Kumamoto International Archive

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

William I used to run along Shirakawa, passing a group of homeless living under a bridge. They seemed to be doing quite well - they had pallets for flooring and even furniture that they'd scavenged. They always offered me sake, which I declined.
And then, one day, their settlement had vanished.
I hope that they had been moved into more suitable quarters, but I don't know - they could have been just shunted off.
There was an elderly man, a jieitai vet, who slept rough in our local park. My wife and I would feed him with bentos and allowing him in our house for food and sleep when it was particularly rough outside. He was found dead in the park from exposure.
Maybe you notice someone like that. Extend a hand.

Kirk here with something about what is called "kanten" in Japanese (寒天) and "agar" in English. Here's a quote from the article, which explains why it came up in a Google alert about new articles about "Kumamoto":
"Ai Hosokawa, who grew up in Tokyo, has lived in Kumamoto for 14 years and is fascinated by its rich natural environment and clear water. Her house and atelier stand in the historical remains of Taishoji temple that used to be the family temple of the Hosokawa Clan, which once ruled the Kumamoto Domain."
The article is interesting but it's a good example of a pitfall in translation: using an English word that many native speakers are not likely to know: agar. Of course, it's a perfectly good word. I found lots of information about in on the web. But there are two problems as a see it:
1. English-language speakers who live in Japanese may be even more likely to recognize the word "kanten" than "agar" -- even though "agar" is an English word. That was this case with me. So, I would have like them to identify "agar" as what is called "kanten" in Japanese at the top of the article.
2. "Agar" is very similar to "kanten" but, according to information I found on the internet, they are made from different kinds of seaweed. So, "Japanese agar" is probably more accurate.
Fun fact from the Wikipedia page on agar: "Once ingested, kanten triples in size and absorbs water. This results in the consumers feeling fuller."
TASTE OF LIFE/ Water-based agar jelly: Fragrant citrus fruits from garden hold key to iced dessert | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Editor’s note: In the Taste of Life series, cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.

Flights between Kumamoto and Hong Kong have resumed after a
7 year hiatus. I'll put citations to the English and Japanese articles in comments. -- Kirk

Kirk here with a post about a little place I found in Ezuko. The entrance is about halfway between the Shimo Ezuko parking lot and the part of the zoo where the giraffes and the elephants are. The sign says that there's a free gallery in the back. I'll add some notes to each picture.

Here's an article about the Kumamoto Earthquake Disaster Museum KIOKU in Minamiaso Village. -- Kirk
Building back better
Tayayuki Kubo was living far from home in 2016 when a series of catastrophic earthquakes battered Kumamoto in southwestern Japan.

Sean here-
Update - Update - Update - Update - Update - Update
Thank you for your patience.
Here is the response -
“They would prefer men.
They don't care about the race that much.
Japanese level should be enough to communicate with the church ppl.”
If this interests anyone. Just pm me.
- End update -
I'm writing to you today about a unique opportunity that may be of interest to some of you.
An acquaintance of mine is looking for someone to act as a 偽牧師 (nise bokushi), which translates to fake priest, for officiating weddings in Yatsushiro.
Why is this a thing?
It turns out that having a Westerner as the officiant is considered オシャレ (fancy/exotic) in Japan. Christian-style weddings are surprisingly popular, even though only a small percentage of the population is actually Christian. This means that you don't need to be a real priest to perform weddings in Japan!
What qualifications are needed?
While some Japanese language skills would be helpful, fluency is not required. This is a particularly great opportunity for someone who enjoys acting. The majority of these weddings take place on weekends.
Interested?
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please send me a message and I'll be happy to provide you with more details.
Thanks

Kirk here with a post about reducing environmental mercury. This has a strong connection to the Minamata disease issue but will impact people throughout Japan.
By the way, I have a pet peeve about the transition to LED as a replacement to the traditional, Japanese-style "pendant" lights. The problem is, when I had to replace a 10-year-old pendant LED light (even LED will wear out eventually), I could not just replace the main lamp (LED) part -- I had to buy a new "set" (that is the core lamp and the "lamp shade" or kasa [笠]). This means more trash. In the past, I could just replace the fluorescent lamp and continue to use my old shade. Environmental improvement in one sense, more trash and a step back in another. :(
Fluorescent lamp production to end by 2027 to cut mercury risk | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Signatories to the Minamata Convention on Mercury have agreed to ban the manufacture, import and export of straight tube fluorescent lamps by the end of 2027, paving the way for an end to production of all fluorescent lamps used in homes and offices.

Kirk here with some images from an RKK segment on four young women from Myanmar who are working in a facility for elderly people. It includes footage from an event in which they spent some time talking about their work and experiences with local high school students.
Learning to understand the dialects spoken by the elderly residents was one of the difficulties that the women from Myanmar talked about. In the second photo, a high school students explains that suu suu suu (スースースー) means "it's chilly."
I'll put the URL in a comment.

