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Kumamoto International Center's 『Spring English』 for children (and parents of preschoolers) is planned to make a comeback at the end of this month. 熊本国際交流で、四日間の幼稚園児向け「春休み親子で英語」(午前中)と小学生向けの「春子ども英語クラブ」(午後中)は3月末に復活する予定です。
Preschooler lessons are in the morning and those for ES students are in the afternoon. For more details see the posters or their page https://www.facebook.com/kcic.kif　お問い合わせ: お申し込み、詳細は熊本国際交流館までご連絡ください。お気軽にご参加ください。ぜひシェアしてください - Ruth

Hi Atsuko here sharing some information about reused items bazaar.
It will be held at 西部交流センター,Seibu Kouryu center, The Western Exchange Center on Sunday, March 27.
They also collect reusable items for the bazaar.
The exchange center has a good Onsen and gym you can play badminton too.(*Ü*)
西部交流センター
http://seibu-koryu.com/
西部交流センター,Seibu Kouryu center, The Western Exchange Center will hold a bazaar.Why don't you give away your children's clothes or toys that you no longer need or play with at home to those who need them?
Receiving starts anytime from the opening day.
*Items will be given away by staff on Sunday, March 27 to those who wish to receive them!
　
　Time: 10:00 - 15:00 (ends as soon as all the supplies are gone)
What you can bring
Children's clothing (laundered), toys and picture books (undamaged, in good condition, and sanitized)
What you can't bring in
Dishes, broken or soiled items, used underwear and socks, stuffed animals, items with names written on them
Bazaar items will be limited to children.
*Please prepare masks in advance and be sure to wear them in the venue.

Here's a full-time, ALT work opportunity, for a native or non-native English speaker. It's in the Misato area, out past Kumamoto Costco. It's an April 2022 start, with work at 1 JHS and 2 ES.
Work is contracted through a Kumamoto-based language provider, Parakaro・パラカロ. Please check the post for criteria and contact details - Ruth

Hi Atsuko here.
It's an announcement about 薪能 Takigi Noh at Kumamoto castle tonight,( 18:30 ～20:00pm. @二の丸Ninomaru)
Information about Oshiro Matsuri
https://kumamoto-guide.jp/oshiromatsuri/?fbclid=IwAR2-oIMGZHm8ZPv_5NFcXgVXBFm-7xLJ0U4IYsQ2pdFMMReG3qxAgZzEIos
I hope you like it (๑˃ᴗ˂)و♡
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No charge!
We will be performing Noh at Kumamoto Castle.
March 12　
It will be held at the Ninomaru of Kumamoto Castle from around 7:00 p.m.
A fantastic moment in a bonfire of firewood
You will be able to enjoy it.
I will be performing the "Shakkyou" red lion.
Ishibashi is about 15 minutes away.
Please come and visit Kumamoto Castle.
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舞囃子｢嵐山｣ Maibayashi '' Arashiyama''
On a night of cherry blossoms in full bloom, Zao Gongen appears and makes a vow to defeat demons, save people from suffering, and protect the land.
仕舞 ｢羽衣｣Shimai "Hagoromo"
The beautiful scenery of spring haze on the ground and the blooming of moon laurel in the heavenly realm is depicted.
半能 ｢石橋｣ Half Noh "Shakkyou"
This is a very festive Noh play that celebrates the coming of the new year with a dynamic lion dance. The gorgeous costumes and peony costumes (stage set) add to the festive atmosphere. It is the basis for the Kabuki play "Renjishi.

Kirk here with a follow-up to Atsuko's post of almost a week ago. Since then, the English-language editions of the Asahi and Yomiuri newspapers have published articles on the same story (a boy with roots in both Kumamoto and Ukraine who is here with his father because of the war) -- Atsuko scooped them! ;)
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14567000
https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008345627
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/6977607295645976
Boy, 12, who fled to Japan wants to hug his mother in Ukraine | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
KUMAMOTO—A 12-year-old boy who fled Ukraine days before Russia’s military invasion gets nervous during phone calls with his mother when she mentions that she hears air raid sirens.

Carlton. Was I the only one surprised at the sound of sirens at a quarter to 3pm today in the city?
For those like me who forgot, they were in remembrance of the great Northeastern earthquake and tsunami which struck 11 years ago to this day at 14:46.
I remember that day well but here we did not experience so much as a wiggle or a ripple although maybe over in Amakusa there was a rise in the sea level that might have been noticed.

