Here's an article from the Telegraph on the recent changes I've already described. -- Kirk
2018-03-15 21:37 JST 2018 Here's an article from the Telegraph on the recent changes I've already described. -- Kirk Japan council bans 'non-members' from meetings after politician brings baby to workJapanese politician Yuka Ogata had intended to change old fashioned attitudes towards working mothers when she brought her baby to a local council meeting last year. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/13/japan-council-ba … ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 11 · Comments: 2 · Shares: 1 ← 2018-03-15 20:16 JST 2018-03-16 10:00 JST → Around this time … 2018-03-17 09:42 JSTHi all, there is job vacancy for those who are looking for one, Maple Tree International School is looking for full time starting in April![***Full time position*****]*School Location: Nagamineminami, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto city*Class type: English-immersion preschool/kindergarten & eikaiwa classes*Monday-Friday,:9:00-18:00 or 19:00(1 hour or longer lunch break)*Monthly Salary: Depending on teaching experience*Days off: According to the school calendar*Qualifications: Native English speaker/ Teaching experience preferably at preschools, kindergartens, eikaiwa schools and International schools/ TESOL or any teaching certificates/PC skills(Word/Excel/Power point) /Conversational Japanese skill*Candidates must-love working with very young children-be hardworking and punctual-be friendly and energetic-be passionate about teaching-work as a team player-have respect for the students, parents, other teachers and staff-have an understanding of the Japanese culture, manners and customs**Hiring process****1: Applicant screening2: Face-to-face interview (*Please note that we conduct our job interview in Kumamoto city. For those who are living outside of Kumamoto, we’d like you to come to Kumamoto for the interview.)If you are interested and would like to know more information, please send your resume and cover letter. Please don’t forget to attach a recent photo of you.Thank you.Maple Tree International [email protected]-Olivia- 2018-03-16 15:26 JSTWeather has been gloomy these days because of the rain. I do wish for bright and sunny days for a nice Hanami with friends and family. This Sakura Matsuri will be held in Ozu on March 31th - April 1st. I might go and check it out. Address is given in the website (Japanese only)http://www.town.ozu.kumamoto.jp/product/kanko/sakura.htmlIf you know more about this event, please feel free to write in comments below.-Olivia- 2018-03-16 20:40 JST"Aso-Kuju National Park, which had struggled to boost visitor numbers in 2016 due to the Kumamoto earthquake and the eruption of Mount Aso that occurred the same year, experienced a 37.2 percent increase.'The disasters had a huge negative impact on local tourism businesses around the park,' said Aso-Kuju Park administrator Yuji Morita.'In fact, the number of Japanese tourists is still below the level before the Kumamoto disasters,' Morita added. 'However, we have seen many returning foreign tourists from South Korea and other Southeast Asian nations who love exploring the mountainside hot spring spas.'"Estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan's national parks hit record 6 million in 2017 | The Japan Times 2018-03-17 08:30 JSTMovie inspired by Kumamoto quakes tops bill at city’s … 2018-03-16 10:00 JSTJoe Tomei here. For this Funky Places Friday, we will go way way back to when life was simpler. I think this was the first restaurant I went to for lunch from my university, 20 years ago, in Bocca al Lupo. It is a sad fact that in Kumamoto, restaurants pop up and disappear with surprising frequency. I was told that Kumamoto people like new things, but in my old age, I'm appreciating things that stay the same. The phrase "in Bocca al Lupo" is the Italian equivalent of 'break a leg' and means 'into the wolf's mouth', since one never wants to say "good luck" before someone goes on stage. The master has made trips to Italy to study cooking and take photographs. The lunch is usually a choice of 2 or 3 freshly made pasta dishes and I love his bacon and ginnan (ginko) pasta. There used to be parking across the street, but that is now a 7-11. However, there is coin parking just down the street.One of the neat things about doing this is finding extra information, and I just discovered that the restaurant has it's own facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/boccalupo.kumamoto/All the Funky Friday places are on this maphttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1qUH94Bac7Hr939b7_8gtvebaJZffGRsX&usp=sharingand if you have any places you'd like me to write about or places that have moved or gone out of business, please send me a message thru Kumamoto-i. 2018-03-15 21:37 JSTHere's an article from the Telegraph on the recent changes …Japan council bans 'non-members' from meetings after politician brings baby to work (this post) 2018-03-15 20:16 JSTI must admit having mixed feelings about solar power being used to mine Bitcoin. The reason is that, before Bitcoin, there was no need for such "mining" so I get the feeling that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are canceling out progress that's being made in renewable energy. On the other hand, I guess it's better than building or restarting nuclear power plants for the same purpose.-- KirkJapanese to use solar power for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining - AMBCrypto 2018-03-14 19:55 JSTJoe Tomei here. As Kirk noted, things are heating up on the tourist front at Aso (perhaps not the best metaphor, but I trust you understand) and on 14 April, there is a program featuring a talk by Austrian Japanologist Josef Kreiner, emeritus professor from Bonn University. Attached is a flyer for the event. The talk is free and will be in Japanese, and his topic is "The study of regional Japanese culture from Kunio Yanagita onwards" (apologies for my poor translation) Kunio Yanagita was a famous Japanese scholar who founded the field of minzokugaku, or Japanese folklore studies.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunio_Yanagita There is also an exhibition of photos from Aso that will be open from 14-20 April. 2018-03-11 18:47 JSTThe other day, I wrote about how the Kumamoto City Council took steps to tighten, rather than relax, restrictions that make balancing childrearing and work difficult for female members:https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1798732196866871This YouTube video was recorded from a monitor that displayed, with sound, the proceedings of a committee meeting at which the new policy was discussed. Two points are worth noting: (1) No political constituency that was formally allowed to participate in the meeting, not even the left-wing Communist Party, objected to the crack down; (2) When Ms. Ogata, seated with her back to the camera raised her hand requesting to speak, no one voiced approval so she was not allowed to speak. She attended the meeting as an observer so she could not demand that she be allowed to speak but the committee could easily have granted her request to do so. I think their unwillingness to even listen to her speaks volumes about their attitude.-- KirkP.S. Please share if you feel so inclined. If enough people take an interest, it may help Ms. Ogata and others in their efforts to push the pendulum back in a more humane direction. 2018-03-10 23:30 JSTFrom the Hope This Doesn't Happen Soon at Aso Desk: Volcanic lightning is the production of lightning in a volcanic plume. Electrical charges are generated when rock fragments and ash in a volcanic plume collide and produce static charges. Unlike regular thunderstorms, though, this type of lightning doesn’t descend from storm clouds to the ground; instead, it remains within the plume (first photo) or sometimes follows the plume up from the crater (second - kinda like upside-down lightning). Little is known about this phenomenon as, obviously, up-close study is a tad difficult. Both of these photos are from the recent Shinmoedake eruption (130km south of Kumamoto on the Kagoshima/Miyazaki border). - William 2018-03-09 10:19 JSTFunky Friday places time with Joe Tomei. This is another new place, Suplica, that is sort of behind the Aeon (formerly Daiei) at Kuhonji Kosaten. The business card gives the map. The owner purchases goods from around SE Asia, a business model that I've seen in other places. Their website is asiakirakira.comAlso made a map for these places that you can find athttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1qUH94Bac7Hr939b7_8gtvebaJZffGRsX&usp=sharingIf you have any suggestions for Funky Friday places (or if you find that one of the places has moved or gone out of business) please let me know thru Kumamoto-i.
