Kumamoto International Archive

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

Voyapon, a travel website catering to English-speakers, has recently added Kumamoto to the list of cities they introduce. Though not yet on the main menu, Kumamoto can be accessed via the search bar at upper right. Perhaps they would welcome contributions from our community! http://voyapon.com/?s=kumamoto

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“It’s gratifying that I was able to keep it open for so long,” said Tsunematsu, 64, an authority on Soseki and a professor at Sojo University in Kumamoto City in southwestern Japan, who opened the museum in 1984. “I’d be happy if young scholars follow in my footstep.”
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http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/soseki-museum-in-london-to-close-due-to-financial-difficulties
Soseki Museum in London to close due to financial difficulties
A museum in London dedicated to Japanese novelist Soseki Natsume (1867-1916), who spent two years in the British capital, plans…

Who loves Yatsushiro? - Giant cruise ships, apparently! Their love of that magnificent town is such that the 36 days heretofore assigned to cruise ships at the berth sufficiently deep to handle them will be tripled to 100 (for the mathematically challenged, that's almost 1/3 of the year) thanks to cooperation with cargo lines. Priority will be given to cruises which dock in town for multiple days, ensuring tourists ample time to tour the many sites Yatsushiro has to offer. The town expects 70 cruise ship visits in 2017, a huge increase from the 16 this year and 10 last. This compares with 400 berthings in Hakata this year and 190 in Nagasaki. Local shops may want to prepare for some explosive shopping. Banpeiyu, anyone?
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160406001.xhtml

The inhumane treatment of Hansen's disease (leprosy) patients is a national issue in Japan but Kumamoto has been and continues to be an important battleground:
"In 2001, the Kumamoto District Court ruled in favor of former Hansen’s disease patients who sought damages for their mistreatment under the segregation policy, which they charged was unconstitutional."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/04/05/editorials/special-trials-for-hansens-patients/
Special trials for Hansen's patients | The Japan Times
Rather than merely offer an apology to former Hansen's disease patients for their closed trials, the Supreme Court should look into whether they received fair trials.

The Ministry of Education carried out a survey of all Kumamoto public middle and high school English instructors to measure the number who have exceeded Eiken pre-1 level. This would include Eiken 1 as well as corresponding TOEIC and TOEFL scores. Good news, it turns out: 71.4% have, far surpassing the national average of 57.3%.
Also noted was that 100% of 3rd year high school students in English-focused courses had language skills exceeding the Eiken pre-2 level or its equivalent, compared to a national average of 87.2%; conversely, only 30.1% of those in general courses had achieved the same, slightly below the national average of 33.8%.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/kumamoto/news/20160404-OYTNT50058.html
英検準１級以上の実力　県内公立高教員７１・４％　文科省調査
　文部科学省が４日に公表した２０１５年度の「英語教育実施状況調査」で、英語検定準１級以上の実力を持つ県内の公立高校教員の割合が、全国平均（５７・３％）を大きく上回る７１・４％に達した。昨年度の調査より１９ポイントも上昇しており、伸び率は全国で最も高かった。県教委は「英検などの受験を促す県教委の取り組みに加えて、現場の先生たちの努力の表れ」としている。

With Children's Day and Golden Week just around the corner, you'll likely note an increase in koinobori (carp streamer). If you'd like to see a whole bunch all at once - and get some good photos - head out to Tsuetate Onsen in Oguni, where from April 1 to May 6, they're holding their annual koinobori festival. You can get there by taking the "Yamabiko" express bus from Kotsu Center and changing to the Tsuetate local bus at Aso Station (3 hours 10 minutes) or by being really nice to that friend of yours who has a car (1 hour 40 minutes).
http://tsuetate-onsen.com/1179
3月28日｜鯉のぼりあげボランティア募集 | 杖立温泉
杖立温泉の春の風物詩となっている「鯉のぼり祭り」。いよいよ4月1日から始まります（〜5月6日まで）。今年で37年目を迎え、多くの観光客の皆様へお越しいただいておりますが、毎年「どうやって鯉のぼりをあげてるの？」というお問い合わせも多く、数年前から鯉のぼりあげを体験していただくボランティアを募集しています。今年は3月28日に開催いたします（3月25日申し込み〆切）。杖立温泉の住民と一緒に和気あいあいとお過ごしいただければと思います。昼食もほんの気持ちのお土産もついていますので、是非この機会にご体験下さい。詳しくは、以下のPDFファイルをご覧頂くか、杖立温泉観光協会（0967-48-0…

