Kumamoto International Archive

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

Staying in a car for a prolonged period of time, even when think you can keep it running with the air conditioning on, can be very dangerous in this heat. -- Kirk
Possible 1st disaster-related death reported after Kumamoto quake - The Mainichi
KUMAMOTO, Japan (Kyodo) -- A woman in her 70s, who according to local officials had been sleeping in her car following Tuesday's powerful earthquake i

"Authorities warned that hot weather is expected to persist in the affected areas and said they will strengthen measures to prevent heatstroke at evacuation centers by accelerating the deployment of portable spot coolers and increasing drinking water supplies."
I've heard that the temperature may climb to 40C (104F) tomorrow. And, I don't have an article to share but I've heard that one person as died as a result of being in an overheated car.
Take care!
-- Kirk
Death toll from Japan's Kumamoto Earthquake rises to 38
TOKYO -- The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture has risen to 38, the prefectural government said Sunday.

The dashcam video is worth a view if you haven't seen it before. On the other hand, I've been disappointed by how some TV programs force you to watch it over and over in the course of a discussion about the explosion. --- Kirk
Dashcam shows post-quake blast that killed 7 at Kumamoto mall | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
A quake survivor recorded the moment an explosion ripped through a shopping mall in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, where at least seven people were killed and the search continues for survivors.

I posted about this earlier, I think. This video story relays the poignant story of the victim's older brother coming to Kumamoto after hearing of his brother's passing:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260802_01/
And here's an Kyodo News story about the same tragedy:
https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/81297
-- Kirk

I think long-time readers of the page are familiar with TOKUDA Ryunosuke and his animal hospital. If you're interested, you can see previous posts about his hospital and the many kinds of good works he has been involved in here.
https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064554018003/search/?q=Ryunosuke
-- Kirk
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/dogs-allowed-animal-hospital-opens-doors-japan-quake-survivors-and-their-pets-6292486
Dogs allowed: Animal hospital opens doors to Japan quake survivors and their pets
Ryunosuke Animal Hospital in downtown Kumamoto, which was jolted by a powerful earthquake this week, has converted a space into temporary housing for evacuees, with separate rooms for owners of cats and dogs.

This is Atsuko.
I'd like to share a page from the Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture that provides information about gas stations.
Please stay safe, take care of one another, and avoid unnecessary travel if possible. (*•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
On the evening of August 1, information became available online about gas stations that are operating in the Yatsushiro area and throughout Kumamoto Prefecture. If you have been affected by the earthquake, please use this site to find nearby gas stations that are open. More stations are expected to resume operations in the coming days.
Kumamoto Prefecture is working together with the national government to secure a stable fuel supply. Knowing which stations are open may help everyone feel a little more at ease and avoid unnecessary rushes to refuel.
For those affected by the disaster (from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry):
Even during power outages, some gas stations equipped with emergency generators are able to continue providing fuel. Information on the operating status of these stations is available at the link below.
Service Station Search (including emergency fuel stations):
https://www.enecho-ss.meti.go.jp/b/enecho/

The article contains several updates on the scale of the tragedy. For example . . .
--- start quote ---
At another hard-hit site in Kumamoto Prefecture, a chimney collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro city, trapping 11 employees. Nine have since been confirmed dead and two were rescued, officials said.
--- end quote ---
-- Kirk
Japan ends rescue operation at a mall that collapsed after a strong quake
Authorities have ended a massive search-and-rescue operation at a collapsed shopping mall in southwest Japan following a powerful earthquake that killed 34 people earlier this week.

