Kumamoto International Archive

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

Kirk here with some Kumamon news. Here's busy guy:
"The upcoming episode will revolve around the 'Susure! Churu Churu☆Festival' in Oishina Town, during which various kinds of noodles are featured. Kumamon will show up at the festival as a special guest."
Kumamoto Mascot Kumamon Eats His Way Into the Delicious Party Precure Anime
Kumamon will enjoy some noodles at the "Susure! Churu Churu☆Festival" in Oishina Town

Kirk here sharing an article on the creation of an new faculty at Kumamoto University. The idea is to create a faculty that focuses on high tech and English. It is at least loosely associated with the new TSMC chip plant being built here. On RKK I heard that this is the first creation of an entirely new faculty at Kumamoto University in decades -- since the creation of the 文学部 (Bungakubu; Faculty of Letters?) and the 法学部 (Hogakubu; Faculty of Law?). Students from Sojo University and Tokai University will also be able to take courses online in the faculty.
"DX" seems to be a key word that will probably be used in the name of the faculty -- at the very least it is being used in its promotion now. DX is short for "digital transformation." Here's how Wikipedia defines digital transformation: "Digital transformation entails considering how products, processes and organisations can be changed through the use of new, digital technologies."
If, like me, you find yourself wondering why it's "DX" and not "DT," check this out:
How did “trans-” become “x-”?
https://painintheenglish.com/case/1053
Like many acronyms used in Japan, DX seems to be getting used a lot because its considered to be a cool new word -- not necessarily because it's the best word for the context and certainly not because it effectively communicates what will be taught in the new faculty. The article says "英語やDX人材の教育に力を入れ・・・" So they are going to focus on teaching English and educating "DX" people. If you can answer the question "What is a DX person?" in 200 words or less, you should get a prize (but I don't have any prizes to give out :( ).
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOJC133ZA0T11C22A0000000/
熊本大学、24年度に「半導体学部」新設へ　TSMC進出で
熊本大学は2024年度、半導体人材を育成する学部相当の「情報基盤融合学環」（仮称）を新設する。半導体受託生産の世界最大手、台湾積体電路製造（TSMC）が熊本県内で工場建設を進める中、人材育成が急務となっている。....

Kirk here with more on the influence of Unification Church (the Moonies) in Kumamoto -- my "Kumamoon" series.
The other day I posted about the Japanese version of the English-language article I'm introducing today:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid0WNANrFt6hdJxadXGWwiSxpovUy9i25DdpGfN4yHu8UQRdCC6AQ7d2S3Kx9sh9sf5l
This English-language article starts as follows:
--- start quote ---
An organization related to the Unification Church has been behind various pushes from Kumamoto Prefecture for a “family education” law that critics say would allow government interference for the “good of the nation.” Kumamoto is the prefecture with the most assemblies that have passed and submitted such opinion papers to the Diet calling for a law to support family education.
--- end quote ---
So, now it's in black and white, published in English by a reputable Japanese newspaper. If you read this page regularly, you may be aware that I've been writing about the "family education" ordinance for some time and wondering why the media, particularly the local media, was virtually silent on the issue. The Kumanichi is still relatively quiet. I'll post about that later but I searched their database and could not find any articles that even came close to focusing on this issue as the Asahi paper has done.
One point that I neglected to mention in my previous post about the Japanese article is that there have been some voices of dissent along the way. The following quote is about the objection of a member Ashikita's legislature to the passage of a resolution calling for the establishment of a national "family education" law:
--- start quote ---
Minutes show that a Japanese Communist Party member raised objections because of the danger that a sense of values convenient to the central government would be forced on families in the name of family support.
--- end quote ---
Conversely, here's an example of a politician lying through his teeth:
--- start quote ---
The former head of the prefectural board of education said he left the submittal of the requests to local assemblies entirely up to the secretary-general. He added that Kumamoto Pure Forum had absolutely no ties to the Unification Church.
--- end quote ---
OK. This makes me angry. I'm going to out this guy. His name is 田中力男 (TANAKA Rikio). As the quote says, he is the former head of the prefectural board of education. You can see his connections to the not-so "pure" forum here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220816022731mp_/https://pure-22jimdosite.com/会社概要/
This page is from the "WayBack" archive. It's necessary to point to this because the Moonies have been trying to cover their tracks. There is some interesting stuff on this page about getting rid of "dangerous" books (有害図書撤去) and the "problems" of "LGBT" and same-sex marriage, but I'll leave those aside for now. Tanaka is quoted as saying that the group had "absolutely no ties to the Unification Church." Yah, right. His partner is listed on the page as 稲富安信 (Yasunobu Inatomi). I'll refrain from linking directly to his Facebook page but you can find it easily enough. I'm not "friends" with him but I can read his public comments. Here's one: "神様やご先祖様に、霊界を尊重する信教の自由が差別され無視され排除されようとする社会にいつの間にか日本社会は変貌してしまいました。" He's complaining about how the world has suddenly turned against the Moonies and are discriminating against them. His public posts are filled with comments like this. He was the head of the Moonie-related anti-Communist group "国際勝共連合," as this Tweet from Suzuki Eito, a leading anti-Moonie journalist, illustrates:
https://twitter.com/cult_and_fraud/status/973841786446770177
So, even the Asahi seems to be quite timid about challenging the lies of well-connected politicians like Tanaka. Even though I applaud the Asahi's journalism, the decision not to name Tanaka and Inatomi for actions and comments that should be part of the public record mystifies me.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14739369
Unification Church-linked group lobbied for family education | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
An organization related to the Unification Church has been behind various pushes from Kumamoto Prefecture for a “family education” law that critics say would allow government interference for the “good of the nation.”

