Kumamoto International Archive

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

Kirk here with some news for archeology fans:
"The about 55-centimeter-long iron sword was unearthed from the remains of a tomb from the Kofun period at the site of Kumamoto Castle during an excavation by the city government."
I wasn't even aware of tomb remains being located on the castle grounds.
P.S. The article shows an enhanced image in which kanji are remarkably legible.
Iron Sword Excavated in Kumamoto Inlaid with Characters Possibly Meaning Year 604
KUMAMOTO — Characters that may indicate the year 604 have been discovered on an iron sword that was excavated in April last year from a burial mound in Kumamoto City, the city government announced Friday. Previously, an iron sword inscribed with characters believed to represent the year 608 was ex...

Atsuko here with Noyaki schedule 2023.
Spring is just around the corner.ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Reminder of the No-yaki schedule]
Kusasenri
25 February at 10:30am
Reserve day: 3/4(Saturday), then moved to weekdays.
Aso Foothills (Gogaku area)
2/26㈰ from 9:00am
Reserve days 3/5㈰, 3/12㈰, 3/19㈰, 3/21㈫㈷, 3/26㈰.
Northern Outer Rim, all areas
3/5㈰ from 9:00am
Reserve days 3/12㈰, 3/19㈰, 3/21㈫㈷, 3/26㈰.
Traffic restrictions and other measures will be in place on the surrounding roads on the day of the event.
Please do not park on the roads along the meadow or enter the meadow.
*The time of the fire will vary depending on the weather conditions and the area.

William Kumanichi notes that there is a cat who wears samurai armor (甲冑, かっちゅう, katchyū - kinda sounds like a cat sneeze, doesn't it?) and hangs out at Sakuranobaba Josaien. Named Kotetsu, the 7-year-old male regularly takes walks with her owner, Seiji Nishioka - photo is at the link - wearing red armor with a little cat foot design (as Sandburg noted, "The ninja comes in on little cat feet.") Such a sight would be enough to give one ... paws. Bring your camera and maybe a piece of dried fish.
https://tinyurl.com/yckva3ja

Ruth here with information about St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Kumamoto City ☘️ This year's parade will be held on Saturday, 11th March and it kicks off at 2:30pm from the Kamitori Arcade.
Wear something green and join in the fun!
And, if you want to participate in the local Irish Dance Circle's practice sessions, there'll be more info soon about the schedule for this month. Those who participate will hopefully be present on the 11th March to help showcase a few impromptu dances during the parade itself! 🎶
https://parade.kumamoto-ireland.org/?fbclid=IwAR3vPvgdTJhp9bCTgu0ZgrZnkFnQvUqcrqz5pF2iYD_qYO2rUElA_RR9AMs

Kirk here with a follow-up to the case of Luc Loosveldt, a man who sued Nagasaki University for unfairly terminating his contract:
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230131/p2a/00m/0na/007000c
As I explained in my first post, this is not directly related to Kumamoto but there's an indirect connection in that the origin of this forum can be traced back to a similar labor struggle that occurred in Kumamoto:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid09XNt7G7T9xaei5c46B2z12zmN1Htn6KBWKfUBnweQj1nyPCAd6HdUGD8tf3tK3fel
Japan court nixes univ.'s dismissal of English teacher before unfixed contract eligibility - The Mainichi
NAGASAKI -- A district court here on Jan. 30 ruled that Nagasaki University's termination of a Belgian instructor's employment contract

Kirk here with a Kumanichi article about tattoos and onsen. Main takeaways:
1) Kumamoto tends to be conservative, with few onsen allowing people with tattoos;
2) There's an onsen in Kumamoto (unnamed in the article) that allows people with tattoos to bathe if (a) they are not Japanese and (b) they are able to hide their tattoos with seals.
As an effort to accommodate folks with tattoos the seal idea might be better than nothing but, even though I don't happen to have tattoos myself, I would think it would be pretty much take the pleasure out of a bath if one had to sheepishly hide one's tattoos (culturally identifying symbols in some cases) with plastic seals.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/895948
P.S. If you are interested in finding places that allow tattoos you can find some tips by searching this page with the word "tattoo":
https://www.facebook.com/page/123734781033296/search/?q=tattoo
タトゥーがある人、入浴できる？　大浴場は× 隠せる外国人なら○も　関係者「全面容認難しい」　温泉地でも対応さまざま｜熊本日日新聞社
　メッシやネイマールなどワールドカップで活躍したサッカー選手にも目立つタトゥー（入れ墨）。海外ではファッションやアートとして定着したが、日本国内では反社会的勢力と重なるイメージが強く、阿蘇などの温泉地...

