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Joe Tomei here with something that our intrepid Atsuko Kumabe found, which is the upcoming mandatory bicycle insurance for the prefecture!
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/54/85371.html
Unfortunately, the page is in Japanese, but to briefly summarize, bicyclists will be required to be insured from 1 Oct of this year. The website uses automatic web translation or you can paste the link into google translate.
A second page here (unfortunately also only in Japanese)
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/54/51723.html
lists insurance providers as well.
This is rather important, if you don't have insurance and have an accident where someone is hurt, you will be liable for damages. My wife tells me that the insurance was recommended for both my daughters when they started JHS.
At this point, as I am not a bicycle rider, so I need to crowdsource from all of you recommendations and help to get such insurance.
I recall when I first came to Gakuen, one of the exchange students had an accident on a bicycle that was not covered by insurance. I don't remember the details, but I do recall appeals made to the faculty for donations because of the amount the student would have been liable. The webpage gives two incidents that required 95 and 92 million yen respectively. So if you have any information, please drop it in the comments or send it as a DM to the page. Thanks in advance.
「自転車保険」に加入しましょう - 熊本県ホームページ
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Kirk here with a postmortem on the typhoon: The approach didn't cause serious damage in Kumamoto on Sunday but points west of us were hit harder.
Yayoi Kusama Outdoor Pumpkin Sculpture Damaged During Typhoon in Japan
The work had been installed on Naoshima Island since 1994.

Liz here, next time you are downtown , please admire the impressive artwork of Antonin Raymond , a Czech-American architect, which graces the facade of the Taigeki Kaikan at the entrance of Shimotori. (check out Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Raymond
and this link
https://www.lib.city.minato.tokyo.jp/yukari/e/man-detail.cgi?id=135
for more detailed information on him and his work.)
There was an article in the Kumanichi in June (I think that is correct)
https://nordot.app/781444286556160000 regardiing the renovation of this work of art. There are others more
qualified than I am to translate it, but the art is amazing even without the historical background. The first photo shows our two downtown landmarks, the castle and the Taigeki facade

Kirk here with some photos shared earlier in a comment by Billy Bento (thanks Billy!). The photos show some of the devastation of Kumamoto toward the end of WWII. More famous tragedies (Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the fire bombing of Tokyo, etc.) seem to have caused what happened in Kumamoto to get less attention than it otherwise would have. While Kumamoto's experience may seem insignificant in comparison to that of Hiroshima, for example, accounts I have read in Japanese have helped me understand how horrible the end of the war was for many of the people here.
By the way, speaking of Hiroshima, I heard an interesting interview on NPR (public read in the US) about John Hersey's report. Highly recommended. Here's the URL for that:
'Fallout' Tells The Story Of The Journalist Who Exposed The 'Hiroshima Cover-Up'
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/06/1025059199/fallout-tells-the-story-of-the-journalist-who-exposed-the-hiroshima-cover-up
https://mainichi.jp/english/graphs/20200709/hpe/00m/0na/002000g/1?fbclid=IwAR1tna2NLuwP0xC7Emu1_bmCOYsQHpMaCL2_Xsa4sVnT9kdPlpSJd200hiI
In Photos: Discovered photos show destruction of US WWII air raid on SW Japan city - The Mainichi
The Sakuramachi area in Kumamoto's Chuo Ward is seen from a U.S. bomber on Aug. 10, 1945, in this image owned by Takao Imayoshi and William J. Swain,

In college, I had to take a laboratory science, so I took geology - so called "rocks for jocks" as it was considered the easiest. But as with many things in life, it took a felicitous turn, spurning a life-long love of all things rock. Kumamoto is a paradise for geologists, and I'm not exaggerating here: many from around the world come to study the tortuous contusions that created our world. The best place to check this out is Amakusa. You can find pretty much all of every rock kinds there - igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic - you name it, they've got it. I mean, look at the photo below: you could spend a lifetime studying this! Geology is fundamentally a window back in time, a lot like reading tree rings. Take your opportunity during the summer holidays to check out the geology of Amakusa (Aso is too recent). My habit angers my wife as I spend so much time analyzing rocks, but I think it secretly pleases her (geology is, like marriage, complicated). - William

Kirk here. Thanks, William, for the link to the JMA page that shows an assortment of data on expected rain and wind in Kumamoto. It wasn't easy but I was able to find an English version of the same data:
https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/#lang=en&area_type=offices&area_code=430000&pattern=rain_snow
Currently, in cases like this, one has to go to top page and begin a new search for the relevant information. It would be nice if the JMA (Japanese Meteorological Agency) would provide links from Japanese pages directly to foreign-language counterparts like this. Over the years, however, I've learned that many public agencies in Japan assume that Japanese-language pages are only referred to by Japanese people and that there's no need to link from a given Japanese page to its English counterpart. Sigh . . .

