Not the kind of thing that happens every day in Kumamoto. I'm glad the kid wasn't killed. -- Kirk
2026-07-23 23:26 JST 2026 Not the kind of thing that happens every day in Kumamoto. I'm glad the kid wasn't killed. -- Kirk Dramatic Video Shows Police Shooting Knife-Wielding Robbery SuspectA police officer shot and wounded a 21-year-old man who allegedly robbed a convenience store in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, and then approached officers with a kitchen knife on the evening of July 22. https://newsonjapan.com/article/150087.php ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 1 ← 2026-07-23 22:14 JST 2026-07-24 08:18 JST → Around this time … 2026-07-28 07:53 JSTThere have been quite a few events in the news recently related to wrongful convictions and the process to overturn them. In this case, as in many others, justice was delayed by a system that allowed prosecutors to appeal. The system has been amended recently but there's concern that loopholes in the new law will allow such foot dragging to continue. -- Kirk Editorial: Japan's revised retrial law fails victims of wrongful convictionshttps://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260724/p2a/00m/0op/018000cJapan gov't, prefecture ordered to pay family of man acquitted of 1985 murderhttps://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260727/p2g/00m/0na/032000cJapan gov't, prefecture ordered to pay family of man acquitted of 1985 murder - The Mainichi 2026-07-26 22:20 JSTKirk here. I reported about this earlier. Here's a follow-up.--- ChatGPT translation ---The Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun reported that, when investigating experts and other knowledgeable individuals in Japan, the Field Intelligence Unit collected information not only about their ideological beliefs, including their “patriotism” and “attitudes toward the Self-Defense Forces,” but also personal information such as their “sexual preferences” and “relationships with members of the opposite sex.” It compiled this information into reports covering several thousand people.Defense Minister Koizumi said, “I must refrain from commenting on the details of the Field Intelligence Unit’s information-gathering activities, as doing so could risk revealing its intelligence-gathering capabilities.” In response to claims that the minister had not been briefed on these activities, he added, “The necessary information has been reported.”--- end translation ---It's not often that the Kumanichi gets a national scoop like this. I can only imagine that local university faculty were questioned and that the matter got picked up somehow by the paper.「不適切活動ない」と小泉防衛相 自衛隊が「愛国心調査」との報道で：朝日新聞 2026-07-26 10:09 JSTMore police-related news. Not exactly edifying but clearly Kumamoto-related so I decided to share it. -- KirkTwo Kumamoto cops resign over on-duty sex in police station nap room - TokyoReporter 2026-07-25 07:52 JSTSomething very similar just happened in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin (USA). The difference is that in Madison that guy with the knife was (according to the report I heard) shot in the head after he was down. -- KirkMan, 21, shot by police following armed robbery at Kumamoto convenience store - TokyoReporter 2026-07-24 08:18 JSTSunken ship filmed near Ushibuka. -- KirkWWII sinking of Japanese light cruiser remembered 82 years on as divers capture video - The Mainichi 2026-07-23 23:26 JSTNot the kind of thing that happens every day in Kumamoto. …Dramatic Video Shows Police Shooting Knife-Wielding Robbery Suspect (this post) 2026-07-23 22:14 JSTKirk here with a concerning article from the Kumanichi. The thrust of it is that surveillance efforts that were to be focused on foreign threats may be, if the article is correct, being directed toward Japanese nationals, particularly university professors.In the U.S., J.D. Vance said:--- start quote ---There is a wisdom in what Richard Nixon said approximately 40 to 50 years ago. He said, and I quote, 'The professors are the enemy.'--- end quote ---I quote Vance not because I agree with him but because his rhetoric is a good example, in my view, of the thought process behind the targeting of academics. Egg heads (even me sometimes) are the kinds of people who point to a naked emperor and blurt out "that guy's not wearing any clothes." Such people are not appreciated by emperors who are trying to convince you to see their fancy, patriotic threads.By the way, this is not specific to Kumamoto but, aside from the fact that the article appeared in the Kumanichi, there are plenty of connections to Kumamoto, including protests against military escalation led by university professors here.--- start ChatGPT translation ---Exclusive: JGSDF Intelligence Unit Allegedly Investigated “Patriotism” and Collected Personal Information on Thousands of Domestic Experts and Others—Possible Departure from Civilian ControlDistributed Thursday, July 23, at 11:39 a.m.Kumamoto Nichinichi ShimbunIt was learned on July 22, through interviews with former unit members and related documents, that the Local Intelligence Unit, the foreign-intelligence division of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Military Intelligence Command, based at Camp Asaka in Tokyo and Saitama, is believed to have systematically investigated and collected information concerning the thoughts and beliefs of Japanese citizens—including university professors and representatives of nonprofit organizations—under headings such as “patriotism” and “attitude toward the Self-Defense Forces.”Although the unit’s original mission is to conduct intelligence activities overseas, it has been carrying out human intelligence operations within Japan without a clear legal basis. The information collected may cover several thousand individuals. The unit’s activities are reportedly unknown even to the defense minister and other politicians and government officials, raising concerns that they may constitute a departure from civilian control.The Local Intelligence Unit was established in 2007 for the purpose of conducting operations overseas, following lessons learned from the Self-Defense Forces’ deployment to Iraq beginning in 2003, where the forces had lacked sufficient local intelligence. The unit is based at Camp Asaka and, according to people familiar with it, consists of approximately 50 to 60 personnel. In practice, however, most of its members are reportedly engaged in collecting the personal information of civilians within Japan.