Post

May be of particular interest to anyone in the area. -- Kirk
Disaster-hit supermarket offers supplies from tent in Kumamoto Pref. - The Mainichi
HIKAWA, Kumamoto -- Two days after a major earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28, local supermarkets are battling challenging conditions to

Kirk here.
The URL of the page you see is:
https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/support/portal/01_00612.html?lang=en
Interestingly, and somewhat sadly, the only notice about this "information for foreigners" page that I have seen so far was in the following Japanese article:
出入国在留管理庁、令和8年熊本地震に関する外国人生活支援特設ページを開設
https://japan.storm.mg/articles/1152979
Kind of ironic that you have to be able to read Japanese in order to find useful information in English for foreigners, isn't it? This is not my first time to run into something like this. It seems that press announcements about establishing some sort of service for foreigners often get picked up by the Japanese media like this before I see them in English-language media.

This article features an interview with Davina Putri, from Indonesia, about her experiences during and after the quake. -- Kirk
https://japantoday.com/category/national/update1-local-foreign-evacuees-support-each-other-in-quake-hit-kumamoto-town

I think the total number of deaths is now at 35. Educators out there won't be surprised to learn that some students, teachers, and school staff are among the injured. -- Kirk
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20260729-340752/

Kirk here. I got this general announcement from a reader. Here's what ChatGPT says about it, which fits my own reading.
--- Start quote from AI ---
The Immigration Services Agency says that foreign residents affected by the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake may receive special consideration for residence-status applications.
If the disaster prevented you from applying before your deadline, the immigration office may still process your application on an individual basis, even after the deadline has passed. Please consult your nearest immigration office as soon as possible.
Also, if you have temporarily moved or evacuated from your registered address, you may apply at the immigration office responsible for the area where you are currently staying.
This is not an automatic extension, so anyone affected should contact a nearby immigration office for advice.
--- End quote ---

Collection of disaster waste associated with earthquake damage.
Atsuko (*•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp.e.fm.hp.transer.com/kiji00372079/index.html
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/kiji00372079/index.html
Attention Required! | Cloudflare
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

Pets were an important issue in the 2016 quakes too. -- Kirk
Kumamoto rallies to reunite lost pets and provide refuge for animals
When natural disasters strike, pets are often among the most vulnerable and overlooked victims.