William Personal note: My son, who has moved to Tokyo, will marry a Tokyoite (Edo-kko, 江戸っ子). My wife's health prevents us from traveling up to Tokyo for their wedding, so her parents came down to Kumamoto to meet us. They (and his bride) are the sweetest people imaginable.
We took them to the restaurant Shiromiyagura (城見櫓), which means "Turret with a View of the Castle" - and, wow, what a view, with a façade mimicking the castle. Note that the ceiling lights mimic ginkgo leaves (銀杏, Ichō), which is the castle's symbol - the castle is often referred to as 銀杏城 (gin'nanjō). It is the type of restaurant with individual, private rooms for dining. There were six of us, and we were assigned a room of appropriate size. The servers all wear kimono and glide in and out quietly with a half-dozen courses of delicacies.
Obviously, it is not the type of establishment where one would dine daily. However, should a special occasion arise such as relatives visiting from your home country who you REALLY want to impress, I give it five stars+. (Disclaimer: my daughter's high school classmate works there.)
https://www.shiromiyagura.com/

William Live long enough and learn new words: "geoglyph" (地上絵, chijō e ga) is a character or image carved into the earth. There's a really big one of Kumamon in Shimoezu. Bring your camera-carrying drone and send us your photos. There's also a stand from which one can view it for ¥500.
見てね！くまモンの巨大地上絵　「江津湖みなも祭り」4年ぶり登場｜熊本日日新聞社
　水前寺江津湖公園（熊本市東区）の広木地区の緑地に「くまモン」の巨大地上絵が12日、お目見えした。15、16日に一帯で開く「江津湖みなも祭り」に合わせ、公園の指定管理者の市造園建設業協会が制作した。