--- end ChatGPT translation ---【独自】陸自情報部隊が「愛国心」など調査か 国内有識者ら対象に個人情報収集 数千人分、シビリアンコントロール逸脱も（熊本日日新聞） - Yahoo!ニュース 2026-07-23 08:22 JSTSomehow, this museum in Kumamoto City has flown under my radar. Looks interesting. Anyone been there? -- Kirk --- start quote ---Tonomura intentionally put ‘International’ in the name of his new Mingei museum in Kumamoto. He wrote in the Kumamoto Mingei bulletin, Vol. 1 and 2 (Sept. 1965 & Feb.1966), that the reason was his museum must of course reflect regional characteristics, but should also work on a more global stance by exchanging information, exhibitions and cultural activities with folk craft museums from other countries. As part of his belief in realizing the universal qualities of Yanagi’s Mingei philosophy, Tonomura conducted various Mingei researches to, for example, Okinawa, mainland prefectures along the Japan Sea, Shikoku Island, and was also internationally active by going on excursions to countries in South America, Europe, as well as India, Nepal and Taiwan. The connections that he cultivated in many countries at the time, are continuously being developed as of today. Tonomura believed, all his life, that it was his mission to establish regional Mingeikans (folk craft museums) all over Japan, and he felt a strong responsibility to reach his goal.--- end quote ---https://kumamoto-mingeikan.com/english/ 2026-07-22 09:37 JSTKirk with what I think is an interesting article about using cheap cameras to monitor roads and rivers for flooding. The article doesn't provide a link so here's a link to the organization doing the work.https://kumaguma.net/activities/kumacam/I think what they are doing is great and it seems to be a volunteer effort which makes it that much cooler. One minor concern I have, however, is publication on LINE. I realize that LINE is very convenient in many ways and that lots of people use it. The problem is, though, that it's a "walled garden" -- what starts in LINE stays in LINE. Of course, I notice that because I can't share anything from LINE here. I've found that aspect of Kumamoto City's use of LINE to be problematic too.And, Facebook is a walled garden as well. I'm in the process of trying to overcome that, though. Here's a link to my work in progress -- an archive of Kumamoto International posts that you don't need Facebook to view.https://kumamoto.kirkmasden.com/Mainichi articlehttps://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260721/p2a/00m/0na/003000cAffordable cameras help disaster monitoring, readiness in Japan's Kumamoto Pref. - The Mainichi 2026-07-21 15:06 JSTKirk here. I enjoyed watching this fun little segment about KKT about foreigners struggling with Kumamoto dialect and the pamphlet picture (which has come up on this page several times). I made the mistake of calling KKT to tell them that they had a misspelled word in one of the titles in the video and I'm afraid that that is why the video is no longer accessible. :(Personally, I'm not sure how valuable the English on the pamphlet is, particularly when not all of the people using the pamphlet understand English. Rather, I suspect that the most valuable aspects are1. listing words/expressions that are good to know2. connecting them to standard Japanese equivalents (most have such equivalents, though a few, like atozeki [あとぜき] are more unique)You can read or download a PDF of the pamphlet here:https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/uploaded/life/258611_794494_misc.pdfOne other thing I would like to see on it is some sort of rating, by word or expression, of the usefulness. For example, I would guess that ごら or ごーら for "head" and かんげ for hair are probably in the nearly obsolete category but these are included in the "let's learn the names of body parts" section. Conversely, words like "-ken" (meaning から or だがら, placed at the end of a sentence or phrase) are very common. The pamphlet indicates regions and perhaps a generational indication would be good too; I doubt that younger people say かんげ (for hair), but perhaps you need to learn this word if you are working with the elderly. https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e3f8005c8dd2bea75bdcd6f0a762295b4e1280dd/images/001｢とっとっと｣｢せからしか｣…外国人に熊本弁は難解!?熊本県がハンドブック作成 (ＫＫＴ熊本県民テレビ) - Yahoo!ニュース 2026-07-21 11:41 JSTKirk here with another article about water use by TSMC. It favors the view that there's no concern about the water usage:--- start quote ---The current groundwater usage in Kumamoto Prefecture, home to 1.67 million people and businesses, is around 300–400 million tons per year. The saying “water is overflowing” is not an exaggeration. The water usage of JASM (pronounced “Jasumu” in Japanese), a joint venture between TSMC and Japanese companies, is 3.1 million tons annually, less than 0.1% of Kumamoto’s total groundwater. Okano Hideyuki, executive director of the Kyushu Economic Association, said, “Kumamoto’s groundwater has little to filter out, so the cost of purifying ultra-pure water (Ultra Pure Water) for semiconductors is much lower.”--- end quote ---I think, though, that there are some reasonable counter arguments -- reasons to be concerned if not apoplectic. I'll try to follow up later if I can.TSMC Chooses Kumamoto for Water, Power, and Semiconductor Ecosystem