Here's the first half of what I think is an excellent article on misinformation about "foreign criminals" being spread of the web. The article is behind a paywall so you need to register (and be willing to read or translation the Japanese) in order to read the whole thing. -- Kirk
--- start Chat GPT translation ---
Why Do False Rumors Spread During the Kumamoto Earthquake Even Though “There Is No Evidence That Crime by Foreigners Is Increasing”? How Can Repeated Disaster-Related Hate Be Prevented?
July 31, 2026, 6:00 a.m.
Article available to paid subscribers only
Researchers specializing in disasters have established the Study Group on Discriminatory Rumors During Disasters in an effort to prevent discriminatory rumors that exploit people’s anxiety following earthquakes and other disasters by baselessly portraying foreign residents as criminals.
Such rumors triggered the massacre of Koreans following the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake and are now beginning to spread during the current Kumamoto earthquake as well. The group warns that continued failure to challenge these rumors could lead to the exclusion of and violence against foreign residents. It aims to submit recommendations to the national government and society ahead of September, which will mark 103 years since the Great Kantō Earthquake.
By Tomoyuki Morimoto, Masato Nakane, and Kyoko Ando
Unsubstantiated Posts Appeared Immediately After the Earthquake
“If we don’t drive the foreigners out of Kumamoto, the looting and theft will begin.”
“There will probably be foreign looters taking advantage of the disaster.”
Posts making such unsubstantiated claims began appearing one after another on X, formerly Twitter, immediately after the earthquake.
When this newspaper’s investigative reporting section contacted the Kumamoto Prefectural Police, a representative said:
“We have increased patrols, but we have not confirmed any evidence that crime by foreigners is increasing.”
“There is no evidence that foreigners have been especially likely to commit crimes during past disasters.”
So says Naoki Katō, a nonfiction writer who called for the establishment of the Study Group on Discriminatory Rumors During Disasters and now serves as one of its co-representatives.
Despite this, he says, rumors about “crime by foreigners” have appeared during every major disaster in recent decades, beginning with the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
“The same thing is happening this time. Rumors cannot be entirely avoided. What is important is preventing them from spreading so that people do not accept them as facts,” he warned.
Such Rumors May Instead Provoke Violence Against Foreign Minorities
Katō has written about the massacre of Koreans following the Great Kantō Earthquake, which was carried out by Japanese people who believed false rumors claiming, among other things, that Koreans had “poisoned wells.”
He became interested in rumors about “crime by foreigners” after Shintarō Ishihara, then governor of Tokyo, made remarks at a Ground Self-Defense Force ceremony in 2000.
“Illegal immigrants from the ‘Third Countries’ and other foreigners are repeatedly committing atrocious crimes, and in the event of a major disaster, we must even anticipate the possibility of riots,” Ishihara said.
The term sangokujin, literally “people of the third countries,” was used derogatorily by Japanese people to refer to Koreans and others immediately after the end of World War II.
Naoki Katō, who is working through the Study Group on Discriminatory Rumors During Disasters to develop recommendations for preventing harm to foreign residents, in Tokyo on July 30.
Shocked by Ishihara’s remarks, Katō examined records of earthquakes around the world over the preceding 30 years. He could find no evidence that riots had occurred or that foreigners had become violent.
Katō was particularly alarmed that such statements had been made by the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government because, while reporting in areas affected by the Great Hanshin Earthquake, he had heard rumors claiming that “foreigners are stealing.”
A journalist he knew was surrounded late at night in a shopping district by members of a self-appointed vigilante group carrying metal baseball bats.
“He said, ‘I don’t know what would have happened if I had been a foreigner.’”
The experience left Katō with a strong sense that rumors portraying foreigners as criminals could themselves provoke violence against members of foreign minorities.
What the Study Group on Discriminatory Rumors During Disasters Hopes to Achieve
The study group was formed this spring after Katō approached Professor Ki-hwan Kwak of Tohoku Gakuin University, a sociologist who had investigated rumors about “crime by foreigners” following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Lawyers, disaster-relief volunteers, and others are also participating.
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, a Tokyo-based right-wing group reportedly entered the disaster area carrying weapons, claiming that it was doing so to maintain public order. During the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, members of a volunteer fire brigade were also reportedly seen patrolling while carrying crowbars.
In recent years, hate speech targeting Kurdish people, foreign workers, and others has become increasingly widespread. Some participants have expressed concern that malicious, hate-driven rumors may spread through the interaction between discourse on social media and developments in society offline.
No cases in postwar Japan have been reported in which such rumors actually escalated into violence. In the United States, however, rumors that “Black people were looting” spread through areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and…
--- end translation (article continues but cut off due to paywall ---
震災などの不安に乗じて根拠なく外国人を犯罪者とみなす差別流言を防ごうと、災害の研究者らが「災害時の差別流言研究会」を立ち上げた。差別流...

Yesterday I posted about a group of Vietnamese young people who pulled an elderly women from the rubble of her collapsed home. Unfortunately, the Vietnam-related news I have to share today is not good. -- Kirk
P.S. I've added a link to a video of the woman being pulled from her collapsed home.
--- start ChatGPT translation ---
Vietnamese Technical Intern Trainee Killed in Kumamoto Earthquake, Apparently Crushed by Falling Crane at Factory Where He Worked: Vietnamese Embassy
TBS Television
Thursday, July 30, 2026, 12:35 p.m.
International Affairs
Earthquakes and Disasters
A Vietnamese technical intern trainee was killed after becoming caught in the collapse of a crane during the Kumamoto earthquake.
According to the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, a 24-year-old Vietnamese man working as a technical intern trainee died in the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The embassy said that a crane fell at the factory where he worked and that he was apparently trapped underneath it.
Eight people were in the factory when the earthquake struck. The other seven, apart from the man who died, evacuated safely and are now in a secure location.
The embassy commented that it was “taking urgent action in coordination with Kumamoto Prefecture to protect Vietnamese citizens,” adding, “We also extend our condolences to the Japanese victims.”
Vietnamese state-run media also reported that a Vietnamese woman in Uki City was injured when a wall of her home collapsed.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that one Vietnamese citizen had died and several others had been injured in the Kumamoto earthquake.
The ministry said it was providing affected Vietnamese citizens with the necessary assistance and protection.
--- end translation ---
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/-/2837936?display=1
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1082210277664299