Kirk here. This forum got started as a mailing list to help get the word out about a labor movement involving non-Japanese teachers at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto:
Kumamoto General Union vs. the Prefectural University of Kumamoto: Reviewing the Decision Rendered by the Kumamoto District Court
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.21832/9781847698704-007/html
In that connection, I think the following issue at Nagasaki University is relevant:
English teacher to sue Nagasaki U. over dismissal day before unfixed contract eligibility
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190826/p2a/00m/0dm/013000c?fbclid=IwAR1lBmvb3gLse9KlIIrN80-C-G58eUluQseuleM0gcB_oA5Ilv6X82YvdRQ
Although I haven't seen anything in English yet, Japanese-language reports indicate that he won -- unlike the Kumamoto suit, which ended in defeat.
元助教の雇い止め訴訟長崎大に賃金支払い命じる判決地裁
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nagasaki/20230130/5030017102.html
I'll try to provide more information about the judgment when I have more time or when an English-language article comes out.
P.S. Thanks to Joe Tomei for the heads-up.
English teacher to sue Nagasaki U. over dismissal day before unfixed contract eligibility - The Mainichi
NAGASAKI -- A Belgian instructor of English whose contract with Nagasaki University was ended just before he would have been eligible to claim an unfi

Atsuko here with information about the new Kumamoto Airport.
Damaged by the Kumamoto earthquake, it has been under construction for a long time, but is finally reopening.
It seems to be easier to use for international and domestic flights, and there seems to be more space to spend time in the duty free shop and food and drink areas.
I love watching the planes take off, so I'm glad to see the deck back.ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧
Translated KUMANICHI page.
熊本空港新ビル、広く快適に　3月23日開業へ内部公開　待合エリア1・8倍、30店入居｜熊本日日新聞社
　熊本空港を運営する熊本国際空港（益城町）は27日、3月23日に開業する新旅客ターミナルビルの内部を報道陣に公開した。

Kirk here with sad news.
"Takuya Akiba, 27, allegedly forced the woman, who is in her 20s, to work at various brothels in Tokyo as well as Fukushima, Ehime, Kumamoto, Oita and Okinawa prefectures between October 2021 and March 2022, police said."
:(
Former Tokyo host club worker allegedly forced customer into prostitution
Takuya Akiba, 27, allegedly forced the woman to work at various brothels in Tokyo as well as Fukushima, Ehime, Kumamoto, Oita and Okinawa prefectures.

Kirk here with something I learned about via an RKK news segment today. Japan now has an organization called Nihon Fact Check Center. It's a non-profit organization that debunks unfounded rumors and disinformation that gets spread around on social media and other corners of the internet. Recently, rumors have spread all over Japan that Kumamoto will give voting rights to foreigners to satisfy folks coming here to work at TSMC. This is, of course, NOT the meaning or intent of the use of the word 市民 (shimin). RKK's segment includes a brief statement from Mayor Onishi, in which he seems to be recognizing that the way the city handled the proposal was confusing.
Personally, I'm particularly bothered by the city erasing information it has published on its web site. I wrote about that in a comment to this post:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid02pQzw3J2jPdBpDRpju19RrfaKx4NQe4vZfaZEPXQByQDJb3gLfojBM5TFP9nNKZMel
On the RKK program that narration indicates that rumors about this are continuing to spread. However, since the city has already erased its clarification about how 市民 doesn't mean voting rights, it's that much harder for people to push back against or check such rumors. Of course, now they can look at this fact checking website if they happen to know about it but most people would tend to want to "go to the source" to find out what is really intended. When they do, they will find that "the source" either has little information or seems to be hiding information it has put out earlier. This, of course, may strike people as suspicious behavior on the part of the city and fuel more rumors. At the very least, erasing pages makes it harder to check to see what the original intent was. :(
URL of RKK segment:
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/296248?display=1
「熊本はTSMCの為外国人参政権付与」という趣旨のツイートが拡散していますが、不正確です。話題となっている条例の改正案は、外国籍の住民に選挙権などを新たに付与するものではありません。検証対象熊本市に隣接す...