William March, which shares the etymology of Mars and is also related to the military, "March!", as this is the time of year when war traditionally began, has been a harbinger in many cultures. I've been recently acquainted with Hyakki Yagyō (百鬼夜行, "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons"), associated with this time of year. If anyone knows more about this, please inform.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D#/media/File:Hyakki_Yako.jpg

People are interested in Japan for various reasons, manga being one. Kumanichi reports that Takamori has for its high school budgeted 383 million yen for its "manga-related department." Much of the funding will go towards new dormitories, particularly three for girls, and production equipment.
Takamori, with its breathtaking scenery and legendary, well, legends lends itself well to manga (a photo is below). This may well result in recruiting students from outside the prefecture. We wish them well.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/581053

William Our friend Hiromitsu Yagi points out that the colors of the Kumamoto Toshi Bus Company are the same as the Ukrainian flag. I'll have to use that company more often.

Kirk here with news that the Volters (Kumamoto's professional basketball team) are being investigated for falsely claiming a player to be injured. If a player is injured, a team can temporarily hire another player. The suspicion is that they abused this loophole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwGnKhicwFU&t=10s
https://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003202203081750550111

Kirk here reposting news about a noyaki (field burning) accident at Daikanbo. I posted about this earlier from my own account but some sort of technical problem occurred so I'm posting again.
Yesterday, the 6th, one car in the Daikanbo parking lot was burnt (I'm not sure just how badly) but the driver was OK. In the video you can see the flames engulfing a car. In addition, two workers involved in noyaki were injured in the Ichinomiya area, one with burns all over his body, but both are conscious. Strong winds seem to have contributed to the accidents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9--T_5foNk&t=1s
https://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003202203071333260111

Kirk here with an article from which I learned something new about Suizenji Jojuen:
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In order to create a garden pond in a low swampy area where there was natural springwater, an advanced civil engineering technique, along with an artistic sensibility was required.
The Hosokawa clan constructed the Shōryūji Castle in Kyoto Prefecture during Oda Nobunaga’s reign (1573-1582), and built a tenshu (castle tower) before the Azuchi castle tower existed. Then, at the Kokura Castle in Fukuoka Prefecture, which later became the clan’s residence, they built a castle with advanced technology by reclaiming low lying swampy land.
The skillful techniques needed to stabilize the pond shore at Suizen-ji Jōjuen and the embankment skills used to create the beautiful landscape mountains, were indeed made possible by the peaceful utilization of military technology, such as the foundation of stone walls and methods of building defensive banks cultivated through constructing castles.
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The article seems to have been written first in Japanese and then translated into Engish; there's a link to the Japanese text at the end of the article. Here's the portion about the engineering involved in Suizenji Garden:
そして水が湧く低湿地を整えて園池をつくるには、芸術的感性とともに高度な土木技術が必要だった。細川氏は信長の時代に京都府の勝龍寺城を築いて、安土城天主より早く「天主」を建て、その後居城にした福岡県の小倉城では低湿地を先進技術で埋め立てて城を築いていた。
水前寺成趣園の池の岸を安定させる巧みな技術、美しい築山を生み出す盛土の技は、まさに築城で培った石垣の基礎や防御の土手（土塁）の造成方法などの軍事技術を平和に活かしてできた。庭園は人をもてなしてつなぎ、芸術を生み出す創造的な空間である。水前寺成趣園の精神を２１世紀の私たちはどう受け継ぎ活かせるだろうか。
Suizenji Garden: Where the Art of War and Culture Resonate with One Another | JAPAN Forward
One of Japan’s most renowned landscapes, Kumamoto's Suizenji Garden is a stunning representation of engineering wisdom gained from wars and the artistic culture of the Edo era.