William Katô Kiyomasa famously killed a tiger with a spear during one of his two invasions of Korea. He clearly was not a man to be trifled with, particularly if one were a tiger. He was born in Owari (now Aichi) and participated in Hideyoshi's Kyushu Campaign in 1587, for which he was given the northern half of Higo, now Kumamoto Prefecture, and built the castle.
The Christian Konishi Yukinaga received the southern half, centered in Yatsushiro. Kiyomasa despised Christians and held a particular grudge against Konishi, so he went to war and disposed of him. He then destroyed Konishi's castle except for one turret, which he had dismantled and reassembled at his. Thus, it is known as "Uto Yagura" ("yagura" means turret). This means that Uto Yagura is older than the castle itself.
Kumanichi reports on plans to again dismantle the turret for restoration, a project projected to take ten years. In the meantime, a special walkway has been prepared in order to view the restoration.
SamuraiWiki is self-explanatory. You can read more than you probably want to know about Kato Kiyomasa here: https://samurai-archives.com/wiki/Kato_Kiyomasa
https://kumanichi.com/articles/817845
地震被災の熊本城宇土櫓、解体復旧へ着々　素屋根造りで準備　見学ルートを一部規制｜熊本日日新聞社
　熊本市熊本城総合事務所は、熊本地震で被災した熊本城の宇土櫓［やぐら］（国指定重要文化財）の解体復旧工事に着手した。復旧完了まで、10年かかる見通し。それに伴い、見学ルート北口の一部規制を始めた。平日と....

William with another post on "where the water is."
Sadly, today I must introduce the town of Saltivka in Ukraine, which sounds much like Kumamoto:
"Saltivka is on the edge of town next to a spring. I associate it with the smell of fresh grass; with water and a river. You have a strong attachment to somewhere and it becomes a wasteland, devoid of life. It’s better to move on.”
I have lived with the smell of fresh grass and water for over 30 years in Oe and cannot imagine the heartbreak of seeing a lifetime of work and memories destroyed - in many cases (such as mine), generations - and being forced to leave.
This evening, I contacted Corona, the company that makes inexpensive kerosene heaters, about donating to Ukraine. Russia has cut their natural gas supply and winter looms. I will let you know if I receive a response.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/10/everything-has-gone-liberated-ukrainians-on-rebuilding-kharkiv

Kirk here with a major scoop. Kumamon has been in cahoots with the Moonies!! Well, actually, to be fair, it's probably more a matter of Kumamon getting used by the Moonies. Here's the story . . .
A long time ago, I learned that the Moonies were pushing regional governments to pass "family education" ordinances:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/167033417187237/posts/1164986174058618/
My original source didn't mention Kumamoto but, being quite interested in this place, I naturally wondered if this might not have happened in Kumamoto too. Well, to my surprise, the answer was not so much a matter of "Kumamoto too" but rather "Kumamoto takes the lead in passing the Moonie agenda."
The cute photo of Kumamon promoting the "Kumamoto Family Education Support Ordinance" was taken from the following page:
https://www.nga.gr.jp/pref_info/tembo/2013/04/post_2219.html
This article was published on the National Governors' Association website in 2013, shortly after the Ordinance was passed by the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly in 2012 -- making it the first such ordinance published in Japan.
"First such ordinance" sounded kind of cool at the time. In fact, the prefecture wanted to get the word out about it because they viewed it as their "accomplishment." Now, however, there's another similar sounding words that seems to fits the passage of this particular piece of legislation: "accomplice" to the Moonies.
It has since become clear that this kind of legislation has been a high priority for the Moonies throughout Japan. In Kumamoto, the legislation has been pushed by the "Kumamoto Pure Forum," a Moonie-linked group. I mentioned the not so "pure" forum in this post:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid0tqh8GMqeN1ywbzH13thfts6N8FxKznsLKKgmioyS7x84TVG891fC8PwURFYYDP2Ml
Just by piecing together bits of information from various articles, TV shows, and web pages, it became clear to me (as I think I indicated in my posts) that politicians in Kumamoto had been actively cooperating with the Moonies, particularly with regard to he tpassage of this "family education" (viz., "traditional family values") legislation. So, I was wondering why the media wasn't taking a harder look at what had transpired in Kumamoto.
Well, at long last, it would seem that the tide is beginning to turn in that regard. Today, the Asahi paper published a significant article calling out local politicians for the extent to which they have been in bed with the Moonies:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8c61b0d999774d95834ea2aaf56bebe867bf7f2e
In addition to the 2012 ordinance passed by the Prefectural assembly, the article looks at calls from regional legislatures for the establishment of a national "Family Education" law ("Hey, instead of doing this one-legislative-body-at-a-time, let's just give the Moonies what they want on a national scale!!"). The legislatures who passed resolutions calling on the national government to pass the Moonie-approved law are (drum role please):
Kumamoto-ken
Ashikita-machi
Uto-shi
Tamana-shi
Kami-Amakusa-shi
Minami-Aso-mura
Aso-shi
Arao-shi
The article says that 34 legislatures have passed such resoltions nationally. So, 8 out of 34 makes Kumamoto an usually powerful ally of the Moonies' push to get the law passed.
The article doesn't mention the names of some of the people involved, choosing instead to say stuff like "a man . . ." But, even with my limited knowledge I usually know who they are talking about. I'm not sure why they don't just come out and name the people involved.
It's interesting to me that this investigative reporting was done by the Asahi paper -- not the Kumanich, the paper with the largest readership in Kumamoto. I have a feeling that the Kumanichi may be too susceptible to pressures from the politicians who are getting called out in this Asahi article.