Kirk here. As Kuma Visit explains, In Kumamoto dialect "wasamon" means a person who likes the latest fashions, new things, gadgets, etc. Mr. Murakami's sign says "wasamons," combining Kumamoto dialect with the English "s" to designate plural (people in Kumamoto who like new stuff). In the video linked to in Kuma Visit's post lots of people talk, in Kumamoto dialect, about how they're taking a new (wasamon?) approach to promoting Kumamoto. It made me smile. :)
By the way, here's a little note on the etymology of わさもん. If you were to write it in kanji it would be 早生者. In standard Japanese, 早生 can be read "wase" and means "an early variety of rice." This word can also be written 早稲, which is how it is written in the Waseda, the name of the university (Waseda [早稲田] literally means "field of an early variety of rice"). In the word "wasamon," "wase" came to be pronounced "wasa." The second part "者" (もん) is normally もの (mono) in standard Japanese but is pronounce "mon" in Kumamoto dialect. It means "person." This is the same "mon" as the one in Kumamon (literally "bear person").
Before posting today, I had to look up the etymology. I referred to the following page:
https://kumaque.com/kumamoto-dialect/1888
If you read Japanese, you might want to read about how wasamon fashions in Kumamoto have be referred to when major brands like Louis Vuitton and Uniqlo were preparing to establish new stores in Tokyo (Amazing, isn't it?!).
https://www.facebook.com/kumavisit/posts/pfbid02QdgADbjC5ktqP8v2NMzRnjWCWedgC3ZLeqjQ6z89CsQUeNKZGUZtBKvu8dtaarZtl
くまもと観光PR/村上宗隆選手が発表！くまもとワサモンズ　Long ver
ワサモンとは、熊本弁で「新しいもの好き」。熊本市親善大使である、東京ヤクルトスワローズの村上宗隆選手が背番号55にちなんだキャンペーンを発表！伝統を革新する、55人のHEROESとスポットを一挙紹介。さらに、限定.....

Kirk here introducing an RKK news video about students at my university (Kumamoto Gakuen) who experienced zen meditation (zazen). The name of the temple is Kenshoji. I'm not sure if they provide such experiences for visitors on a regular basis but I'll append some links to information about the temple in case you are interested.
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/293828?display=1
https://www.tsuboi-haneikai.jp/spots/101/
https://asukashaji.co.jp/tesimonials/myoshinji-school-kenshoji/
「体が落ち着いた」精神統一！警策でバチン！留学生たちが「禅（ZEN）」を体験 | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
体験を通して日本文化を学ぼうと熊本学園大学が行っているユニークな授業を取材しました。記者「今こちらの本堂では座禅会が行われているのですが、参加しているのは留学生です」日本文化のひとつ「禅」について学…

Atsuko with photos of today's snow.
Many readers may think that there was no snow in the forecast of a big cold wave and heavy snowfall, but there was a lot of snow in the western and southern wards of Kumamoto City.
I live in Minami Ward and work in Nishi Ward, and the morning traffic jams were terrible.
The playground at the elementary school where I work is completely white. I enjoyed having snowball fights and building snowmen with the children.
The snowy mountains in the distance are Unzen.
It will be cold tonight. Please watch out for icy roads.(๑˃ᴗ˂)و

