Kumamoto International Archive

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

The photo you see is from an old post about a RKK television program introducing F Rene Saint-Laurent's work as a volunteer fireman. I'm posting today to tell everyone that KAB will broadcast another program about our favorite fireman on Monday, September 12th, beginning at 4 in the afternoon:
http://tv.so-net.ne.jp/schedule/157384201609121600.action
The Japanese blurb about the show indicates that an Israeli who is working to establish himself or herself as a farmer here in Kumamoto will be also be introduced.
特集は、熊本に住む外国人に密着する。南阿蘇村のカナダ人消防団員や将来は熊本で農家を目指すイスラエル人を紹介、彼らの思いを伝える。
Now, to set the timer on my dvr . . .
-- Kirk

This Mainichi article indicates that the typhoon caused little damage, though parts of Kumamoto experienced very heavy rain.
-- Kirk
http://mainichi.jp/articles/20160905/k00/00e/040/188000c
台風１２号：九州、大きな被害なく　土砂崩れなど警戒続く - 毎日新聞
　台風１２号は５日未明に長崎県に上陸したが朝には熱帯低気圧となり、幸い大きな被害は確認されていない。だが、九州北部や山口県ではなお大雨の恐れがあり、土砂崩れなどへの警戒が続いている。

Kumamoto quake recovery projected to cost ¥2.5 trillion before state aid kicks in | The Japan Times
The Kumamoto Prefectural Government on Friday said the total cost of rebuilding from the powerful earthquakes in April will probably reach ¥2.484 tril

"Wind gusts of 80-95 km/h (50-60 mph) can be expected near the west coast of Kyushu through Sunday night and early on Monday. Residents should prepare for isolated tree damage and power outages."
-- Kirk
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/japan-typhoon-namtheun-flooding-rain-winds/59832907
Typhoon Namtheun to blast Japan with flooding rain, damaging winds
Japan is facing a new tropical threat as Typhoon Namtheun strengthens and tracks toward Kyushu and the northern Ryukyu Islands.

Typhoon Namtheun heads towards southern Japan
Another major cyclone is expected to hit the country this weekend.

Amakusa and western Kumamoto will probably experience tropical storm winds in the next 12 hours. Take care!
-- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

People in vulnerable areas are recommended to prepare to evacuate. The areas designated are parts of Amakusa, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto City and Mifune. The West Ward (Nishi-ku) of Kumamoto City, Yatsushiro, and Amakusa have coastal areas where evacuations may be needed. I assume that Mifune is a candidate for evacuation because of the possibility of landslides or flooding in some areas. Please try to learn what you can about the vulnerabilities of your particular area and where you can go if you need to evacuate.
The map you see in the image is a Google translation of Yahoo's Japanese page. To view an English translation yourself, please use the translate function on Google's Chrome browser.
http://crisis.yahoo.co.jp/evacuation/43/
-- Kirk

According to this site, the probability of tropical storm strength winds hitting Kumamoto in the next 24 hours is about 50/50.
-- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

This is old news now but I think it's interesting that the US Geological Survey seems to have think it was a bigger quake that the JMA did.
-- Kirk
https://www.rt.com/news/357748-earthquake-strikes-japan-kumamoto/
5.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Kumamoto prefecture, Japan
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the Kumamoto perefecture of the southwestern Japanese island of Kyushu, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The typhoon should be a category 1 tropical storm when it reaches the Kumamoto area in about 24 to 36 hours (as of midnight, Friday). So, it looks like Sunday will be a stormy day.
-- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

Years ago in my first-ever Japanese language class at the Hanabatacho YMCA were two Japanese-Brazilian students who could not read or write but spoke passably - and their spoken Japanese sometimes made our teacher laugh as it was that of their grandparents. For example, they used the word "shashinki" (写真機) rather than "kamera" (カメラ) and "jibiki" (字引） rather than "jisho" (辞書) - the latter being far more common today.
Nomenclature, I learned, is difficult. For example, "buruushiito" (ブルーシート） conveys two nuances: securing ground space such as at a hanami, or covering damaged structures after, say, an earthquake, while "shiroishiito" (白いシート) are those which cover tents erected at public events. To be sure, their compositions likely differ - the former tend to be more disposable, while the latter are durable enough to last for years (look at the tents at a sports festival and you'll likely see markings on the "shiroishiito" indicating they were gifted by a long-ago graduated class) - but more than that, it is the emotive response they elicit which matters.
As such, Kumamoto City has decided to replace the blue sheets covering damaged portions of the castle with white sheets, not only due to aesthetic reasons but to the emotive reasons noted above. Kumanichi has the full story here. - William
http://this.kiji.is/144258113762164740?c=92619697908483575
熊本城を美しく　青から白へ、シート張り替え - 熊本日日新聞
熊本地震で損壊し、白いシートに覆われた熊本城の長塀＝８月３０日　熊本城内（熊本市中央区）で、熊本地震の傷痕を覆っていたブルーシートが姿を消し、白いテント生地のシートに張り替えられている。市役所前にある長さ約１１０メートルの長塀は、延々と白い...