Hello friends, Atsuko here sharing a Kumanichi post about our neighbors.
The war is not happening somewhere far away, but right next door.
No war.
No hate.
Be kind to everyone! ╰(*´︶`*)╯
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun | March 04, 2022 11:41
https://kumanichi.com/articles/577013
Hidetaka Tsuji (left) and his second son Yusei. The photo on the tablet is his wife Valeria. 3 March, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture.
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Boy who evacuated to Kumamoto City wants to see his mom in Ukraine Attacks "sad''
　
　Just before the Russian invasion, a young boy left his mother in Ukraine and took refuge with his father in Kumamoto. Yusei is the second son of Hidetaka Tsuji, 52, a sports instructor in Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City. He said, "It is sad that my favorite country, Ukraine, is under attack. I want to see my mom." He is heartbroken by the devastation in the region.
　Yusei is a family of four: Tsuji, his Ukrainian mother Valeria (44), and older brother Yusuke (16). Valeria moved to Dnipro, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, with her two sons in 2015 to obtain a certificate to teach rhythmic gymnastics and to take care of their mother. After Yusuke returned to Kumamoto in 2007 to prepare for his high school entrance exams, the father and sons began to live separately.
　Amid rising tensions with Russia, Mr. Tsuchi left Japan on February 17 and met Valeria at Warsaw Airport in Poland to pick up Yusei. Not expecting an actual war to break out, Valeria returned to Ukraine, but Russia launched an invasion on February 24. In retrospect, it was a hair's breadth away.
Mr. Tsuchi said, "I hadn't been able to see him in Corona, and my second son was just returning home temporarily. My wife said, 'He will come to Japan to pick us up in a month or two,' but I never thought Putin would actually start a war..." Mr. Tsuchi said. Yusei said his friend asked him to buy some Japanese souvenirs.
Now that the war has started, he communicates with Valeria by videophone. Dnipro said that fighter jets fly overhead and sirens sound two or three times in the middle of the night, and each time they are evacuated to the basement of their apartment building. Valeria is concerned about how this war is being reported in Japan because of the media coverage that justifies Russia.
The Ukrainian people are always cheerful and kind," Yusei said, adding that on the first day he sent photos and videos of the Kumamoto Castle keep lit up in the same colors as the Ukrainian flag to Valeria and his own friends, who were delighted.
Mr. Tsuchi said, "I hope the senseless war will stop soon. The best weapon is SNS (member exchange website). I hope that many people will take an interest and send the message that Russia is wrong," he added emphatically.

Kirk here with a folllow-up to William's post about the bombing of Kumamoto in WWII. The photo in it piqued by interest so I tried to figure out where it was taken and from what angle. The Shinmachi place name, the curving tram line (which I assume followed the same route that is does today), and the Tsuboi River (visible beyond the curving tram tracks) made it relatively easy to make an educated guess.
I've zoomed in to make the location clearer. Most of the smoke from the bombing is beyond the Tsuboi River and so not visible in my zoomed in version. The original is here: https://mainichi.jp/english/graphs/20200709/hpe/00m/0na/002000g/5 )
One thing about this that interests me is that Shinmachi has a lot of old buildings and so I was under the impression that it wasn't hit as hard as other parts.
When I look at photos of the devastation of war they seem rather otherworldly to me. But, what I'm seeing on the news from Ukraine is reminding me that people were living peacefully in those devasted structures when they were struck. Pray for peace.
William's orginal post is here:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/6975113239228715

William Kumamoto had the misfortune during the war of being host to Mistsubishi Heavy Industries, which made airplanes (they're still there), and a couple of airports. The result was predictable. My heart goes out to all caught in the tragic carnage of Ukraine. Do not let the travesty Kumamoto endured to be unremembered.
In Photos: Discovered photos show destruction of US WWII air raid on SW Japan city - The Mainichi
An area that appears to be on the Shinmachi side of the Tsuboi River in the city of Kumamoto is seen being bombed in this image owned by Takao Imayosh

William Kumanichi reports that this years kousa (黄砂 - fine particle matter blown from the Gobi across Japan) is particularly bad. It has certainly walloped me. Stay indoors, wear a mask, and see a specialist if needed.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/578309

William Today's Kumanichi post. It might not be of import unless you are a ladybug. (They're called "tentoumushi" in Japanese, perhaps because they have ten toes, but like all insects, they have only six.)
https://kumanichi.com/articles/577246

William As the (very proud) father of a daughter, I observe Hina Matsuri every year. Generally, offerings are offset at rivers following the festival. Though the sentiment is understood - that one's daughter mist follow the flow of life bestowed to her - we keep hers here and set them up every year. Her home is here, and it will remain so, wherever for for however long she she may live.
She is a true Higokko. Encourage your children to embrace that identity.
https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00031/

William　Just this.

William Good news for train lovers. The "SL Hitoyoshi", which runs between Kumamoto and Tosu (Saga Prefecture), is slated to restart after equipment repairs. It is a slow way to go nowhere, but those journeys are generally the best.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/577061