Douglas here with a new video from the Kumamoto area.
2021-12-23 16:22 JST 2021 Douglas here with a new video from the Kumamoto area. Fudougan - 不動岩A 55 minute drive from our home in Kumamoto takes us just north of Yamaga City and the group of rocks known as Fudougan. Roughly translated as Immovable Rock. The… https://vimeo.com/659563755 ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 21 · Comments: 5 · Shares: 2 ← 2021-12-22 21:45 JST 2021-12-23 22:23 JST → Around this time … 2021-12-26 20:35 JSTKirk with something that came up in a Google news search for "Kumamoto." The article was occasioned by the recent tragedy in Osaka. The fire in Kumamoto was not arson but its scale was even bigger than the fire at the clinic:"On November 29, 1973, another major fire at Taiyō Department Store in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, resulted in 104 fatalities and 124 injuries."Major Fires in Japan Since 1925 2021-12-25 14:12 JSTCarlton here and exercising his editorial prerogative to wish everyone to whom it means something Merry Christmas! 2021-12-25 11:16 JSTKirk here. Yesterday, Kumamoto had it's first new case of COVID-19 in 40 days. At this writing, it hasn't been determined if the person has the Omicron variant or not.I heard an interesting segment on NPR about the lull that we've been experiencing here in Japan:The riddle of Japan's dramatic drop in COVID numbershttps://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/12/20/1065159384/the-riddle-of-japans-dramatic-drop-in-covid-numbersOne point it raised was that our neighbor Korea is experiencing a surge in cases even though it "has fully vaccinated more than 90% of its adult population. And masking up in public is the norm in that country too." So, that makes it somewhat difficult to explain why Japan should be so different.I'm glad that we are getting a bit of a respite here but I'm not counting on it lasting -- especially with reports of the local transmission (shichu kansen [市中感染]) of Omicron. It's probably just a matter of time before cases begin to appear in Kumamoto. So, I'm planning to get a booster shot at my first opportunity and avoid unnecessary risks. Stay safe as you enjoy the holiday season!https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kumamoto/20211224/5000014314.html熊本県 新型コロナ新たに１人感染 ４０日ぶりに感染確認｜NHK 熊本県のニュース 2021-12-24 19:50 JSTKirk here reflecting on 2021 in Kumamoto International Land. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, we had some friction this year over editorial issues. In this post, I'd like to note that our group is NOT a so-called "silo" (a place on the internet where like-minded people gather to the exclusion of others). The two things we have in common are some sort of interest in Kumamoto and either a preference for or at least a willingness to communicate in English. As a result, I think we're a pretty diverse group. I've seen statistics about the people who read this page and whatever category you look at (age, gender, native language, current place of residence, etc.) we've got a good mix. I'm really glad that this is a diverse group. And, given the more-or-less random mix of people whose only point in common is an interest in sharing information about Kumamoto in English, I think we get along remarkably well. :) Speaking of diversity, I'm frequently impressed by how other editors choose to post about topics that would never have occurred to me and how those posts often get big responses. I hope that more people will be willing to come on board as editors in 2022 and that the editors we already have will continue to post whenever the spirit moves them to do so.I imagine some differences of opinion will come up in 2022 too. When they do, I'd like to try to take an interest in and value the different perspectives rather than see them as problems. Yoroshiku!https://www.virginiamiracle.com/2011/02/09/overcoming-social-silos/P.S. I'm quoting the article mostly for the graphic.Overcoming Social Silos | Virginia Miracle 2021-12-23 22:23 JSTKirk here with a historical account the connection between Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Kumamoto and Japan. The article doesn't describe Fujimori's downfall. If you look at his Wikipedia page, you'll see a long list a crimes for which he is still in prison. Around 2000 or so, soon after I had started the mailing list that led to this Facebook page, Fujimori's reputation was falling precipitously. Still, I remember that people in Kumamoto tended to be quite loyal to him because of his roots here. There had been a time when Kumamoto's association with Fujimori was a source of pride but by then I found uncritical loyalty to him to be rather shameful.DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS: Tokyo told not to overhype Peru leader Fujimori’s visit in 1990 | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis 2021-12-23 16:22 JSTDouglas here with a new video from the Kumamoto area.Fudougan - 不動岩 (this post) 2021-12-22 21:45 JSTKirk here with a Lonely Planet article about Kumamoto City:Explore Japan's cultural experiences on Kyushu – Lonely Planet 2021-12-21 21:59 JSTKirk here with a home-town-boy-makes-good story. Munetaka Murakami graduated from Kyushu Gakuin High School just a few years ago (Spring of 2018). Today, I learned that he has signed for 220,000,000 yen per year beginning in 2022. That's 2.2 oku (2.2億) or about 2 million US and is more than Ichiro or Hideki Matsui were earning at similar points in their careers.What I have just written is a summary of what I found in this Japanese article:https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/9c7b6d13c57fd46dcee0e6d2cb0ac9920f04d0fcThe English article is about him being voted most valuable player:https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211215/p2g/00m/0sp/072000cBaseball: Slugger Murakami, ace pitcher Yamamoto win MVP awards - The Mainichi 2021-12-21 00:25 JSTKirk here. Personally, I prefer warm, sunny weather but I must admit that the cold has its charms too. Today RKK reported that Koga Falls in Aso has frozen. The URL has a video.https://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003202112201137460111 2021-12-19 20:12 JSTKirk here requesting tips about where one might find good psychological counseling services in the Kyushu area. I'd particularly like to get information in English. This has been prompted by an inquiry that the page received today. If you are willing to share some information publicly, please respond with a comment. If you would prefer to share your information anonymously, I've made a Google form for that purpose:Anonymous tips regarding psychological counseling in the Kyushu areahttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSJorcSDz-o02i3OXqvZJDniLzVdIDsybtQm6FBOAGhodj_A/viewformI put the following blurb at the top of the form: "This form does not collect e-mail addresses so all tips are anonymous. The information submitted here may be shared on Facebook. However, if you write a note about information that you would not like to be shared, your wishes will be respected."Thanks! 2021-12-19 19:48 JSTKirk here. If you've got kids, check out Atsuko's post for information on how to get your cash:https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/6503966223010088Facebook is a rather visual medium . . . and what few people stop to look at tends not to be shown to many others. So, being a bit concerned that the valuable information Atsuko posted for parents might not be seen by the people who need to see it, I thought I'd use this image to get people's attention. :) If I could, I'd add the sound of a cash register (cha-ching!) as that seems to catch people's attention too.