Kirk here with an article about work by a local professor. If you're interested in studying Japanese, you can click on "Japanese version" to see the original.
Japan prof. develops system allowing disabled people to play guitar with 1 hand, foot - The Mainichi
KUMAMOTO -- A university professor here has developed a system to assist people with physical disabilities to play the guitar using one arm and a foot

Kirk again! Here's a share from Kuma Visit. I'll be interested to learn about the feedback that Kuma Visit gets. :)
https://www.facebook.com/kumavisit/posts/pfbid031cs18d6BrFx9kE97J3Yo6TiM8agxEDcoi8NgX7WSeVnr34dg7AWofgyyr7SC98AXl

Kirk here with the results of a survey question directed to residents of Kumamoto. Here's a translation of the question:
--- start translation ---
The number of foreigners living in Kumamoto Prefecture is increasing year by year. What do you think about a society where foreigners and residents live together in the community? (Please mark only one with a circle.)
Desirable 32.9
Somewhat desirable 19.9
Neither 38.4
Not very desirable 6.6
Undesirable 2.2
--- end translation ---
The graph compares this year's results with last year's. The number of folks who saw increased internationalization positively (the two shades of blue) decreased a little and those with negative views (the two shades of yellow) also decreased slightly. All in all, no big change.
Of course, I'd like to see more people viewing the internationalization of Kumamoto positively but, on the other hand, considering that anti-immigrant sentiment is rising in many parts of the world, I'd say the results aren't all that bad.
I'll cite my sources and put other information in comments.

Kirk here. Each year, Saishunkan Seiyakusho puts on a winter light show. The location is the East Bypass (Higashi Bypass) in the Obiyama area. The light show has already started this year and will last until the 25th. I'll put citations and other information in comments.

Kirk here with some statistics on "foreign workers" in Kumamoto. The category of "foreign worker" includes people like me (I'm a worker in the educational sector) but would not include foreign students at my university. I'm not completely sure but I think that the foreign children (those without Japanese citizenship, even if born here) may account for rest of the gap between the total foreign population (now nearly 20,000) and the approximately 15,000 figure in the report.
I'll provide a citation in a comment and some explanatory notes for each graph (if you click on an individual graph, you should be able to see my notes).

William with a heartwarming experience: I ran into my daughter's (who is now 26 and lives in Tokyo) kindergarten teacher, who remembered her and my family.
Sekidai Kindergarten has a very long history, founded in 1888. A look at portraits of headmasters over the decades shows only males until the war and only females after. It has a wonderful location, just in front of Fujisaki Shrine, with its fresh air, broad road, and no traffic. Apparently, they even have English lessons now!
Entering any kindergarten can be difficult due to lack of places, and unlike primary school, is not obligatory. Applications for the coming school year are now being accepted. I found the teachers there to be very welcoming of non-Japanese, both students and parents.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
http://www.kumamoto-kmm.ed.jp/sch/k/k-sekidai/

Kirk here. Former professional baseball player Bobby Rose will come to Kumamoto to coach the Hinokuni Salamanders. If you should happen to read this, Mr. Rose, welcome to Kumamoto!
I'll put citations (picture sources, links to articles in English, etc.) in a comment.

Kirk here with something about the foreign Kumamoto in Kumamoto. The article says that the number of foreigners living in Kumamoto (those with a zairyu [residence] card) is roughly 20,000, about twice what it was 10 years ago.
A saw this segment on TV. I thought is was quite positive and well done. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the video online. If I do, I'll put the URL in a comment. I'll also put the link to the RKK article in a comment. I'm not putting it here because I've learned through experience that I have to trick the Facebook algorithm into thinking that I'm just sharing some of my own pictures if I want more than a handful of people to see my posts.

William Obviously, I would never claim to have any particular knowledge of sword smithy except for one interesting fact I learned long ago: Japanese swords were made from blended levels of steel, with a more malleable core which provided flexibility and a more brittle exterior which held quite an edge. A friend of mine once showed me a sword dating from the Muromachi period: it's blade were like rings on a tree.
A wonderful thing about crowdfunding is it allows accomplishment of worthwhile objectives that would otherwise be ignored, such as the recreation of the legendary "Hotarumaru" (蛍丸). Legend has it that during the Nanbokucho period, the Aso clan (the initial founders of Higo), who lost in a battle with Takauji Ashikaga, had a dream where fireflies gathered around a sword with a chipped blade, and the blade returned to its original state.
A wonderful thing about this project is the skills it drew upon and fosterd. All pieces, such as the hilt, the tsuba (the part that is inserted between the blade and the handle), and the scabbard (the tube that holds the sword) were recreated, finished with wrapped pigskin, and coated with lacquer. Kumanichi has the full article for all of our sword nerds:
名刀「蛍丸」、阿蘇家に再び　制作費募って8年越し復元　鍔や鞘「高い技術再現」阿蘇神社で奉納式｜熊本日日新聞社
　阿蘇神社（阿蘇市）宮司の阿蘇家に伝わり、戦後に所在不明となった国指定重要文化財の大太刀［おおたち］「蛍丸［ほたるまる］」を復元する8年越しのプロジェクトが完了し、18日に同神社で奉納式があった。企画者の...

Kirk here. The TSMC news just keeps coming. The latest is that TSMC is considering building a third factory in Kumamoto to manufacture 3 nanometer chips! I'll put links to various articles in a comment.

Sean here -
Sustainable, fair trade, small, local, upcycle, sustaining our community,our neighbors, our friends, ourselves one purchase at a time.
Ethical choices, Sustainable Futures.
Check the pics for details.

Kirk here. Coming up soon.
https://www.facebook.com/shodoushaku/posts/pfbid02sucsqBESmUEyFRXqyWmktzwj5VH6J97mkpazHRQLccmTqSH3pUsUC3jc3UM5uxfwl