Accident at the zoo. Staff member seriously injured but expected to survive. -- Kirk
2026-04-29 16:19 JST 2026 Accident at the zoo. Staff member seriously injured but expected to survive. -- Kirk Rhino Charges Zoo Keeper Inflicting Serious InjuriesA male zoo keeper in his 50s was seriously injured after being attacked by a rhinoceros at the Kumamoto City Zoo and Botanical Gardens on April 26. https://www.newsonjapan.com/article/149055.php ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. ← 2026-04-28 20:00 JST 2026-04-29 20:56 JST → Around this time … 2026-04-29 20:56 JSTLocal business news. -- KirkYomiuri: Mitsui Fudosan Joins Kumamoto Chip Industry Cluster Development 2026-04-29 16:19 JSTAccident at the zoo. Staff member seriously injured but …Rhino Charges Zoo Keeper Inflicting Serious Injuries (this post) 2026-04-28 20:00 JSTI've never been to Yushima but this video makes me want to go. -- Kirkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNZav-By90Y 2026-04-28 17:51 JSTI've never been to Yushima but this video makes me want to go. -- KirkNHK WORLD-JAPAN 2026-04-28 17:33 JSTKirk here with an article on Minamata disease. I was surprised by the percentages of people who came to see their symptoms as Minamata disease relatively recently.--- start quote ---Some respondents said they had only recently become aware that they had the disease, which afflicted residents who consumed marine products tainted with wastewater by chemical manufacturer Chisso Corp.Asked when they realized that they themselves had Minamata disease, 2.2 percent answered “recently,” 13.7 percent said “10 years ago,” and 32.8 percent said “20 years ago.” In total, 48.7 percent said it was within the past 20 years.--- end quote ---Even if the harm from mercury came decades ago, I have seen from my interactions with patients that the effects tend to get much worse with age. So, in that sense delayed recognition of the nature of the health problems one experiences probably shouldn't be surprising; it's harder to put everything together when the symptoms are still relatively mild.67% of Minamata disease patients and victims say harm unresolved | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis 2026-04-27 17:43 JSTKirk here with another article (same picture but different article I think) about Andrew Mitchell's activities. Go Andrew!Foreign Residents as Key Partners in Disaster Preparedness | JAPAN Forward 2026-04-25 17:46 JSTYou might be thinking about what to do during Golden Week and you don't have a car. Here is a suggestion.Take the bus from Kotsu Center to Kumamoto Shinko, and from there the ferry to Shimabara, Nagasaki. The ferry ride in itself is fun - bring some bread to feed the seagulls. It's about a 40 minute cruise across scenic waters - pay attention to Mt Fugen, which erupted within my memory, killing 43 people.The Shimabara ferry terminal is within walking distance of the town. It was a samurai town, so there are many bukeyashiki (samurai residences) with interesting architecture which you can tour, lined by small canals they used to tap for water. These canals are now filled with koi, so save some of the seagull bread to feed them. There is a small castle there, but it is not worth visiting.The town is the center of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637), an uprising by the local Christian population, encompassing Amakusa, against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Guess which side won. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion But the Shimabara folk have never forgotten this and are fiercely independent. - William