Kirk here. Chilly, isn't it! The Kumanichi says that we may have as much as 25 centimeters of snow in mountainous areas and 15 centimeters in the rest of Kumamoto. I don't think I've ever seen 15 centimeters of show on the ground in Kumamoto City so I'll be quite surprised if we really do get that much -- but who knows? Take care
大雪に警戒を、平野部も積雪15センチ予想　強風、交通に乱れも　今冬一番の寒気｜熊本日日新聞社
　九州上空に流れ込んでいるこの冬一番の強い寒気を受け、熊本地方気象台が県内に大雪への警戒を呼びかけている。25日午前6時までの24時間の降雪量予想は、山地25センチ、平地15センチ。

Kirk here with what I view as good news for human rights in Japan. This local ruling made national news today. And, there's actually a fairly direct connection too this forum. I'll connect the dots: (1) This forum grew out of a movement to help embattled non-Japanese teachers and the Prefectural University of Kumamoto (Kumamoto International started as a mailing list to help get word out to people in the community about what we were doing); (2) When that labor dispute became a lawsuit, HIGASHI Toshihiro was one of our lawyers; (3) The lead lawyer for the plaintiff in this forced sterilization case is also Mr. Higashi, who now teaches at Kumamoto Gakuen University. If you watch the NHK video you'll see Mr. Higashi sitting next to the plaintiff, also in a wheelchair.
Japan court orders third forced sterilization payout | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
A district court in southwestern Japan has ordered the government to compensate two people who were forced to undergo sterilization under the now-defunct Eugenic Protection Law.

Olivia,
Writing from Hiroshima 😃
Wishing all readers who celebrate Lunar New Year, a Happy Lunar New Year 2023
新年快樂春節快樂
This year it falls on 22 January.
(It was yesterday)
Lunar New Year is celebrated for 15-day long.
The 15th day marks the first full moon after the Spring Festival and of the New Year.
It is also known as 元宵節 (yuán xiāo jié) meaning "first night of the full moon".
The day is as well known as Lantern Festival day.
(description from Google search)
So the greetings normally stops at the 15th day, to change into 元宵節快樂（yuán xiāo jié Kuàilè ）🏮
We celebrated New Year (お正月) this year.
I did not really count the days from the first day.
So when I returned to work on January 12, met my colleagues, I still said 明けましておめでとうございます (Happy New Year) to my Japanese colleagues, as it was first day for me to see them at work this year.
I have a feeling that even if I returned to work on the 16th, and if it was first time for me to see my colleagues, I would have had said 明けましておめでとうございます to people whom I saw at first time at work that year.
The terms “今年も宜しくお願いします” has some weights too to start a new year working together in Japan.
Oshōgatsu has its own length of days to celebrate. It seems to be celebrated at different lengths of days in different areas in Japan. It would be an interesting conversation topic to talk about when I see my Japanese friend 🙂
Happy Lunar Year 2023 🍊🍊

Kirk here with information about a local (Arao) clothing manufacturer:
--- start quote ---
Under the umbrella of Ichibo, LTD., IITO is a Kumamoto-based apparel brand that completes every step of its clothing manufacturing domestically – something fairly rare in the Japan of today. IITO has a “70-year history of spinning yarn,” crafting simple, understated t-shirts and hoodies with a high-quality, soft feel. Just like the concept of Fueki Ryuko, IITO strives to create clothing that is fashionable and yet never goes out of fashion. Their dedication to high quality is reflected in their brand name: IITO, or “ii ito.” (いい糸, “good yarn.”)
--- end quote ---
Related URLs:
https://www.ichibo.jp/user_data/iito
https://www.ichibo.co.jp/about/
https://unseenjapan.com/explore-japanese-minimalism-with-setsugekka/
Explore Japanese Minimalism with Setsugekka - Unseen Japan
Taking its name from a poem dedicated to the world of natural beauty, Setsugekka is a new select shop focusing on Japanese minimalism.

Kirk here, with some news about accidental emergency calls:
"Accidental calls to Kumamoto Prefectural Police, meanwhile, nearly doubled from about 5,050 in 2021 to some 10,000 in 2022 (as of Dec. 25). "
Android phones may be behind surge in pocket-dialed emergency calls in Japan - The Mainichi
Pocket-dialed emergency calls to police have surged across Japan, particularly from smartphones running Google's Android operating system, possibly du

Kirk here with onsen news. I seem to recall that Kurokawa was once ranked number 1 in Japan but it's still pretty high on the list of great onsen areas to visit:
--- start quote (emphasis added) ---
2023 ranking of best hot spring resorts in Japan
1 Hakone (Kanagawa Prefecture)
2 Kusatsu (Gunma Prefecture)
3 Noboribetsu (Hokkaido)
4 Dogo (Ehime Prefecture)
5 Beppu (Oita Prefecture)
𝟔 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐰𝐚 (𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞)
7 Arima (Hyogo Prefecture)
8 Atami (Shizuoka Prefecture)
9 Yufuin (Oita Prefecture)
--- end quote ---
Hakone reclaims position as most popular onsen resort in Japan | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture has reclaimed its position as the nation’s most popular hot spring resort after being surprisingly ousted last year, according to a survey.

Kirk here with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Kumamoto City is in the final stages of considering a plan to formally recognize people without Japanese citizenship as "citizens" (市民; shimin; literally "people of the city" or "members of the community"). The bad news is that they are getting significant backlash, largely as a result of disinformation and anti-foreign rants on the web.
Now, the idea of calling non-Japanese people who live in Kumamoto "shimin," is merely symbolic; it doesn't mean that we would get to vote or anything. Rather, it would recognize us as members of the community -- not just "others" to be used and/or tolerated until we are sent home. And, my understanding from a Kumanichi article (link below) is that it would be the first such use of the word "shimin" in Japan -- formal recognition of foreigners as "member of the community."
I learned about this from RKK today because public comment on the new wording has been largely negative. One misunderstanding is that it would mean that we get to vote -- which is NOT a privilege that the wording would bestow on us. Another element, of course, is the same kind of anti-immigrant sentiment that is so apparent today in the U.S. and Europe; even if the majority don't share those small-minded views, the minority is quite vocal and the internet helps them mobilize people who share their fears, misunderstandings, and/or bigotry.
I'll end my English-language comments here and append my own submission to the "public comment" collection. Unfortunately, the deadline was the 18th. Sorry I couldn't let you know about it earlier but I only learned about it a few hours ago myself.
「熊本市自治基本条例の一部改正（素案）」に関するパブリックコメント（意見公募）について
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/Detail.aspx?c_id=5&id=45930
先ほど、私は次の意見を提出しました。
--- 提出した意見はここから ---
熊本市で長く暮らしている外国人の一人として、第２条(2)の「市民次のいずれかに該当するもの（外国の国籍を有する者を含む。）をいいます。」に強く賛成します。この改正がなされれば、私は一層熊本に誇りを持ち、ネット等を通して、熊本のPRができます。また、寄せられる意見の中には反対意見の方が多いとの報道を見ましたが、SNS等で、偏見や誤解に基づいた反対論が広まりやすいことを十分に考慮していただきたいと思います。つまり、寄せられる意見の傾向と日本人市民一般の意見の傾向を同一視しないことをお願いしたい次第です。私自身は今日、テレビのニュースで初めて改正案の内容、そしてその改正案に対する反対意見が多いことを知りました。日本人の熊本市民の中にも私と同様に今まで知らなかった人が多いのではないでしょうか。十分な議論ができるように、審議機関を延長することは良いかと思いますが、この大切な文言を一部の人の反対意見で削除することがないようにお願いします。よろしくお願いします。
蛇足ですが、反対意見の方々に、私たちは市民税を納めていることを忘れないでいただきたいと思います。どうしても私たちを「市民」と呼ぶことに反対する方々に対しては、「では、私の市民税の免除に賛成しますか」と聞きたいのです。
--- 提出した意見は以上 ---
RKKの報道は
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/281947?display=1
熊日は次の記事をネットで公開しています。
https://kumanichi.com/articles/907811
「外国人も『市民』へ」熊本市の条例改正案に反対意見多数　そこには「選挙権」への誤解が… | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
熊本市の条例で「市民」を定義する文言に「外国人も含める」と明記する案に対し、反対意見が相次ぎました。熊本市は「誤解に基いている意見だ」としています。熊本市の条例改正についての素案の中で、市民の定義の…