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William. Lotus root (renkon, 蓮根) is a Japanese delicacy, particularly when it's spiced with a piquant mustard-type filling, when it's then called "karashirenkon" (辛子蓮根).. Some 90% of Japanese renkon are grown in Kumamoto due to the fortuitous combination of flat land and abundant water. Ironically, the abundance of water has proven too abundant this year, and renkon farmers are worried that they will not be able to get their crop in. There is a shop on the Kokai shopping street that specializes in renkon which I highly recommend. https://kumanichi.com/articles/361408

Kirk here with more about COVID-19. Today there were 318 new cases in Kumamoto. This is a new record and part of the national trend. You can check the local statistics on the following page:
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/92000.html?fbclid=IwAR3y0LmXBUUb-7ZlQxagqiL_saAjEJU4-MYAB5L7YnsF2hM56vvPBe-XHAc
RKK reported on a press conference held by Vice Governor Kimura in which he stressed that the vaccines are effective and that people who haven't been vaccinated yet should get vaccinated as soon as possible. He said that of the 2217 cases of the last 15 day, 90 were so-called breakthrough cases -- cases in which the person who got sick had already gotten both shots more than two weeks ago. The point is that that's only 4% of the total, even though a big chunk of the population has already been vaccinated. So, if more people get vaccinated the over-all numbers should decline.
https://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003202108201735590111
By the way, one piece of disinformation in the poster that Ruth shared with us (Thanks Ruth! It's good to know what's happening, even when it's crazy), is that COVID-19 is "just a cold." Well, today a 50-something man died at home from his "cold" here in Kumamoto today. Doctors wanted to hospitalize him but he refused because he didn't have someone to take care of his cat. :( This was also reported on the RKK evening news show.

Ruth here! Don't get caught up in the 'cluster parade' at Kumamoto Eki next Saturday, 28th August from 5pm 🔊
Nationwide anti-m*sk demos and parades to avoid this week and next!! You may want to avoid being at the locations mentioned in the poster/link both this and next week as there are anti-m*sk protests scheduled over Japan!! **Tokyo Eki from 5pm today!
Fukuoka - 27th August ・８月27日（金）福岡
第６回クラスターパレード・警固公園　福岡県福岡市中央区天神２丁目２　１５：００〜１６：３０
第８６回クラスターデモ・ イムズ　福岡市中央区天神一丁目6　17:00~
Kumamoto - 28th August・８月28日（土） 熊本
第８７回クラスターデモ・ 熊本駅 17:00~ 　
Kagoshima - 29th August・８月29日（日）鹿児島
第８８回クラスターデモ・鹿児島中央駅 17:00~
Don't get caught up in a “cluster parade”. Check the link for places to avoid if you don’t want to inadvertently become a part of a super spreader.
https://kokuminsyuken.jp/news/8609/?fbclid=IwAR2d-os2GS1HeP5ENOoAk3ht2HZp0xo3dQ7tjUcJtQ4F6YxUDESHbxM3cLAFYI

Kirk here was some very old news that seems like it might have been written this year. I can no longer remember where I first saw it but, according to the following site, it was published in the Douglas Island News (Alaska) in 1918:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/flu-prevention-1918/
Of course, this isn't specific to Kumamoto but it's certainly as relevant here as anywhere else. (Some items may sound a bit dated but I think most are still spot on.)
It's often said that if you aren't part of the solution you're part of the problem. With COVID-19, I think that statement can be reversed. If you can avoid becoming part of the problem (that is, getting sick or giving the virus to someone else), you're part of the solution. Let's all be part of the solution!
P.S. Apologies to those of you who have already seen this many times on social media.

Kirk here with a share from Kuma Visit. I would agree that this is a must-see video. Please do take a look. The fascinating wind-powered contraption is "walking" in Kumamoto. You can see Fugendake (Shimabara) on the other side of the water. And, of course, this is associated with an exhibition and the Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto that is still in progress.
https://www.facebook.com/kumavisit/posts/2927862740798686
テオ・ヤンセン展会期：2021年7月3日（土）〜9月12日（日）会場：熊本市現代美術館詳細：https://www.camk.jp/exhibition/theojansen/ロケ地：長部田海床路、天草四郎ヶ浜ビーチ、御輿来海岸（全て熊本県内）製作著作：KKT熊本県民テレ...

Kirk here with information about Kumamoto's vaccination rates, prospects for getting vaccinated in the near future, and recent COVID-19 infections.
First, in regard to recent infections, rates remain high. Yesterday was 267, just under the high of 271. Source:
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/92000.html?fbclid=IwAR3pM0vWNk_sUtIqdrHATxVjQEUFUyiq927rp2vngsNIi3O1hvihXtvIYoU
On a more positive note, however, vaccination rates in Kumamoto have improved significantly. The percentage of the population that have gotten at least their first shot is 58%. If I'm not mistaken, this would be the 2nd highest in the country after Yamaguchi prefecture, which is 60%. Source:
https://vdata.nikkei.com/newsgraphics/coronavirus-japan-vaccine-status/
This percentage differs slightly from the percentage reported on the prefecture's page, which is 64.81％ for having at least the first shot. I think the reason is that the prefecture is presenting the percentage of people who are eligible to receive the vaccine. Children under 12 can't get it so removing them from the statistics raises the percentage. Source:
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/45/102050.html?fbclid=IwAR2arYQ3arrFM3LZJwHXqM9RDqMuVz5P5rZb44mo2sDYsQFYcJqhMicKNRw
The following news report said that the government's position used to be that areas where vaccination rates were high would get more vaccine (to keep the flow going, I guess) but that that policy has been reversed. Now, areas like Kumamoto will get much less vaccine so that areas with lower vaccination rates (and rising COVID-19 rates) can get more. That has led to what the article calls "vaccine refugees" -- people who got the first shot but who are now "stranded" waiting for a second shot that's no where in sight. Source:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/76a075aee7c61e78b5e90824cc1fb9ad220364af
If you haven't been vaccinated at all yet, I'm not sure but I think the next round will start in October, at least that's what I remember hearing on the news.
Update: See Megan Pavlak's comment below. She has a good information about upcoming vaccination opportunities.

Thanks to Claire Sezaki for pointing me to the prefecture's pages I cited today. :)

William. If you think it's humid out there, you're right! Checking out the stats, it turns out the Kumamoto ranks as the #1 most humid prefecture in all of Japan. So we've got that going for us.
At the first link is a list of ways to deal with hot and humid weather. Most are, like, "Duh!", but a few are useful. Good luck, everyone!
https://www.wikihow.com/Deal-with-Hot-and-Humid-Weather
https://tenki.jp/suppl/yasukogoto/2015/08/06/5731.html

Kirk here. Japan set a new record today for new COVID-19 cases and Kumamoto had almost as many new cases today as yesterday. It's not raining here in Kumamoto City as I write this but warnings are still in effect. Nonetheless, this time I'd like to set rain and COVID-19 aside and write about a different topic: skateboarding. This post doesn't have a Kumamoto connection but it has a clear Kyushu connection as gold medalist Sky Brown was born in Miyazaki.
The Time Magazine article acknowledges Sky Brown's connection to Japan as follows: "Sky Brown, the 13-year-old phenom who skates for the U.K. but was born in Japan, won bronze." Moreover, the second article I'm citing in this post explains that she "still lives in Miyazaki, but spends half of the year in California, United States, hence the American accent."
I was interested and, frankly, disappointed when NHK celebrated the gold and silver medals of Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki but didn't even mention that the bronze medalist in the same event had roots in Japan . . . and Japanese citizenship no less (source: Japanese Wikipedia page on her says she has dual citizenship). It's completely true that Sky was skating for Great Britain but I thought the Japanese side of her identity might at least be mentioned. Even for nationalistic NHK, I thought it would be kind of cool to point out that all of the medalists in this event had a connection to Japan.
Those of you, like me, with children of mixed heritage may share my frustration with this sort of all-or-nothing approach to identity. Naomi Osaka is given attention because she's playing for Japan (and, of course, she's great!) but Sky Brown is treated by some media as though she has no connection to Japan whatsoever because she wound up skating for Great Britain. :(
On a more positive note, I read in an article in the Asahi Shimbun that the other Japanese skaters encouraged her and celebrated with her when she did well. The younger generation gives me hope. :)
For an explanation of why Sky competed for Team GB, see the second article.
https://time.com/6087258/womens-park-skateboarding-japan-olympics/
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/08/04/is-sky-brown-british/
Japanese Skaters Are Now 3-for-3 in the Olympics, Proving Japan Is the Top Skateboarding Nation in the World
Of the nine medals in skateboarding awarded at the Tokyo Summer Olympics so far, five have gone to Japan.

Carlton here..A while back the subject of mandatory bicycle insurance in Kumamoto starting October 1 was raised. I just checked and discovered that my automobile insurance does NOT cover me for 2 wheeled transportation.
So I contacted an ardent cyclist friend of mine in Tokyo and he sent me the following links re: bike insurance to help in searching for and choosing a policy.
I hope these will be of assistance to others like me now in need:
https://tokyocycle.com/threads/accidents-insurance.831/
https://tokyocycle.com/threads/educate-me-on-bicycle-insurance.8208/
https://tokyocycle.com/threads/its-time-again-for-bike-insurance.8592/
https://tokyocycle.com/threads/personal-liability-insurance.8806/
Personal liability insurance
In Gunma from April personal liability insurance for all cyclists is being made compulsory. Firstly, how ‘compulsory’ is compulsory here and where to purchase such insurance whilst getting a good deal? Thanks for any input

Kirk here. This about a jirsuberi (地滑り; "landslide") in Amakusa. In this case an area about 80 meters wide has slid about 1.5 meters down the hill. Of course, they are worried that this is just the beginning of a more serious event. Still, I thought it was interesting because I hadn't heard of an event quite like this. When I think of "landslide" I think of a more catastrophic event. This is a bit more of a "land sag." Hope it doesn't get worse.
https://www.tku.co.jp/news/?news_id=20210818-00000001

William. A short moat traverses the distance between the path from the castle parking lot to the road to the parking lot. It is called yakkenbori or yagenbori (薬研堀) and is usually dry (karabori - 空堀). It's a fun place to play with young children because they can't get too far and the scenery is wonderful. However, due to the recent deluge, it is dry no more; officials note that the drain at the lower end of the moat may have been damaged during the quakes, but that's a good thing as all of that water would have flowed down to Josaien. I suppose one could still play there, but bring a swimsuit. Video at the link.
https://youtu.be/nkaNEJxq84s
https://www.tku.co.jp/news/?news_id=20210814-00000004
*Addendum: There has been some discussion about whether the kanji 薬研堀 is pronounced "yakkenbori," as our friend Michael Rupp believes, or "yagenbori," as our friend Hiromi Chida maintains - she notes the reporter used the former but thinks he made a mistake. But this is Japan - they're probably both right.
熊本城の「空堀」連日の大雨で「水堀」に (21/08/14 18:00)
【郡司琢哉アナウンサー】「熊本城のこちらの堀、普段は空堀なんですが、連日の大雨で水堀となっています。こちらは熊本地震で崩落した石垣の仮置き場となっているんですが、水の底に沈んでしまっています」熊本城二...

Kirk again. In response to my post about the record high number of positives recorded today, Megan raised the issue of hospital beds. This is an important point that was mentioned in what I saw on RKK but that I forgot to mention in my post. I looked on the web and found a KKT report that's relevant. I've attached the URL and the images are from that report. First, the bar chart shows how the numbers have increased recently. Last week, the vice-governor who usually does the press conferences (sorry, I forgot his name) said that they were prepared to deal with numbers of up to 250. So, 271 "exceeds expectations" -- the term 想定外 (souteigai; outside of the expected range) in the next image. The "51.5%" you see on the first imaged refers to the percentage of hospital beds reserved for COVID-19 cases that are already occupied. This number is for the prefecture as a whole and 68.1% is for Kumamoto City (where more than half of the cases are occurring).
The second pie chart shows the ages of the people contracting the virus (clockwise: 10 to 19, 20s, 30s, 40s, etc). You can see that fully half of the cases are those of people under 30. So, young people really need to take this seriously: get vaccinated, avoid interactions or social settings that are risky, wear a mask, etc.
https://www.news24.jp/nnn/news100bukxspic4yd3q5yy.html

Kirk here with some notes on COVID-19 and the rain. First, the prefecture had 271 positives today, a new record (see Japanese video in link). Also, earlier today, William wrote about the rain in Yamaga. I heard on the news today that the amount of rain they have received since all of this started has just passed the 1 meter mark. They said (on RKK) that this is the first instance on record of any part of Kumamoto getting over a meter of rain in the month of August.
Yamaga has already had quite a few landslides (again, according to the RKK report I saw). It seems that those landslides didn't destroy property or cause loss of life. The Unzen Onsen area (just a short ferry ride from Kumamoto Port) experienced a tragic landslide and has one fatality confirmed and at least one other person that they are searching for.
新型コロナ　過去最多となる２７１人の感染確認（熊本）（TKUテレビ熊本） - Yahoo!ニュース
新型コロナウイルス、感染拡大に歯止めが利かない状況です。 熊本県内では17日過去最多となる２７１人の感染が新たに確認されました。 また、熊本市内の放課後児童クラブで新たにクラスターが発生しています。

William. It rained 905.5mm in Yamaga between 8/11 and 8/16 - almost a friggin' meter. To put that in perspective, that is equivalent to four years of rainfall in my hometown of Los Angeles - in six days. More rain is expected mid-week.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/357005

Kirk here with a minor earthquake report. This quake didn't cause any damage and so normally I wouldn't mention it. But, with slopes in Kumamoto being so soggy, the possibility of earthquakes is something to think about. Personally, I would avoid driving on roads that go through mountainous areas until things dry up. Stay safe!
https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#11/32.732/130.605/&elem=int&contents=earthquake_map&lang=en

Kirk with more weather. It's calm where I am in Kumamoto City but we're not quite out of the woods yet. The image is one I took from the following website, which is run by the prefecture:
https://portal.bousai.pref.kumamoto.jp/
What you see is only a sample. There are warnings for most areas in Kumamoto. One reason is that we're forecast to get more heavy rain between now and noon tomorrow. And, of course, in regard to landslides or "sediment disasters" (a rather awkward direct translation of the Japanese 土砂災害), the fact that many areas are already more-or-less saturated means that the additional weight of some newly fallen rainwater may be all that is needed to trigger a landslide. If you're in a vulnerable area, play it safe!
P.S. There was an earthquake earlier this evening. I didn't feel it but I saw something about it on a news program I had recorded. If we have the bad luck to have some more serious shaking before things dry out, that will probably trigger lots of landslides. The 2016 quakes trigger lot of landslides all over the place even though the ground wasn't particularly wet at the time.

William. The last time I visited the Aso museum a couple of decades ago, it was a few dusty rocks on a shelf. Seems like it's changed. Kumanichi reports on the installation of a huge touch-screen panel which will introduce visitors to the volcano and the Aso Geopark. Looks like it's time for another visit. https://kumanichi.com/articles/355289

Kirk with more weather. Here's a quote from the following page, which also has an English-language video:
"In the town of Yamato, Kumamoto Prefecture, 51 millimeters of intense rain fell during the hour until 8 a.m. on Monday.
The Meteorological Agency says a lingering rain front brought intense precipitation to much of eastern and western Japan intermittently through Sunday. Rivers overflowed and mudslides struck some locations.
Mudslide alerts remain in place in some parts of Saga and Kumamoto prefectures in Kyushu."
More downpours pound Japan's Kyushu region | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
A weather front is bringing more downpours to Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu, which has been drenched by torrential rain in recent days.

William. Slipping through our fingertips are the penultimate memories of the war and what Japan was prior to that. My prior neighbor, who we called "tonari no ojisan," had been stranded on a southeast-Asian island and was forced to eat insects to survive (he was an accountant, not a fighter; he taught my children how to use the abacus); later, he became a captain in the Imperial Guard (those who protect the emperor), but he died, alone except for us, here in Kumamoto. In our harried, modern world, most have forgotten those who buttressed the previous generation. I had planned to interview tonari no ojisan on tape for posterity but postponed it, and now it is too late. An historical lapse.
But if you are a Kumamoto resident, nothing will benefit you more than befriending an elderly citizen who will gladly impart what it was. It's a one stone, two birds thing: they have a listener, and you can listen. Kumanichi reports on the finding of some wartime material and the importance of direct communication with the person who provided it. Be proactive in this. It is up to all of us to ensure the past does not slip through our fingertips.
戦没者遺品保管難しく　遺族の高齢化進む　活用期待、博物館に寄贈も | 熊本日日新聞社
　熊本市中央区の竹野惠子さん（８１）は昨年１１月、父續［つづき］さんの遺品を中央区の県護国神社に寄贈した。４４歳の陸軍少尉だった續さんは１９４４年、インドネシアで戦病死。遺品は手帳や軍の経歴書、勲章な...

Kirk here. William mentioned watching high school baseball in a comment (well, he wasn't actually watching it in a comment but he mentioned it there ;) ) and that reminded me that the game between Nagasaki and Kumamoto Kogyo should be coming up soon. In fact, it's scheduled to start tomorrow morning at 8 AM. It was originally to be played on the 13th but was rescheduled because of the rain.
Here's a related Kumanichi article (in Japanese):
https://kumanichi.com/articles/350468
And here the Koshien schedule (also in Japanese:
https://www.hanshin.co.jp/koshien/highschool/summer2021/schedule.html
熊工ナイン「初戦突破めざす」　夏の甲子園開幕 | 熊本日日新聞社
　第１０３回全国高校野球選手権は１０日、兵庫県西宮市の甲子園球場で開幕した。昨年は新型コロナウイルス禍で中止となり、２年ぶりの開催。開会式に臨んだ熊本県代表の熊本工は選手１８人がマスクを着けて入場行進...