The economic benefits of TSMC's arrival may be even better than originally anticipated. -- Kirk
2023-09-06 08:00 JST 2023 The economic benefits of TSMC's arrival may be even better than originally anticipated. -- Kirk TSMC's fab creates stronger-than-expected economic effect on KumamotoThe economic benefit of TSMC's wafer factory in Kumamoto, Japan is larger than what was observed in 2022. Latest estimates have increased by 60% from the original basis made by a Japanese financial institution. https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230901PD212/japan-semicond … ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 1 · Comments: 0 · Shares: 0 ← 2023-09-05 21:00 JST 2023-09-06 12:52 JST → Around this time … 2023-09-07 11:38 JSTWilliam "Bueller? Bueller?" in Kumamoto classrooms may be queried by a robot, according to this article, which notes "that officials hope will encourage absentee children to attend classes remotely and eventually coax them back to school. ... “Aside from letting them view the classes, the robots allow students to move freely in the classroom space and communicate with their classmates,” a board official told the newspaper. “Hopefully, this can help lower the mental hurdles for truant students.”"Japanese city to use robots to tackle rise in truancy 2023-09-06 18:22 JSTWilliam Many are aware that Mt Kimpo is a volcano (dormant at that, according to a geologist friend). It's history to date is shown in the illustration (the caldera used to be a lake! - cool if it still were, eh?) https://www.mifunemuseum.jp/kumamotogeo/kinpouzan.htmlThe road from town to Kawachi Port passes through a very narrow part of the caldera, following a small stream. Halfway down is an establishment called Yuuhouen. On the left is a bit of parking and a wonderful restaurant which is famous for their ayu cooked over sumi (which they make themselves) at your table. There is also nagashi somen. Many tables are on a veranda perched above the stream - it's like eating outside. On the right are their orchards, which cling to the caldera edge on an impossibly steep slope. There are various crops spread over a vast area. Now is grape season - pick all you want; they'll weigh them at the counter. Their website indicates which fruit is available during which season. They also have the healthiest free-range chickens you'll ever see (they have to run up and down the hill all day; their meat is available in the restaurant, and is unlike any chicken you've ever tasted).The family which runs the place is the friendliest that can be. September is a perfect time to visit. You'll need a car.https://www.yuuhouen.com/ 2023-09-06 15:07 JSTFiona here, sharing an opportunity for local English teachers to present at the upcoming ETJ Kyushu Expo in nearby Fukuoka.2023 ETJ Kyushu English Language Teaching Expo: Call for PresentationsKyushu Expo: Sunday, November 19, 2023At Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka CityProposals Due: Thursday, October 23, 2023Would you or perhaps a colleague of yours like to present at the Expo? We’re looking for local presenters at this time. It’s a great chance to develop your own teaching skills as well as to share your ideas with other teachers and contribute to the teaching community.Topic areas and target audiences can range through all aspects of teaching English at all ages and in all situations. Topics related to the business of teaching English or operating a school are also welcome.Please note that we are aiming at having at least one Japanese-language presentation per time slot, particularly directed at teaching elementary school students.日本語によるプレゼンテーションをしてくださる方を探しています。 英語教育全般、特に小学校における英語教育・教授法に関する内容について大歓迎です。ご興味のある方はお気軽にご連絡ください。Presentations slots are 45 minutes long. You can end early but please do not exceed 45 minutes.Please e-mail Tristan Scholze at tristan (at) rainbow-bridges (dot) com if you are interested in presenting as soon as you can. Send the following presentation information to the above contact by Thursday, October 23—or use Google Forms to apply:https://forms.gle/mUZrrTvE7svCc5T771. Name(s) of presenter(s)2. Institutional affiliation (school or company)3. Prefecture(s)4. E-mail address (will not be made public)5. Title of Presentation (max 70 letters and spaces)6. Presentation description (max 50 words)7. Information on the presenter(s) (max 30 words each)8. Type of teachers the presentation is aimed at (e.g. university teachers)9. The language of the presentation (e.g. English, Japanese)10. Any times of day the presenter(s) is NOT available*Any special equipment requests (we provide digital projectors and white or blackboards; overhead projectors and other equipment might be available)?Presentation Proposals Due Thursday, October 23, 2023.Note: Local presentations should be without any commercial interest. Presentations with a commercial interest by corporations or individuals fall under a separate category and may only be accepted for a fee (please inquire by e-mail).Kyushu ETJ Expo 2023-09-06 14:00 JSTKirk here. I'm not a fan a gruesome news like this but it happened here and became national news so I guess I should share it.Man, daughter found dead in apparent murder-suicide 2023-09-06 12:52 JSTKirk here with some notes about the machine translation of this Japanese article using Chat-GPT-3.5. Here's the opening paragraph, which I think is basically accurate:--- start translation ---Tsuruya Department Store and JR Kumamoto City will start selling premium shopping vouchers that allow you to shop for 12,000 yen with a 10,000 yen purchase from the 8th onwards. These vouchers are being sold as part of the city's measures against rising prices and are available to residents of Kumamoto City or those commuting or attending school in the city.--- end translation ---When I presented Chat-GPT with the Japanese and asked for the translation, I added the following request:"After you finish the translation, please list any words or expressions for which your confidence in the accuracy of your translation is low."Here's the rest of the translation and it's notes about confidence:--- start quote from Chat-GPT-3.5 ---Tsuruya Department Store will sell a total of 5,000 sets on the 8th and 9th. These vouchers can be used throughout the store, except for some products, from the 8th until November 23rd. On both days, they will distribute numbered tickets at the entrance on the Suizomachi side of the 1st floor of the East Building starting at 9 a.m., and sales will begin at 10 a.m. in the Tsuruya Hall on the 7th floor of the East Building. The store encourages shoppers to enjoy their shopping experience, mentioning ongoing events like the "British Fair" and the "Oomichi Sanshoku Market."Words/expression with low translation confidence:・プレミアム付き商品券 (premium shopping vouchers) - The translation is accurate, but the specific meaning of "premium" might vary depending on the context.・物価高騰対策支援事業 (measures against rising prices support project) - While the translation is generally accurate, the exact nuances of this phrase may vary depending on the context.・水道町側入り口 (entrance on the Suizomachi side) - The translation is accurate, but the exact location may not be clear without local knowledge.・英国フェア (British Fair) and 大道産子市 (Oomichi Sanshoku Market) - These are event names, and the translation is accurate, but the cultural context may not be fully conveyed.--- end quote ---It got Suido-cho wrong and 大道産子市 (Tsuruya's name for an even) seems to be read "Oodo Sanko Ichi" so that's wrong too. When I asked DeepL to translate the same section, DeepL got Suidocho right but rendered "大道産子市" as "Great Michi-ko Market," which is more distracting than informative.One interesting thing about Chat-GPT is that you can tell it to do stuff in a particular way. For example, I got it to added ふりがな to the first paragraph as follows:--- start quote ---鶴屋百貨店（つるやひゃっかてん、熊本市中央区[ちゅうおうく]）とJR熊本シティ（JRくまもとシティ、同市西区[にしく]）は8日[はちにち]から、1万円[いちまんえん]で1万2千円[いちまんにせんえん]分[ぶん]の買い物[かいもの]ができるプレミアム付き[ぷれみあむつき]商品券[しょうひんけん]をそれぞれ販売[はんばい]する。市[し]の物価高騰[ぶっかこうとう]対策[たいさく]支援[しえん]事業[じぎょう]を活用[かつよう]し、市内[しない]在住[ざいじゅう]か市内[しない]への通勤[つうきん]・通学者[つうがくしゃ]が対象[たいしょう]。--- end quote ---Actually, though, this last task required some "training." I had to point out several errors before it would do just what I wanted. By the way, last night I was trying to make sense of some classical Japanese (an edict or 詔書 issued by Emperor Showa in the Taisho period) and Chat-GPT gave me a pretty darn good (as far as I can tell) rendering of the content in modern Japanese. It's only a tool but it seems to be on its way to becoming an extremely powerful tool. Future versions are likely to be mind-blowingly good.