Kirk here with medical translation news.
--- start ChatGPT translation ---
Remote Medical Interpreting Service Offered Free of Charge to Kumamoto Earthquake-Affected Areas, Providing 24-Hour Support in 32 Languages — mediPhone
July 30, 2026
#CrisisManagement
#DisasterRelated
mediPhone, Inc., which provides remote medical interpreting and other services for healthcare institutions, has begun offering its “mediPhone” remote medical interpreting service free of charge following the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake. The assistance is available to healthcare institutions, medical aid stations, evacuation shelters operated by local governments, and businesses in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The initiative is intended to address language-related difficulties in assisting foreign patients and evacuees in the affected areas. The service provides remote medical interpreting by telephone in 32 languages and is available 24 hours a day from July 30 through August 31.
Those wishing to use the service can access the dedicated website or call the designated telephone number directly at 050-3196-8719.
--- end translation ---
熊本地震の被災地へ遠隔医療通訳サービスを無料提供、32言語で24時間対応　―メディフォン社
メディフォンは、令和8年熊本地震の被災地支援として、遠隔医療通訳サービスを無料提供する。熊本県内の医療機関や避難所等を対象に、32言語対応の通訳を24時間体制で提供し、外国人の支援体制を強化する。

Ten years ago, foreigners living in Japan were often the recipients of help but not always. Sometimes, foreigners wound up helping Japanese folks. Glad to see that happening this time too -- and I hope purveyors of anti-foreign hate take notice. -- Kirk
--- ChatGPT translation starts ---
Vietnamese Group Rescues Elderly Woman from Collapsed Home in Kumamoto Earthquake; Hailed as a “Source of Pride” by Vietnamese Media
Following the earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture with a maximum intensity of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale, a group of Vietnamese people rescued a resident from a collapsed house in Yatsushiro City. Vietnamese media outlets had reported the story one after another by July 30. With a large number of Vietnamese people living in Japan, some reports praised the rescuers as “a source of pride for the Vietnamese community in Japan.”
According to Vietnamese media, five people who worked at a cauliflower farm encountered the earthquake while on their way home and noticed that a house had collapsed. They knew that an elderly woman lived there alone. After hearing her voice from beneath a fallen wall, they began removing the rubble by hand. With help from nearby residents, they were able to rescue her.
One member of the group said that they acted without regard for the danger and explained, “Unlike in Vietnam, where elderly people often live with their children or grandchildren, many elderly people in Japan live alone.”
As of the end of 2025, approximately 681,000 Vietnamese nationals were residing in Japan. By residence status, approximately 164,000 were Specified Skilled Workers and approximately 190,000 were technical intern trainees. Together, these two groups accounted for more than half of the total.
(Kyodo News)
--- end translation ---
ベトナム人グループ、熊本地震の倒壊民家から高齢女性救出　「誇り」と母国報道
熊本県で起きた最大震度7の地震で、ベトナム人のグループが八代市で倒壊した民家から住人を救出した。ベトナムメディアが30日までに相次いで報じた。日本には多数のベ…

Kirk here. Leonard Bogershausen, an exchange student at Kumamoto Gakuen University, and I were interviewed about our experiences. The article also features comments from Andrew Mitchell and Joseph Erobha.
Kumamoto’s foreign community leans on 2016 lessons after quake
The prefecture’s foreign residents checked in with neighbors, translated information and warnings, and helped to secure emergency supplies after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake.