William This post is not Kumamoto-specific but may nonetheless benefit our home. Shirakawa often runs low and muddy at this time of year as its waters are drawn to irrigate upstream paddies, with a silty discharge that must be periodically renewed - remember, the riverbed is higher than its surrounding areas. ヤバい。 (Photo below.) Pivot: rice farmers are a notoriously low-paid, hard-working, greying population. Hardest work is the sowing and reaping - the latter has been mechanized for some time, easy as the paddies are drained and dry, but sowing remains labor-intensive. A company has developed a remote-control rice sowing machine which rice farmers may use while leisurely reclined aside their plots. Let’s hope assistance is provided to Kumamoto farmers so that they can learn to use this device. https://japantoday.com/category/features/new-products/Robot-designed-to-reduce-burden-on-declining-rice-farmers