Do you like what Facebook is feeding you? In recent weeks I've noticed that the Facebook algorithm seems to be tuned to accentuate the difference between "winners" and "losers" among posts. I'm including an image from "insights" (statistics about this Facebook page) that shows that a recent post about cherry blossoms got over 300 views but the others all got only about a tenth as many views. Of course, some posts are just naturally more interesting to most readers than others but I think the extreme differences between "winners" and "losers" I've noticed recently must be the result of a change in the algorithm. If you're interested, please take a look at the most recent posts and see if you think the low numbers are deserved. If you don't see a big different in quality or relevance, the moral of the story may be "If you want to find out if anything posted recently on this page is of interest to you, it might be a good idea to manually come to the page and check." If you just wait for Facebook to "feed" you, you find that you've missed a lot.
-- Kirk

Kumamoto's Shugakkan plays in the semifinals today (Wednesday) at 1:30.
センバツ甲子園：秀岳館、打線が爆発　初の８強入り　千葉・木更津総合ときょう準々決勝　／熊本 - 毎日新聞
　＜第８８回選抜高校野球＞　「やったぞ、ベスト８だ」−−。第８８回選抜高校野球大会（毎日新聞社、日本高野連主催）第８日の２７日、秀岳館は南陽工（山口）相手に持ち前の長打力を爆発させるなど終始圧倒、１６−０で降し同校初の８強入りを決めた。投げても３投手の継投で零封した。大会第９日の２８日、準々決勝第３試合（午後１時半、開始予定）で関東大会の覇者、木更津総合（千葉）と対戦する。県勢の８強入りは、２００７年に４強に進んだ熊本工以来９年ぶり。【出口絢、尾垣和幸】

Here's an article that those of you with an interest in the Kumamoto-Montana relationship may enjoy.
http://helenair.com/news/opinion/kumamoto-it-s-waiting-for-you/article_75027315-deed-58dc-8eef-bb3410f89956.html
Kumamoto: It's waiting for you
March. The calendar page turns and my thoughts turn to the arrival of daylight savings time, the coming of spring and, as the president of the Japan Friendship Club of

Here's a nice little summary of the recent gubernatorial election and how the governor's policies relate to the internationalization and development of Kumamoto.
http://kumamotojet.com/shin/index.php/2016/03/28/kumamoto-governor-elections/
Kumamoto Governor Elections Kumamoto JET
Kumamoto Governor Elections March 28, 2016 News The elections for the next governor of Kumamoto were held on Sunday, March 27. The candidates were: Daisuke Terauchi, a lawyer Ikuo Kabashima, current governor of Kumamoto running for his third term Seiji Koyama, former three-term mayor of Kumamoto Cit…

This store is very near the entrance to the Kengun Shopping Street (建軍商店街). Here's a map:
https://goo.gl/maps/rvNiYxPJBtR2
To see an article about this (I learned about the shop from this article) go to
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/03/20/kumamoto-shop-has-automatic-door-control-for-guard-dog-so-he-can-take-pee-break/

Shugakkan (a high school in Yatsushiro) has won their first game in the Koshien tournament and will play their second on Sunday morning, starting at 9 AM.

If you are interested, please contact the Kumamoto City International Center via the information in this notice that was published on the Kumamoto JET web page.
http://kumamotojet.com/shin/index.php/2016/03/14/kurashi-no-nihongo-kurabu/
Kurashi no Nihongo Kurabu Kumamoto JET
Kurashi no Nihongo Kurabu March 14, 2016 Notices The Kumamoto City International Center (the venue where Kumamoto Orientation is held) holds weekly casual Japanese conversation tables (called “Kurashi no Nihongo Kurabu”) for beginning level Japanese students. This is a good opportunity for people ju…

Hi, Joe Tomei here. There was a message asking if Mt Aso had reopened, and it has been from Nov last year. Realtime info is here http://www.aso.ne.jp/~volcano/eng/
However, the ropeway is still not open
http://www.kyusanko.co.jp/aso/lang_en/
Sorry I didn't see the message, but if you have questions like that, please feel free to post them in the timeline as I'm sure others might have the same question.
Information on restrictions for the Aso Volcano West Crater
Hours are extended during the Golden Week and New Year’s holidays Please be advised that the above hours may be changed due to conditions at the crater, such as the extent of gas emission.

If you are interested in hiking, I recommend that you check out this post from Explore Kumamoto. If you are interested learning about the history of Sankinkotai (which I would call "rule by hostage taking") go to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankin-kōtai
-- Kirk
http://www.explore-kumamoto.com/aso-sankinkotai-road/
Aso Sankinkotai Road
Take a walk up and down the Aso Sankinkota stone road, dating from the 16th Century and offering wonderful caldera views.

Here's a post about a job opportunity. I try to share posts like this so that more people will be able to see them.
-- Kirk

Coming soon!
http://kumamotojet.com/shin/index.php/2016/03/18/542/
Kumamoto Cherry Blossoms Kumamoto JET
Kumamoto Cherry Blossoms March 18, 2016 Places As of March 16, tenki.jp forecasts that the cherry blossoms in Kumamoto will begin to open on Wednesday, March 23 and full bloom is expected on Saturday, April 2. The Japan National Travel Organization also has a very handy English site with background…

There's a special word in Japanese for "Cherry blossoms at night" -- yozakura (夜桜). According to this announcement published on the Kumamoto JET website, starting tonight, the castle grounds will be open until 9 PM so that people can continue to enjoy the blossoms after the sun has set. I've read, however, that the blossoms are not predicted to start popping until the 23rd or so.
https://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160318002.xhtml
http://kumamotojet.com/shin/index.php/2016/03/18/night-cherry-blossom-viewing-at-kumamoto-castle/
Night Cherry Blossom Viewing at Kumamoto Castle Kumamoto JET
Night Cherry Blossom Viewing at Kumamoto Castle March 18, 2016 Events Kumamoto Castle will be open at night from Saturday, March 19 to Sunday, April 3 for night viewing of the cherry blossoms around the castle. Kumamoto Castle and the surrounding area boasts around 800 cherry blossom trees (with 650…

Quote from the article:
"The state established the redress mechanism after the Kumamoto District Court handed down a landmark ruling in 2001 calling the state’s segregation policy against leprosy patients unconstitutional.
A law that decreed patients must be quarantined to prevent the disease’s spread was abolished in April 1996."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/15/national/crime-legal/former-leprosy-patients-japan-urged-file-state-compensation-final-deadline-nears/#.VugYX8dq0pZ
Former leprosy patients in Japan urged to file for state compensation as final deadline nears |...
Lawyers are urging former leprosy patients in Japan to file for state compensation over decades of mistreatment before their right to make such claims expi

The bank where this incident occurred is very close to Kumamoto University. Here's a Google map showing the location:
https://goo.gl/maps/HpXbDH5C1mn
http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2016/03/10/kumamoto-cops-man-attempts-to-rob-bank-in-front-of-police-box/
Kumamoto Cops: Man Attempts To Rob Bank In Front Of Police Box | The Tokyo Reporter
Ichiro Nakayama brandished a knife in attempting to rob a bank located near a koban in Kumamoto's Chuo Ward