There is no cause for alarm. Repeat: THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR ALARM! A small typhoon (which meteorologists refer to as a "typhette") will pass directly over Kumamoto late tonight, and the usual warnings might well be heeded: fill your bathtub, make sure your flashlights are accessible and with fresh batteries, take care of your potted plants, learn how to swim if you haven't yet. JMA - the Japan Meteorological Agency - has a cool live-time image of cloud movements https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/#area_type=offices&area_code=430000&pattern=rain_snow and Shirakawa Wakuwaku Land (an oddly interesting place to visit - it's next to Kokai shopping street) live video of several river sites in the city. http://www.qsr.mlit.go.jp/kumamoto/bousai/kmmWeb/camImage.php?no=3_5 - William

Kirk with some information on the approaching typhoon (no. 9; Lupit). The image is from the Japanese side of the JMA site because the English side only presents times in UTC (pretty clear evidence that the people at the JMA care more about meteorologists who live outside of Japan than non-Japanese who are actually subject to the weather :( ). We'll probably have a good deal of rain and some winds but another site I refer to (tropicalstormrisk.com) says that it will probably not be stronger than a tropical storm, which is good.
https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#5/29.974/130.562/&typhoon=TC2114&contents=typhoon

Joe Tomei here, I previously posted from Chieko Noriyuki's Untapped Kumamoto blog about Seiwa Bunraku in Yamato, but she just has this post about an exhibition related to the art in Downtown Kumamoto. Check it out!

Hi,Atsuko here.
Summer Ezuko with lots kids and families.
Parking is also full.
じゃぶじゃぶ池 Jyabujyabu Ike is opposite side of boats house.
The clear and cool water is Kumamoto treasure(๑˃ᴗ˂)و♡
Jyabujyabu Ike
https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E3%80%92862-0955+Kumamoto,+Chuo+Ward,+Kuwamizuhonmachi,+18,+%E3%81%98%E3%82%83%E3%81%B6%E3%81%98%E3%82%83%E3%81%B6%E6%B1%A0/@32.7812845,130.7406046,16z/data=!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x3540f3bc15279129:0x114f5d781292521d!2sKuwamizuhonmachi,+Chuo+Ward,+Kumamoto,+862-0955!3m1!1s0x3540f3bbf00959f5:0x5791cb1d51c9d44f

Carlton here with something that maybe would better be listed in Joe's "Funky Fridays" list.
A couple of days ago I indulged in one of my favorite male only pleasures, something that cannot be gender-appropriated— a close shave with a straight razor at the hands of a skilled lady barber.
My current severe underemployment no longer makes it necessary for me to be clean shaven every day so I let my beard hang out over a week or more, and unlike the hair on my head, it grows thick and fast and rather tough. When the slow growing head hair is finally in need of trimming and it coincides with a beard that would require 2-3 disposable razors to dispose of, I head on down to CHICAGO, a youngish mom and pop hair salon in downtown Kumamoto that has been in business for over 40 years to get properly shorn.
There the 40ish lady who knows me pampers me in the chair and relieves me of the hirsuteness above the neck. She scissor cuts my head hair and then washes it and then as it dries she reclines me in the chair and positions a steam generator beside me and begins to anoint my face and beard with mysterious oils and a succession of hot towels. Then she lathers up a portion of my face at a time and with deft strokes of her blade slides the beard off to oblivion.
There’s something a bit titillating perhaps about offering one’s head into the care of a stranger (one whose ancestors were the enemies of my ancestors) who then fills her hands with knife-through-hot-butter-sharp cutting and slicing tools positioning them just millimeters away from one’s softest vulnerabilities. The eyes, the ears, the upraised exposed throat..my God what irrevocable damage could be done in an instant with a slight flurry of minimal muscular movements. Talk about trust.
And she is diligent too. She goes back over my facial and neck skin pinching it to force the follicles to open further and then cuts again even closer.
Then when she is satisfied that she has put her mark on what is _truly_ clean shaven, there’s another round of hot towels and ointments as she finishes up taking care of errant hair in my eyebrows, ears, and nose.
At last the final towel is removed and I am elevated upright in the chair to stare in the mirror at a baby’s behind bedecked with eyes, nose, and mouth. It’s a pink revelation after the ‘before’ image that was what I last saw. And it is so refreshing and comfortable. I’m offered a cup of iced lemon tea and then I’m on my way not needing to shave again by myself for another 2 full days.
I told her I’d be back probably at the end of September. It’s kind of addictive, maybe the beauty care equivalent of eating fugu sashimi.

Kirk here with some COVID-19 statistics. The bar chart in light blue shows the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Kumamoto Prefecture since the beginning of 2020. You can see that the last two days have had record high numbers. The graph is from the following page of Kumamoto Prefecture's website:
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/92000.html
The second graph is one I saw on NHK's 7 PM news program last night. It's not specific to Kumamoto but helps put what we are experiencing here in context. The main point is that it took a year and 3 months to accumulate a total of 500,000 positives in the country as a whole but that the next 500,000 only took 4 months. Here's the URL of the Japanese article:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210806/k10013185121000.html
The 1M milestone has been covered by various outlets in English. Here's an article from the Japan Times:
COVID-19 tracker: Japan's cumulative case count tops 1 million as delta variant surges
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/08/06/national/coronavirus-cases-august-6/
To paraphrase baseball sage Yogi Berra, COVID-19 ain't over 'till it's over -- especially now that the Delta variant is wreaking havoc. If you haven't gotten vaccinated do what you can to get poked. Even after you've been vaccinated, it's possible that you can contract the disease and spread it to others. So, wear a mask and follow other precautions.

Joe Tomei here. This post is a bit more of a feel good post, which I don't usually do, but if anyone has some more info on this, please pass it on in the comments. It's from twitter, and I'm trying to find some newspaper article about it.
A number of clusters have been related to workers in Department stores in Osaka and Tokyo, such as Isetan and Umeda Hanshin. These department stores vaccinated all their staff, but neglected to vax the outsourced workers.
As everyone here knows, or should know, the major department store in Kumamoto is Tsuruya, which is a city institution. And if you are worried about clusters in Tsuruya, (according to this second hand twitter info) rather than only give the jab to their employees, Tsuruya gave _all_ employees, outsourced or not, _and_ their families, the opportunity to be vaccinated (not sure if it was voluntary, a condition of working or what)
I'd love to have more details, so if you have seen anything, please share it in the comments.

Kirk here with some COVID-19 information from the U.S. embassy in Japan. Some of the information pertains only to the U.S. and U.S. citizens but it's mostly made up of general information about recent developments in Japan, including this: "On August 5, the Government of Japan announced quasi-state of emergency measures for Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Aichi, Shiga and Kumamoto prefectures. "
Record Number of COVID-19 Cases - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Japan
Japan continues to see record numbers of COVID-19 cases in multiple prefectures. On Thursday, nationwide, cases exceeded 15,000 (including 5,042 cases in Tokyo), marking a record high for the second day in a row.

Good morning friends, Atsuko here.
It seems to be hot and humid day, today also.Be careful for heat stroke.
I went to 3333 steps at 美里町Misato town last Friday.Such a hot and humid day? Yes, it was.
The path of 3333 steps were in the shade of tree, Summer breeze. We sweated well but so refreshing and felt cool. We met very few people.
While walking, we heard ヒグラシHigurasi sang.( one kind of cicada. They live in forest, more cooler place than country side.We hear Kumazemi's and Aburazemi's songs well in the city.At the country side and end of August, you might hear Tukutukuhoshi's songs.) Their songs made us cool and refresh.
I recommend to go Onsen, 佐俣の湯Samata no yu, near the steps.It might help your muscle pain.
Hoping you can enjoy 2021 Summer challenge with your closely friends.
Trip Minimum but enjoy Maximum.(งᐛ )ง
3333 steps
https://kumamoto.guide/en/spots/detail/12143
Samata no yu, Onsen
https://samatanoyu-misato.jp/

Joe Tomei here with something from Chieko Noriyuki's blog Untapped Kumamoto (with her permission)

Kirk again. This NHK video (in English) gives a bit of information about the new measures, though it doesn't provide a lot of detail. In addition to asking bars and restaurants in certain areas not to serve alcohol and asking ordinary folks like us are being asking to postpone travel. I heard on RKK that Governor Kabashima said that he would designate Kumamoto City as the area to which the alcohol serving restriction would apply.
Panel approves expansion of quasi-emergency | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
The Japanese government's coronavirus advisory panel has approved a plan to expand the focused anti-virus measures to eight more prefectures amid the nationwide surge in cases.

Kirk here with some COVID-19 news. "Suga on Thursday announced a milder version of the emergency measures in eight prefectures, including Fukushima in the east and Kumamoto in the south, expanding the areas to 13 prefectures. The less-stringent measures allow prefectural heads to target specific towns but cannot order business closures." I was just watching NHK and they showed Kumamoto Prefecture in red, indicating that today's number of new positives, 127, is an all-time high for the prefecture. The Delta variant is nothing to trifle with.
P.S. I don't have details about the new, "less-stringent measures" at my finger tips at this writing. I'll try to follow up when I can. Or, perhaps someone else can help with that.
Tokyo logs record 5,042 cases as infections surge amid Games
Tokyo has reported 5,042 new daily coronavirus cases, hitting a record since the pandemic began as the infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics

Kirk here with the weather: "A high of 38 degrees is predicted for Kumamoto City in Kumamoto Prefecture." This is for today, Thursday. 38 degrees Celsius is 100.8 Fahrenheit (a note for those of you who, like me, are from that recalcitrant, we'll-do-it-our-way nation known as the U.S. of A, or a country under its influence).
Heat to continue in Japan | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Japan was hit by intense heat again on Wednesday. Authorities are calling for caution against heatstroke as high temperatures are expected to continue.

Good news for Nagasaki: they're finally being connected to the Shinkansen service. If you'd like to visit Nagasaki from Kumamoto, I'd recommend the ferry, which departs from Kumamoto Shinko and arrives in Shimabara - which in itself is a lovely town to visit (it's famous for its streetside canals studded with koi) and then local transportation from there. It's probably cheaper and faster. - William
https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/new-shinkansen-design-revealed-for-nagasaki-extension