分検討へ（RKK熊本放送） - Yahoo!ニュース
赤ちゃんを抱いて議会に参加しようとした議員に処分が検討されます。赤ちゃんを議場に - Yahoo!ニュース(RKK熊本放送)

Apparently, the US tilt-rotor V-22 aircraft, popularly known as the "Osprey," will be deployed for exercises in Kumamoto, and whether the safety history of the plane is cause for concern is under debate.
I'm old enough to remember when the prototype version of the aircraft was dubbed "the widowmaker" due to its tendency to suddenly collide with what scientists call "the ground," but my reptilian statistician brain nagged me for more recent data to support my perception. So here you go: in a nutshell, it depends on which version statistics commence from, but the more recent version of the plane could be termed moderately safer than the helicopter it replaced, the CH-46 "Sea Stallion," which has been in service since the Vietnam War. So if you're against the plane flying over your area for safety reasons, you'd logically be against every type of helicopter as well.
There are of course other reasons to oppose the overflight of military aircraft, but safety is, at least regarding this plane in relation to others, statistically not a significant one. - William

This provides some international perspective on recent events in Kumamoto. The article is from just a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps Ms. Ogata was aware of it when she decided to take action. -- Kirk
New Zealand's new baby-friendly Parliament
An MP's baby was breastfed in Parliament and then sat on the Speaker's lap in the paid parental leave debate.

Unfortunately, a participant in Kumamoto International who disagreed with some things I had written and that others on the page had written about Ms. Ogata's case began to engage in ad hominem attacks. The person began "you should not enhance this case while you don't know much about the situation in Japan." Then, when I warned him about the ad hominem nature of this argument and explained that I do not allow ad hominem attacks on this page he responded "I clearly understood what kind of a man you are" etc. So, I did something I almost never do on this page; I banned him. He will no longer be able to participate in discussions on this page.
I am sorry I had to do this. I would like Kumamoto International to be a place that welcomes diverse opinions. But, my experience on the internet tells me that ad hominem is a line that must be maintained.
One problematic consequence of banning the individual seems to be that threads he participated in have disappeared, along with other thoughtful, civil comments. I'm sorry about that but Facebook doesn't seem to give me an option in that regard. :(
-- Kirk

Construction to begin on a solar park (photovoltaic power plant) in Yamaga. -- Kirk
Smart Solar breaks ground on 2.5-MW PV park in Kumamoto
November 24 (Renewables Now) - Japanese company Smart Solar Corp announced this week the start of construction works on a photovoltaic (PV) plant

If you're like me, you've been married long enough to learn what yanks your wife's chain and then release comments at intervals sufficiently judicious to provoke a reaction enabling conversation yet not disallowing dinner (Note: fine line). My wife, it turns out, reacts negatively when I confuse Camellia sasanqua, which in Japanese is sazanka (サザンカー山茶花) and the C. japonica, or "tsubaki"(つばきー椿). For some reason, this really annoys her, but in English, they're both "camellia," so I can confuse them as often as I judge reasonable. The former is in deep bloom now and can be discerned by the multiple number of petals (as my wife, an artist, never tires of pointing out); the latter will bloom in late winter/early spring. "Tsubaki" is a common Japanese family name, is known as the "Japanese rose," and is related to the tea family. Just don't confuse it with the sazanka (both shown respectively below) or you risk my wife's wrath.

NPR (National Public Radio) in the United States has covered Ms. Ogata's case:
-- Kirk
Japanese Lawmaker's Baby Gets Booted From The Floor
When Yuka Ogata went back to work after having a baby, she tried to bring him along. The response highlighted the difficulties working women face in rules-bound Japan.