William I've written about this before, but with Halloween approaching, a reminder: Lafcadio Hearn, once a Kumamoto resident, ebooks are available free at gutenberg.org. One appropriate for this season is "In Ghostly Japan." As it is a collection of short stories - some just a few pages long - it is appropriate for language classes. Though written over a century ago, the English is remarkably fresh. Some of the stories are very, very scary.
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/8128

Kirk here with information about an upcoming event in Yatsushiro. I checked the Japanese side of the site and apparently it's too late to get reservations for the paid seating but there should be lots of free spots on the grounds from which you can enjoy the show in the sky.
Event title: The 35th Yatsushiro National Fireworks Competition Festival
Date: Oct. 15th, 2022 (Saturday)
Location: The flood plain of Kumagawa River in Yatsushiro City (upstream from the Shin Hagiwara Bridge)
https://www.kinasse-yatsushiro.jp/hanabi/overview/en/

Kirk here observing that the COVID-19 threat just ain't what it used to be. Kumamoto Prefecture downgraded from Level 2 to 1. This is the first time since all of this started to be at this low level of alert.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/4bcc4e1edc0e2c13c5091a868c1f6c652b28b8a5?fbclid=IwAR3asIT_novIBwuCJxmVJ2eFcrYjx2KvlIAVULayRgTudvcMzaVEz65-TNU
熊本県　新型コロナのリスクレベル「１」に引き下げ（TKUテレビ熊本） - Yahoo!ニュース
熊本県は７日、新型コロナのリスクレベルを『２・警戒強化』から『１・維持すべき』に引き下げました。『レベル１』は５段階のリスクレベルのうち下から２番目です。引き下げの理由として、直近１週間の県内の

Kirk here with an event that is planned for October 30th (still a ways off): "Free Professional Consultation for Non-Japanese Residents"
I was asked to share this on Kumamoto International by a friend at the International Center, where the event will be held. I think they provide consultation services quite regularly but my impression is that this one-day event will give people free access to professionals that do not participant in the normal consultations. If you hvea some sort of issue that has made you think "Maybe I should get some profession help with this," then this event may be for you.
There's a QR code to a webpage on the flier. Here's that URL:
https://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/dynamic/entry/pub/ansform.aspx?c_id=24&entry_ins=53

William A reader asks about notary services in Kumamoto which would be accepted in the United States. Such a service is available at the US Consulate in Fukuoka, yet the reader does not want to travel so far.
If anyone is aware of such a notary service in Kumamoto, please let us know below.

Kirk here. I got an inquiry about getting a Master's degree in teaching English as a second lanugage without leaving Kumamoto. Unfortunately, I don't know much about this topic. If any of you who have looked into this, thought about it, or actually done it would be willing to share your wisdom, please do so in a comment.

