Kumamoto International Archive

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

Kirk here with an update on Le Thi Thuy Linh's case:
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The defense team appealed to the Supreme Court. The top court has decided to hear arguments from both sides in February next year. The defendant said in a statement that she is very happy to hear the news. She said she hopes the justices will listen to what she has to say and acquit her.An organization supporting foreign technical trainees has been collecting signatures seeking her acquittal.
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This renews my faith in Japan's judicial system!
Japan's top court to review case of abandonment of twin baby bodies | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Japan's Supreme Court has decided to hear arguments from the defense team and prosecutors over a case in which a Vietnamese technical trainee allegedly abandoned the bodies of stillborn twins she gave birth to. The decision suggests the lower courts' guilty verdicts could be overturned.

William Reposting something I wrote on my private page. Kumamoto University Hospital requires a referral from another hospital for treatment - a sign at the entrance states "No walk-ins allowed." However, once in, the treatment is world-class. That we see the same doctor each time (a young, passionate guy) is important as he gets to know quite well his patient. The nurses in the chemo ward are extremely cheerful - the ward rings with their laughter, a sign of a good working environment.
Let's hope you're never ill enough to go there - but be relieved that, if worst happens, we have that wonderful hospital.

Kirk here sharing a post to the "Community" page of Kumamoto International from Lily M. The Community page is where posts to the page go when they are made by someone who isn't registered as an editor.
There's one more post on that page that I need to share like this. Sometimes I don't notice right away when a new post is dropped in so if you've posted and you'd like me to share it (more eyeballs, you know), drop me a line. :)
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/8270137816392911

Kirk here with a historical puzzle. It seems that a bathing area that was hidden in a basement in some part of Hitoyoshi Castle. There's speculation about whether or not it has connections to a Jewish mikveh or to the Myoken sect of Buddhism. My biggest takeaway from the article is that it is quite unique and that's what's making scholars scratch their heads. Conjecture about a connection to Judaism strikes me as rather tenuous and far fetched but it's interesting to me that the possibility of such a connection is even being considered. (The idea is that conversos [Jews forced to convert Christianity] who came to Japan with other Europeans might have had something to do with the bath.)
Experts baffled by mystery of old bathing facility in castle ruins | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
HITOYOSHI, Kumamoto Prefecture--Experts are still at a loss why a rectangular bathing area existed in a basement, which was discovered within the premises of the ruins of Hitoyoshi Castle here a quarter of a century ago.

Fiona here, sharing a post written by Charmaine that appeared on the 'Community' page of Kumamoto-i a few days ago.
Have you perhaps noticed the beautiful ‘freebie’ Christmas cards on the main desk at the Kumamoto International Center? Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to purchase a whole pack of ten with profits going towards publishing the forthcoming picture book ‘Double or Half?’ as well as towards supporting Team Tonakai’s Christmas Toy Drive 🎅! A purchase before December 10th also gives you one entry into a draw to win one of my homemade mini English Christmas cakes!
www.charmaine-minami.com

Kirk with news about Kumamoto's teacher shortage. The images are from a video of an RKK news broadcast and the webpage that presents that video. According to the RKK report, Kumamoto's teacher shortage is more severe than that of any other prefecture. The total number of unfilled slots was 97 as of May of this year. Even that is an improvement over the last year's 128 but, in comparison to other prefectures, the situation in Kumamoto is currently the worst.
A proposed solution to the problem is to recruit "paper teachers" -- people who are technically qualified to teach (have the license, etc.) but are not actually teaching now. (The expression is a variation on "paper driver" -- a Japanese coinage meaning "person with a license who doesn't actually drive.") Unfortunately for non-Japanese readers of this page, I suspect that Japanese citizenship is required, but I'm not sure. [Postscript: Not required. See comments below.]
The news about teachers in Kumamoto has been awful lately. A teacher whose verbal and physical abuse led to the suicide of one student and diagnoses of PTSD in others continued to teach at the elementary school level long after his bad behavior had become known. He was only recently fired. I don't know if the teach shortage has anything to do with the reticence to fire bad teachers but it's one possibility. There have been other reports about teacher malfeasance.
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/223112?display=1

Kirk here. Kumamoto's Taniguchi came close to scoring in the early part of the game. They lost but it was a good game.
Japan's World Cup run ends with shootout heartbreak against Croatia
The Samurai Blue's dreams of reaching their first-ever FIFA World Cup quarterfinals were dashed by the runner-up of the 2018 edition.

