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Remember that incident where two guys threatened a guy in a local supermarket parking lot with a knife: "Give us your weed or we'll cut your throat?" Well, in their infinite wisdom the prosecutors have dropped this case. I saw a report about this on TV (RKK) and no explanation was given.
In Japan, the decisions that prosecutors make can be more important than those that judges make. If the prosecutors decide to pursue your case, you have a 99% chance of being found guilty. Then, in the rare instance where the judge finds you innocent, the prosecutors can appeal.
Moreover, judges publish decisions regarding why they decided as they did but prosecutors need not offer any explanation of their decisions to drop cases. So, as in this case, we are left wondering "What the ***?"
And, of course, this may lead to racial profiling. "Throw the book at that foreigner but give that Japanese guy another chance." I don't know how often that sort of thing happens. It's sort of a black box. :(
-- Kirk
駐車場で強盗容疑の２人を不起訴処分　熊本地検 | 熊本日日新聞社
　熊本地検は１４日、強盗の疑いで逮捕、送検された熊本市中央区の建設作業員の男（２３）＝恐喝罪、大麻取締法違反罪などで公判中＝と合志市の建設作...

Charles Waterman here:
If you are calling to get your vaccination appointment today, and youy need the first one ASAP (because of travel or other issues) I recommend you try to book at one of the "mass vaccination sites" like the Kumamoto-Jo hall. If you do it by phone, be ready to struggle to understand the Japanese they will use and be prepared to **very patiently and slowly** spell every letter in your name if they ask you to. The gentleman who helped me this morning was very patient and got me a reservation
**much earlier than I expected would be possible.**
I don't want him to get mobbed with calls, so I won't post his name here. (I could hear **several** people taking on phones in the background)
I don't know if it's possible to get an early appointment online or not. If someone gets an early appointment using the online site, it would be helpful if you post that that's also possible.

OK, just quietly posting this. If Misato-town isn't too far away for you, and you'd like to try to get vaccinated more quickly, please check this page out:
https://www.town.kumamoto-misato.lg.jp/q/aview/91/8375.html
By the way, if anyone discovers any clinics in Kumamoto City that are setting up cancellation waiting lists like this, PLEASE post the info here!
Here's another tip: a friend has told me that it may be faster to book the first vaccine shot if you book it at one of the mass vaccination sites rather than a clinic.
UPDATE: The latter is true! Just booked an appointment less than two weeks away at the Kumamoto-jo Hall!
Chuck Waterman
コロナワクチン接種のキャンセル待ち　協力者募集について｜美里町
美里町のコロナワクチン接種のキャンセル待ち　協力者募集についてに関するページ

A Facebook post I subscribe to is devoted to ukiyoe (浮世絵)
- "pictures of the floating world," as the poetic English translation has it. Chance has it that I looked up one of Higo, posted below. It's got a horse, which behooves Higo. (Get it? GET IT?) Notice the 火 kanji the the right topmost corner. If you find an image of interest regarding Kumamoto, please send it to us. - William

Chuck Waterman here again.
OK, soon we 60-65 year olders should be getting our "vaccine tickets" in the mail. It would be very encouraging to several people if the first 3 or 4 expats who receive their tickets in the mail would please post here when you get them!

Chuck Waterman here again.
Well, soon some of us 60-65 year olds should be getting our tickets for vaccine. Please post here as soon as you get your ticket, fellow expats so we can be encouraged that some of us are actually getting them!
Thanks again, Carlton, for all the helpful info about getting your vaccine!

This was on the news last night and expanded here in this story: <https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan-to-halt-company-applications-for-workplace-vaccinations> Does anyone know if/how Kumamoto's vaccination program might be affected by this? Were there any mass vaccination sites planned here using the Moderna vaccine? --CM
Japan to halt company applications for workplace vaccinations
The Japanese government said Wednesday it is temporarily halting company applications for COVID-19 vaccinations at workplaces due to concerns it will be unable to distribute doses quickly enough. Applications will be closed off to companies after 5 p.m. Friday, with no timeline set for when they wil...