The word "kenminsei" (県民性) means "prefectural culture" or the "cultural tendencies of the people in a particular prefecture." Regardless of the degree to which pronouncements about the "kenminsei" of people in Kumamoto are based in fact, such statements do come up from time to time in Japanese-language conversations about local events.
The word that comes up most frequently in regard to the "kenminsei" of people in Kumamoto is "mokkosu." The Japanese Wikipedia page on "Higo mokkosu" (Higo is the old name for Kumamoto) defines it as follows:
"純粋で正義感が強く、一度決めたら梃子でも動かないほど頑固で妥協しない男性的な性質を指す。" (Pure of heart and possessing a strong sense of justice, a masculine tendency to become implacable and stubbornly refuse to compromise once one has made up ones mind. -- Translation by Kirk)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/肥後もっこす
Perhaps if the "masculine" part is abridged, the word may be applied to the strength shown by Ms. Ogata in the face of resistance from the Kumamoto City Council leadership. (And, of course, we should note that she has combined a limited willingness to compromise with her "stubborn" insistence on social justice for working women.)
Another "kenminsei" expression that I have heard in relation to Ms. Ogata's case is "薩摩の芋づる、肥後の引き倒し" (Satsuma no imozuru, Higo no hikidaoshi; Pulling up potatoes in Kagoshima, cutting [people] down to size in Kumamoto). Here's an explanation about meaning of the first phrase about Kagoshima (taken from the blog post I like to at the end of this post):
"他者の成功を周囲も喜び、その成功者の影響を受けて応援者も成功していく。" (Celebrating the success of others, supporters are stimulated to achieve similar success)
And here's the blogger's explanation of the second phrase about Kumamoto:
"成功者が出ると足を引っ張ることを考え、故に成功者が出にくい。" (When someone is successful, others think about how to put them back in their place, thus making it difficult for anyone to succeed)
In Ms. Ogata's case, we are not talking about success, at least not yet. But, I heard the "Higo no hikidaoshi" expression used in relation to her case, perhaps in the sense of 出る杭は打たられる (deru kui wa utareru; hammer down the nail that sticks out).
Personally, I'm skeptical about blanket statements regarding the "kenminsei" of the people in Kumamoto, or anywhere else for that matter. On the other hand, I wrote this up in the hope that non-Japanese that live here might be interested in how Japanese people sometimes talk about the local culture.
Perhaps these expressions could be interesting topics of conversation with Japanese friends and/or students. :)
-- Kirk
http://blog.livedoor.jp/isakigyou/archives/2131009.html
鹿児島の県民性「薩摩の芋づる」、熊本の県民性「肥後の引き倒し」 : 伊佐＠ランチェスター経営、一言（多い？）ブログ
あっちゃ〜ぁぁ．．．痛っ！！私自身が九州出身じゃないので、こんな言葉を聞いたことなかった。「薩摩の芋づる」とは・・・他者の成功を周囲も喜び、その成功者の影響を受けて応援者も成功していく。そんな薩摩の人（鹿児島県）の県民性を表

Bit of an update for those interested in castle restoration efforts. We've already discussed the contributions of Toppan Printing Co. (凸版印刷), which has gathered detailed images of the walls and where each rock was before they tumbled down. Now, the Japanese Science and Technology Agency (人科学技術振興機,ＪＳＴ）has gotten involved to figure out how damaged stones can be reconfigured to match the original design.The photo attached shows how this might be done, with replaced stones highlighted. So the idea now is that Toppan will provide digital imagery and JST will aid in reconstructing the stones that have been lost. - William
熊本城石垣復元、写真４万点活用　崩落前と照合位置推測　凸版印刷と熊大連携
熊本大は３日、熊本地震で崩落した熊本城の石垣の早期復旧へ向けて、凸版印刷（東京）が地震前に撮影していた４万点を超す...

I wrote earlier that I was concerned about what misogynistic trolls on the internet would do to Ms. Ogata. Curious about what was being said I searched Google with the key words "twitter" and "緒方夕佳" (Ms. Ogata's name in kanji). This is the first (!) tweet that came up. The tweeter, Showa Danji (a fictitious name) launches an ad hominem attack at Ms. Ogata. In other words, instead of posting about the issues at hand, he attempts to discredit her because of her association with an NPO called the "Okinawa Peace Assistance Center":
http://www.opac.or.jp
He also asks "What university did she graduate from?" and "Who is her husband?" He does all this as he hides behind his Showa Danji pseudonym, a paragon on masculine virility and courage ( . . . not!).
But, for those of you who see this as a "Japanese" problem, I'm not so sure. A lot of similar harassment has been occurring on line (and off) in English-speaking countries:
Online harassment of women at risk of becoming 'established norm', study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/08/online-harassment-of-women-at-risk-of-becoming-established-norm-study
-- Kirk

Dear friends,
I sometimes try to stagger my posts so that they don't come all a once. However, as coverage of Ms. Ogata's attempt to get the Kumamoto City Council to show more flexibility is heating up, I think I need to share the information as quickly as possible.
This particular article seems to have been written by or with the help of someone in Kumamoto:
"On-the-street interviews with Kumamoto residents produced a number of reactions, ranging from good-natured support to gruff criticism of the idea of taking an infant somewhere as baby-unfriendly as a government assembly hall."
I was unaware of Mr. Ogata's international background:
"Ogata, a graduate of George Mason in the U.S. and previous United Nations employee who was posted in Yemen, has said:
'By serving as a councilwoman while raising a baby, I hope to be a spokesperson for other people of my generation who are in similar situations…Even though [child-rearing] is a societal problem, in the workplace it ends up being treated as an individual’s problem.'"
I think the article is worth reading so please do click on the link.
-- Kirk
https://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/11/24/japanese-city-councilwoman-stirs-controversy-by-bringing-baby-with-her-to-assembly-hall【video】/
Japanese city councilwoman stirs controversy by bringing baby with her to assembly hall【Video】
American-educated councilwoman says she want to be “a spokesperson for other people of my generation who are in similar situations.”