Kirk here. Today is the seventh anniversary of the start of the 2016 earthquakes.
2023-04-14 15:02 JST 2023 Kirk here. Today is the seventh anniversary of the start of the 2016 earthquakes. Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture marks 7 years since deadly earthquakes | NHK WORLD-JAPAN NewsA memorial ceremony has been held in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, to mark the seventh anniversary of a series of deadly earthquakes. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230414_19/ ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 7 · Comments: 0 · Shares: 1 ← 2023-04-14 08:40 JST 2023-04-15 09:31 JST → Around this time … 2023-04-20 22:20 JSTKirk here. Today it was 30.9 in Yamaga, a local record for April and the highest in the country today.https://news.goo.ne.jp/article/rkk/region/rkk-445884.html 2023-04-18 08:07 JSTKirk here with something about Tsujunkyo:https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/features/travel-spots/20230415-103477/Please see the following for previous posts on this page about the aquaduct:https://www.facebook.com/page/123734781033296/search/?q=TsujunkyoKumamoto: Old Aqueduct Wows Onlookers 2023-04-16 14:15 JSTJoe Tomei here. With my youngest daughter now at university, I've rejoined the ranks. My first post back is thanks to my oldest daughter, because a friend of hers is working for Hoshino Resort, the company which took over the downtown Parco. While the hotel, called the OMO5 Kumamoto, won't open until 25 April, we were able to stay as they train the staff and get everything up to speed.The hotel is a pretty trendy place, with a demographic younger than me. Very high tech as you can see from the photos on the website athttps://hoshinoresorts.com/en/hotels/omo5kumamoto/It also has family rooms that can have 1-6 guests. While most people reading this might not need to stay in a hotel, if you have family or friends visiting and you want to impress, this might be nice. When they do open, you may want to check out the Deco-Boco 3f terrace. I've also added two photos, though the website photos are accurate and better. 2023-04-15 12:54 JSTAtsuko here. I found a very interesting bird's-eye view of Kumamoto Castle Town at the students'entrance of Gofuku Elementary School, where I have been working since April, and would like to share it with you.Kumamoto Castle Town in the Edo period. You can enjoy it even if you don't understand Japanese, such as the paths taken by the councilors and the location of the temples. There are still temples and wholesale shops in Furumachi and Shinmachi, and you can understand the origins of the town as it is today.You can also use this map as a basis for walking around the town today.ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧ 2023-04-15 09:31 JSTKirk here. I have fond memories of visiting Tsuetate many years ago. This article is making me think it might be time for another visit.Carp streamers 'swim' above river in southwest Japan town ahead of Children's Day - The Mainichi 2023-04-14 15:02 JSTKirk here. Today is the seventh anniversary of the start of …Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture marks 7 years since deadly earthquakes | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News (this post) 2023-04-14 08:40 JSTKirk here with a general introduction to the prefecture that came up, for some reason, in a "news" search. It mentions three famous people associated with Kumamoto: Miyamoto Musashi (swordsman); Kawakami Tetsuharu (baseball player); Ishimure Michiko (author who wrote about Minamata disease).Kumamoto Prefecture 2023-04-13 11:20 JSTKirk here. If you or someone close to you is a Japanese citizen who needs a passport, you should know that it is now possible to apply for new passports online. Here's the page on the prefecture's website that explains it in Japanese:https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/70/161169.htmlhttps://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230327_02/Kumamoto is one of 16 prefectures to allow new applications online so I seems to be a bit better than average on this one.Online passport applications available in some parts of Japan from Monday | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News 2023-04-12 18:09 JSTKirk again with an update about the movie "Living." I got this e-mail from a friend who prefers not to post to Facebook: "I saw your post about the movie LIVING on Kumamoto-I. I just wanted to make sure you knew that the Ishiguro film is now showing at Toho Cinema in Sakuramachi downtown. I saw it day before yesterday. It was exquisite." Apparently, it won't be shown again in the TOHOs in Kumamoto until next week (not sure about other venues). Here a link (unfortunately, Japanese language only):https://hlo.tohotheater.jp/net/movie/TNPI3060J01.do?sakuhin_cd=021601And here's a link to yesterday's post about the movie, in case you missed it:https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid0H85edTTJFSqm6dYV5R2vTLUVTgucJ4DCK4Mv1Nm116f38SpgCtqzHqqozZ9HyWu9l 2023-04-12 11:40 JSTKirk here with news for sumo fans:"Seiun Fuji’s career is unique. He began Sumo when he was a junior high school student in Kumamoto Prefecture. He was a member of the sumo clubs at Buntoku High School and Meiji University, and after graduating from university he went to work for Toppan Printing."New juryo Fuji Seiun: "Rather than continuing to work and regretting it," new juryo Fuji Seiun "left his job as a factory worker at Toppan Printing to become a salaried wrestler" to become a unique wrestler. 2023-04-11 17:00 JSTKirk here with something for movie fans. This little post of mine is prompted by an interview I read in the Asahi Shimbun (Japanese version) with Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Mr. Ishiguro (who was born in Nagasaki) was discussing how his love of the Kurosawa Akira film "Ikiru" led him to write the script for "Living" with Bill Nighy in the leading roll. The Japanese actor in the original film was Takashi Shimura but Mr. Ishiruro said he found himself imagining what the film might have felt like if the lead had been played by the more subdued Chishu Ryu, who made many movies with Ozu Yasujiro -- the most famous being Tokyo Story (Tokyo monogatari). Then, he said that he though of casting Bill Nighy in the lead roll -- an artist he views as a Brittish Chishu Ryu.The references to Chishu Ryu reminded me that he is from Kumamoto:--- start quote ---Ryū retained the rural Kumamoto accent of his childhood throughout his life. It may have held him back early in his career, but became part of his screen persona, denoting reliability and simple honesty. When the columnist Natsuhiko Yamamoto published a deliberately provocative piece called "I Can't Stand Chishū Ryū", in which he derided Ryū's accent, there was a furious reaction, and his magazine Shūkan Shinchō (週刊新潮) was inundated with letters of protest.-- end quote ----https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chish%C5%AB_Ry%C5%ABThe photo of Chishu Ryu is from the following English-language YouTube video about him:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiAWJKgrAkoThe photo of Bill Nighy was taken from the following article:https://airmail.news/issues/2022-12-17/bill-nighyReading the Asahi article and preparing this post have made me that much more eager to see the film. :)