Kirk here. "Mayors of nine major cities — Chiba, Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Niigata, Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, Nagoya, Osaka, Okayama, Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto — admitted to having had links." Unfortunately, this article only scratches the surface in regard to Kumamoto. I'm planning to post more information about this later. Don't touch that dial! (Note for young folks: This is a reference to a time when analogue TV channels were actually changed with a dial. :) )
Over 330 prefectural assembly members had ties with Unification Church
Of the 334 prefectural assembly members who admitted to past contact with the Unification Church, 279 belonged to the LDP, 11 to Komeito, and seven each to main opposition parties.

Kirk here with news that 1 in 3 people in Kumamoto have COVID-19 antibodies: "Of Japan's 47 prefectures, Okinawa marked the highest antibody prevalence rate, at 46.6 pct, followed by Osaka, at 40.7 pct, Kagoshima, at 35.2 pct, Kyoto, at 34.9 pct, and Kumamoto, at 32.9 pct. The proportion was the lowest in Nagano, at 9.0 pct, second lowest in Tokushima, at 13.1 pct, and third lowest in Ehime, at 14.4 pct."
COVID-19 Antibody Prevalence Rate at 26.5 Pct in Japan - JIJI PRESS
NEWS,JIJI PRESS,jiji.com

Kirk here with an article about how Arao's "OMOYAI Taxi program combines the most useful parts of buses and taxis, with some flashy new technology added to make it run efficiently."
Is it a bus or a taxi? For some small Japanese towns, the answer is both
Hybrid mobility services are helping cater to Japan's older citizens, many of whom live in areas where traditional forms of public transport are lacking.

Kirk here with football / soccer news: "The Japanese defence, with Shogo Taniguchi and Ko Itakura either side of Yoshida were brilliant." That's Shogo Taniguchi, alumnus of Ozu High School, mind you:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid02YZre2i8DnQ2Qe52WpdbWFDCHsr4z49BRALtBscoQMicSjK6e57z6z2cFH2r2rj92l
I heard on RKK that he played the whole game.
And, I guess some the folks in Qatar like what they've seen:
"Japan defender Taniguchi to join Qatar's Al Rayyan"
https://nordot.app/971373390144913408?c=776487456938950656
https://theathletic.com/3959434/2022/12/01/japan-spain-world-cup-group-e-qualify/
Japan have beaten Germany and Spain — who knows how far this fearless group can go
Japan beat Spain 2-1 to secure qualification from the hardest group at the World Cup, knocking Germany out in the process

(Fiona) The escape room fundraiser in aid of Team Tonakai is close to reaching the halfway point both in terms of money raised and time left to play. Three teams are booked in to play TOM TANIGUCHI'S CHRISTMAS QUEST this weekend and I'm now taking reservations for next week. These are the times currently available:
Sunday December 4th: 3pm (solo players may join an existing team at this time)
5pm, 7pm.
Monday December 5th: 7pm
Friday December 9th: 8:15pm
Saturday December 10th: anytime
Sunday December 11th: anytime
It costs 1000 yen to play the game (500 yen for children aged 7+ and students) and 75% of the money is going to Team Tonakai. The quest is all about searching and solving, you are not trapped in a room and it's a unique way to celebrate the festive season with friends, family and students. The game is also a one-woman show, 100% homemade, and depends on word of mouth to reach as many players as possible before Christmas. Thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word so far!
Contact me (Fiona Wall Minami) via Messenger to make a reservation.

Kirk here with news that Kyushu Electric Power Company has been found to have been colluding with other companies to keep fees artificially high. They're going to have to pay a BIG fine, but it looks like all of the money will go to the government. How about giving some of it to those of us who have been the victims of the collusion?
Japan trade watchdog to fine 3 utilities record $733 million for forming cartel - The Mainichi
TOKYO -- The Japan Fair Trade Commission on Dec. 1 informed three Japanese utilities in central, western and southwestern Japan of planned disciplinar

Kirk here reporting that "Murakami-sama" (村神様; "The Murakami God") has been chosen as the "new word of the year" for 2022. This, of course, refers to Kumamoto's hometown-boy-done-good, Munetaka MURAKAMI (profession baseball player). Note that Mr. Murakami write's his name "村上" (second character means "up") but that 村神様 (Murakami-sama) is written with the character 神, which means "god." According to an explanation I read on the web, fans started to refer to him as "村上様" a couple of years ago as a term of endearment mixed with respect for his abilities. That morphed to "村神様" as the extent of his powers began to make fans believe that he was no mere mortal.
今年の世相を反映した言葉を選ぶ「2022ユーキャン新語・流行語大賞」（「現代用語の基礎知識」選）のトップ10が1日、東京都内で発表され...

Anyone keen to join a monitor tour in Kosa on Saturday, Dec. 10th (10am~)? They are looking for about 5 international participants.
For more info fill out the form online https://palette-kosa.com/contact or, if you are confident in your spoken Japanese, call 096-234-8871 (NIPPONIA - as per address below).
It seems like the meeting place on the day is at NIPPONIA in Kosa, so you would need to be able to get yourself there for 10am.
Meeting place address: 熊本県上益城郡甲佐町岩下８２番
If you have questions about the activities (see poster/images) or have any dietary requirements please make them known when inquiring!
Posted by Ruth (from info forwarded by Etsushi Itoh)

Kirk here with poinsettia news (not a regular category ;) ):
"Rows of poinsettias -- popular as a Christmas ornament -- sit ready for shipment at the Chibusan Yokaen flower farm in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Nov. 28."
Something I missed but that Carlton has kindly pointed out is that the "last line of the article says there's a 'take what you pick' direct sale at the flower farm December 9-11." Thanks Carlton!
Japan Photo Journal: Pure red poinsettias ready for Christmas shipment - The Mainichi
Rows of poinsettias -- popular as a Christmas ornament -- sit ready for shipment at the Chibusan Yokaen flower farm in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture, on

Kirk here feeling old -- partly because I'm in my 60s but mostly because I use Facebook. It seems that Facebook is pretty passe among college-aged young people these days. I told some exchange students from English speaking countries about this Facebook page the other day and was surprised to learn that none of them use Facebook.
A little over a decade ago, I "moved" Kumamoto-i from e-mail (a Yahoo!Groups mailing list) to Facebook. Yahoo!Groups is now defunct so I'm glad I made the move. Perhaps it's time for another move -- or maybe just the addition of another platform. (To be honest, Facebook was originally intended to be an "addition" not a "move" but Facebook grew and mail wound up getting phased out before Yahoo!Groups went bust.)
At any rate, I'm considering adding a platform that might appeal to younger users but I'm not sure if there is any platform out there that would be appropriate for the kinds of information (mostly text with a picture or two) that we exchange here. Any thoughts?
https://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/twitter-marketing/young-users-leaving-facebook-going/

Carlton. Revealing to a degree my age and time in Japan, I have to note that today is the 50th anniversary of the tragic fire that destroyed the former Taiyo Department Store on Shimotori.
I had only been in Kumamoto for about 3 months at the time of its occurrence, but I can still remember how it affected the community and the family with whom I was “homestaying” as a brand new ALT on a fellowship then from the Japan-America Society.
On that day I was in Hitoyoshi speaking to a group of Japanese English teachers about what very little I knew then about the art of TESOL. It was on the return trip to Kumamoto city in a car with some of those teachers that while listening to the radio a hush fell over us as the enormity of the tragedy was reported. Many people were affected directly and far more indirectly.
For background here is the Wikipedia account: <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Taiyo_Department_Store_fire>
1973 Taiyo Department Store fire - Wikipedia
The Taiyo Department Store fire was a fire at the Taiyo Department Store, a department store in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The fire started at 1:15 p.m. on November 29, 1973; 103 people died. After the fire, regulations pertaining to the construction of buildings were strengthened, o...

Kumamoto Caste Illumination
Nov. 18- Dec. 4, 2022
It is open till 9 PM (last entry to special opening area by 8:30).
It is free to view from Ninomaru-koen area but entry to Castle special opening area will cost 800 Yen for adults and 300 Yen for kids.
For details in Japanese: https://kumamoto-guide.jp/oshiromatsuri/events/detail/68
(Posted by Hari Devkota)

Chuck Waterman here:
Does anyone on the list know a man from Indonesia named Rinka who works as a car mechanic in town?
I met him at a 7-11 today and had a nice chat with him. Then I promised to email him, but I wrote his email down wrong! I'd like to either him email me or get his correct email address.
If you know Rinka, please send me a personal message and I'll give you my email address so he can message me.
(Private message, please, since I think posting people's email addresses on a public post isn't safe.)
Thanks!