鶴屋や「アミュプラザくまもと」でお得に買い物 1万円で1万2千円分、プレミアム付き商品券販売 熊本市の物価高騰対策事業を活用｜熊本日日新聞社 2023-09-06 08:00 JSTThe economic benefits of TSMC's arrival may be even better …TSMC's fab creates stronger-than-expected economic effect on Kumamoto (this post) 2023-09-05 21:00 JSTKirk with potato chip news. If we get anything about dip we'll publish it here without fear or favor (always the highest journalistic standards, you know).Akaushi Beef-Flavored Chips Debut to Promote Kyushu Area 2023-09-05 09:59 JSTKirk here. I saw a segment on RKK last night about kids from Taiwan (here with their parents who have come with TSMC) beginning their studies at Kumamoto International School (KIS). English is the primary language of instruction but they have staff who can help the kids with Chinese when needed. And, they also get lesson's in Japanese. In the RKK segment, Principal Mathew Ohm described his vision for the students in excellent Japanese. Congratulations to Mr. Ohm and everyone at the school on this milestone!https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3fcd9d8d2559247ecb4c700ffb5e083a12a0c060/images/000P.S. Here's the URL of the school's page:https://kumamotointer.jp/Next step: Add an English side to this all-Japanese-language website!TSMC進出の熊本、台湾の子どもたちが就学 移転新築の熊本インターナショナルスクール 新校舎で歓迎、新生活に「楽しみ」 (熊本日日新聞) - Yahoo!ニュース 2023-09-04 16:00 JSTThe Great Festival of Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine is coming up on the 17th of this month. The second URL takes you to an RKK TV report about getting the armor ready to be worn in the parade.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Festival_of_Fujisaki_Hachimangu_Shrinehttps://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/d394e3e0159a7adddd8f7fca166a5e3e57217f0bI find the explanation on the Wikipedia page about the name "Boshita" to be problematic. It's an extreme oversimplification of a very complicated issue. I may post about that some other day.The Great Festival of Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine - Wikipedia 2023-09-04 12:45 JSTWilliam It's easy to forget how close Kumamoto is to the sea. Kumanichi reports on a wayward ray spotted near Kumamoto Station. One hopes he figured out how to get back to Ariake - the river only has two directions, so it shouldn't be too difficult. https://kumanichi.com/articles/1159396Cooling weather invites outdoor activities. A wonderful bicycle ride takes the left bank (facing seaward) of Shirakawa all the way to Ariake. In town, ride along a small road at the foot of the levee; there is little traffic, and tunnels under each crossroad means no lights. Outside of town (at a small temple called 十禅寺), a steep flight of steps leads to a path atop the levee and unimpeded access to the sea with wonderful views. As an extension, when you reach the sea, turn left and continue on to Kumamoto Port (the bridge there would be the only hill on the route). Happy trails!海から遠い住宅地の川にエイ！？ 熊本市の坪井川、河口から8キロ 散歩中の男性が動画撮影｜熊本日日新聞社 2023-09-04 09:00 JSTKirk here with an article published in a Chinese newspaper presenting a criticism from Koichiro Matsunaga, a Minamata disease victim I have met many times. He's quoted as saying that the Japanese government "completely failed to learn from the lessons of Minamata disease."https://english.news.cn/20230901/bb1d8c4a2d74470c96faf346d85fbb8d/c.htmlNow, it's not surprising that Chinese media would publish an article critical of Japan's dump of waste water in Fukushima; after all, it's government policy for China. But, that doesn't mean that Mr. Matsunaga is being misquoted or that there is no reasonable basis for his concerns. A little publication called "National Geographic" (you may have heard of it) published an article in which the possibility of isotopes accumulating "in a variety of invertebrates, fish, marine mammals, and humans” was presented. https://english.news.cn/20230901/bb1d8c4a2d74470c96faf346d85fbb8d/c.htmlSuch bioaccumulation is the sort of problem that occurred in Minamata.Granted, it's probably true that the risk of such accumulation causing serious health problems is significantly lower than was the case in Minamata. And it's surely true that no one has proven scientifically that dangerous levels of bioaccumulation WILL occur. But, that doesn't mean that concerns are not scientific. Fukushima is, in a sense, a huge scientific experiment. The prediction is that the dilution will be sufficient to avoid serious problems. That prediction is based on science but it's only a prediction. Science can't rule out the possibility of unintended consequences. Scientific experiments produce results that were not predicted in advance quite regularly. So, when the Japanese government uses the word "science" to assuage concerns, I think it's important to remember that the science they refer to is continuing and that we won't know the full answers to many scientific questions for many decades. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/fukushima-japan-nuclear-wastewater-pacific-oceanJapan's Minamata victims call halt to ocean discharge of nulcear-contaminated wastewater-Xinhua