Kirk here. It seems that Kumamoto University is establishing an "International Manga Education Research Center" and that they hope it will attract students and researchers from overseas.
It seems that the university has been keeping this under wraps until now -- I've asked a person who I thought would be intimately involved with the such a center and they/he/she hadn't heard about it. I looked for websites (both English and Japanese) but came up empty-handed.
About thirty years ago, fairly soon after I started teaching at Kumamoto Gakuen University, I asked if they would buy some copies of The Silent Service (Chinmoku no Kantai) because there was some controversy about it and I thought it might be interesting to read it with students and then discuss it in a seminar I was teaching. The reply was "We won't buy any comic books. That would lower the level of our university." I thought it was a little odd that the person who was telling me this was not on the faculty but rather a full-time member of the staff. He's retired now but if I had a time machine I'd sort like to go back to the 1990s show him this RKK segment and say "My idea isn't crazy. Look what Kumadai is going to do!"
P.S. In regard to the controversy about The Silent Service, the Wikipedia article about it says this:
"Some international readers and viewers were uncomfortable with the storyline. There were many arguments among international critics that the series is promoting the idea of militarism. The manga was discussed in the Japanese Diet and was popular with the Self-Defense Force."
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/171548?display=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Service
熊本大学に「国際マンガ学教育研究センター」設置　『マンガ県くまもと』を後押し | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
熊本大学が新たな研究センターで「マンガ県くまもと」の構想を後押しします。上岡梨紗アナウンサー「みなさんに馴染みのある、このマンガそのものを研究するセンターが今月（10月）設置されました」熊本大学は10…

William Good news for American citizens: The US Embassy invites voters to send their ballot to the Tokyo Embassy, who will in turn foot the bill to return them to the States. This will save mucho dinero. Info at the link: https://jp.usembassy.gov/services/voting/
Also, while there, sign up for their email alerts - they're sometimes useful.
Voting in U.S. Elections
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Kirk here with a link to an extensive article that has lots of pictures about cool stuff to do and see in Kumamoto. I was particularly interested in the photos about rafting on the Kumagawa.
Dreaming of a Japanese adventure: explore Kumamoto
Nature lovers will revel in the active volcanoes, wild rivers and bike and hiking paths in picturesque Kumamoto Prefecture, central Kyushu, Japan.

William Kumamoto's beloved streetcar system opened in 1924. As part of its 100th anniversary, they have adopted a novel approach: to crowdfund in order to reproduce the design of a streetcar from the 1950s, when the system was at its peak, on one of its particularly dilapidated cars.
According to the City Transportation Bureau, 24 of the 54 vehicles owned by the city are more than 60 years old, with the oldest 71 years old. For crowdfunding, 13 donation amounts ranging from 3,000 yen to 300,000 yen are set on the hometown tax payment site "Furusato Choice".
As incentives, the city will offer the right to charter the ultra-low-floor train “COCORO” (300,000 yen), the right to participate in an exchange meeting to talk about the history of streetcars with officials of the Transportation Bureau (30,000 yen), the tape of the in-car announcement in the 1970s ( 10,000 yen), and other unique items.
Those interested can contact the Municipal Transportation Bureau: ☎096(361)5211.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/811237?utm_source=kumanichi&utm_medium=mail&utm_campaign=newsletter

Kirk here with baseball news. A segment on a late-night news program called Hodo Station focused on the roots of Murakami's success in Kumamoto (father's coaching, progress in school, etc.).
Murakami hits season's 56th homer in Japan baseball, topping legend Oh | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
In Japanese professional baseball, Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Murakami Munetaka has racked up his 56th home run of the season, topping the record held by legend Oh Sadaharu.

William Wildlife in the city is limited due to strict measures on culling. Still, it's not unusual to see mustelidae and tanuki even in Oe (though not nearly as often as before all the "mansions" were built).
"Tanuki" is one of those Japanese words that have been adopted into English, though it is sometimes referred to as a "racoon dog" (despite being neither racoon nor dog).
The animal has a deep place in Japanese folklore. This Wikipedia entrance is definitely worth a read for those interested in Japanese taxonomy and culture. (Being known for their fertility, they are often portrayed as having huge testicles, as the below image shows.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog