Kumanichi news roundup (links at bottom):
The paper reports that real estate values in Kumamoto have finally rebounded to their 1992 levels, the year the bubble burst. On the graph at the link, light blue indicates housing, dark blue industrial, orange retail, and yellow the average of the three. The article does not break the stats down into city vs. countryside, and I suspect that values in the latter are still down considerably, but nevertheless, this is a good sign of economic recovery.
A ceremony to celebrate completion of the removal of Arase Dam on the Kumagawa River in Sakamoto, Yatsushiro was held yesterday. The dam was built in 1955 during the postwar rush towards economic recovery but resulted in deteriorating water quality and prevented fish migration. This is the first time a dam has been removed in Japan.
Finally, from March 24th to April 8, the Minami Aso Cherry Festival will be held. Among some 6,700 cherry trees, the main attraction is a 400-year old yamazakura called “Isshingyōnoōzakura” (一心行の大桜), a name which deserves a bit of explanation. During the Warring States Period, Minami Aso village was called Minemura and contained a castle called Kakuyokujo (鶴翼城), which was built as a secondary castle by a guy who must have required a half hour to write his name: Nakamura Houkinokami Korefuyu (中村伯耆守惟冬) and whose main castle, Yazakijo (矢崎城), was in Misumi. He unwisely went to war with Satsuma’s Shimazu clan in 1580, which resulted in the destruction of Yazakijo by fire and his death.His wife, children, and a handful of retainers covertly returned to Minemura after the death of the Lord and planted a cherry sapling to mourn the spirit of the castle owner and vassals, naming it “Isshingyo” (一心行), which can be translated as “devoted conduct.” It is one of the two oldest cherry trees in Kyushu, the other being the 600-year old Toraozakura in Fukuoka.
And that’s the news. - William
https://kumanichi.com/news/407199/