This is a little letter to the editor I wrote and that was published in the Kumanichi (Kumamoto’s local newspaper) on May 3rd. I wound up submitting this little missive after I wrote the following post about Kumamoto dialect:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1026806274059471
One of the examples of Kumamoto dialect being used to express pride in Kumamoto and determination to rebuild that I quoted in my Facebook post was the title of this section of the newspaper: Dogyanka shiyou!
In my submission, I wrote about my experience on this page. Specifically, I wrote that, in Japan, we foreigners (along with children, the elderly, persons with handicaps, etc) are usually classified as “saigai jakusha” (persons that are disadvantaged in an disaster) because many of us face linguistic challenges, particularly if we have not been here a long time. Be that as it may, however, I pointed out that there have been many more expressions of interest in volunteering and donating than pleas for help. Of course, pleas for help are fine – when you need help you should say so. But, it’s simply a fact that expressions of concern and of interest in doing something to help were for more common than inquiries about getting assistance.
One of the things I’ve noticed over the years that I’ve been managing this page and the mailing list that preceded it is that there are lots of non-Japanese that have left Kumamoto but remember it fondly and follow the messages posted here just to stay in touch with a place they have come to love. And that was the last line of my letter: I wanted people in Kumamoto to know that there are a lot of people all over the world who care about Kumamoto and the people that live here.
– Kirk