Not having taken a vacation this summer, I was looking forward to the tropical depression scheduled to pass over Kyushu this weekend as at least it would have reminded me of my feelings of when I had to depart previous vacation venues, but Namthuen (as he - or she - is now called) looks to strengthen to become a real typhoon, though small (typhoonette?). Expect rain and wind from the 3rd. - William
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/1612.html

Lunchtime, and time for another jolt! This one was a bit unusual, a 3.8 under the Ariake Sea just off of Mt. Kimpo. I suspect it was on the Tatsuda fault. That fault worries me a bit; apparently it is capable of an M6 or greater and essentially runs under downtown. - William
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/6/20160901114917495-011146.html

Good morning, happy campers - and what a wake-up that was! It was M4.7, again centered down south around Matsubase, a bit further south from last nights quake in Uto. Enjoy your day!
-- William
For details in English:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/6/20160901063828495-010633.html

"There is a monthly AA meeting that takes place at Kumamoto Lutheran Church at 4:00pm the first Sunday of each month."
Please click on the link for more information:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/13407
-- Kirk

We just had another fairly strong earthquake. The rumbling seemed to continue for about 15 seconds and in the Chuo-ku area of Kumamoto City where I'm located I felt like the earth was shifting beneath me. The magnitude was 4.9 and the highest level of shaking on the Japanese scale was 5 lower (Uki-shi Matsubasemachi and Kumamoto Nishi-ku Kasuga).
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/6/20160831195056495-311946.html
-- Kirk

After a few cool days, warm weather has returned. But, it doesn't look like we will go over 35 C (95 F) today so, for the time being, Kikuchi's record of 29 days over the 35 C mark (the moshobi or "scorcher" line) should remain the same. As you can see in the graphic, 29 days of 35 or higher puts Kikuchi in a tie for the number three spot and the Kumamoto City area is tied for 6th with 26 such days. If you go to the web site and check out previous years, I think you'll find that it's quite unusual for Kumamoto to be ranked so high in the "scorcher" competition.
Go Kikuchi!!! (just kidding ;) )
-- Kirk
P.S. With a temperature of just over 30 C (86 F) today, we are having a manatsubi (a "summer day") -- the second category in the graphic. When it comes to manatsubi, Okinawa leads. I think it's interesting, though, that the leaders for moshobi (scorchers) are all in Kyushu. Okinawa doesn't have as many really hot days as we do, probably because of the cooling ocean winds.
http://weather.time-j.net/Summer/Ranking

This Facebook page works reasonably well for distributing news and information about events but it may not be the best place for buy and sell. For that purpose the Kumamotot-i mailing list, the predecessor to this page, seems to work better because anyone can post -- not just editors. Here's a relatively recent offer -- a table and chair set -- that was given away free of charge. I suspect that the set has been claimed by now but I am posting this so that readers of the Facebook page know that the mailing list (hosted on the YahooGroups site) sometimes provides information that is not available on Facebook.
-- Kirk
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/13397

I found this on the Explore Kumamoto. It's about the event William told us about, which is to be held on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle on the 3rd and 4th of September:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/photos/a.129499733790134.25925.123734781033296/1111073498966081/
I find a lot of interesting items on Explore Kumamoto that would have escaped my attention otherwise. I'll try to continue to share the items I find most interesting but can't share everything so I recommend that you follow them directly.
-- Kirk
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201608280021.html
Aomori ‘nebuta’ float to cheer quake victims in Kumamoto：The Asahi Shimbun
KUMAMOTO--A massive float that thrilled spectators in the popular “nebuta” festival in Aomori Prefec

Saturday, I jogged over to Ezuko. It was a hot day and lots of families were enjoying the cold, clean water. You can see some damage that the earthquake did to part of a footpath, but the park is still well work a visit.
Here's a Google map showing the location:
https://goo.gl/maps/CAUHvZZcni92
The photos were taken in what is labeled "Kamiezu Lake" (Upper Ezu Lake) on the map.
-- Kirk