"Pun" in Japanese is called "dajyare" (駄洒落), but many call it an "oyaji gag - old man's joke." I can't help myself. Just came home from a walk with my wife when a crow (karasu) darted just in front of our faces, and I said, "Why are they called crows? Because they're 黒! (kuro)" and "Why are their nests always empty? Because they're 空巣! (karasu)" For this, I was deservedly slapped in the face. - William

There's this bird that frequents Japan called the ブロンズトキ (buronzutoki), which in English is called a "glossy ibis," probably because it is an ibis which is glossy. (And before you ask, the plural of "ibis" is "ibes.") One guy (?) was spotted in Tamana. So there's a reason to go to Tamana. - William
https://kumanichi.com/articles/284255

Two weeks ago I took a stroll downtown. I haven't been to the machi for four and a half years, even though I live in the city.
It was mainly empty and felt reminiscent of a ghost town. A strange feeling to have given the current size of Kumamoto. At any rate, it was a beautiful day.
It seems this week a lot of places are opening back up. So it might be worth visiting again once the restaurants are up and running. --Tristan Vick

I friggin' love jumping spiders. Our house is filled with a plethora (which, if my calculations are correct, is more than a methora). Observing their behavior is fascinating. Scientists have studied why they're striped and ended up shrugging their shoulders - but imagine putting makeup on a spider (lipstick?). THIS is the kind of job I want. I'd say toss more money at them (the scientists, not the spiders - who knows what spiders'd do if they had cash). - William

Nice to see teachers being proactive. A seminar was held to discuss how to respond to an approaching typhoon, and the teachers came up with some ideas as "move desks away from windows" and "send the kids home early if safe." With global warming, we may see larger and more frequent typhoons. Plan accordingly. - William
台風接近時に学校の対応は？　熊本県教委、教諭向け防災研修会 | 熊本日日新聞社
　熊本県教育委員会は２２日、防災主任を務める教諭向けの防災研修会を県庁で開催。参加者たちは昨年７月の豪雨災害も踏まえて、事前防災行動計画（タイムライン）を作った。

I like to get lost. Once, on a solo trip to Amakusa, I ascended a mountain so steep that my engine almost overheated. At the peak, I pulled into a driveway, and the young woman overseeing the house strangely didn't appear to be surprised to see me. But when I looked in her backyard - it was a sheer hundred meters down to the sea. Ain't no way I was going to check that out. - William

Kato Kiyomasa is known as the father of Kumamoto though he was born in Aichi - after invading Korea didn't kill him off as Hideyoshi had planned, Hideyoshi had Kato sent to far-off Higo, where he lived out his days, There's a cool statue of him at the intersection fronting Miyukizaka. Take photos. - William https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat%C5%8D_Kiyomasa

My daughter has returned to Kumamoto so had to change her residency status. I accompanied her to City Hall. It took about half the eternity that I had expected (y'know half an eternity?) I killed time by asking strangers strange questions (a huge map noted, "You are here," and I got in a deeply philosophical discussion regarding this). But did you know that Kumamoto City Hall used to be where what is now Shirakawa Koen? It's true! (Don't mess with the guy holding the katana at the gate.) Fascinating info at the link. https://smtrc.jp/town-archives/city/kumamoto/p05.html - William

Good morning, Monday.
I met 3 goats working early morning.
They eat weeds and clean under the railway near Nishikumamoto station.
Kumamon is a civil servant employed by prefectural government.
The 3goats might be JR staffs.ーAtsuko(*Ü*)

A note from the Kumamoto International Desk of Weird News: Kids put stuff in their mouths. There is a biophysiological reason for this: kids are much better at recovering from illness than us older folk, so getting sick a lot as a kid is a good thing - better than than later, as it allows the body to develop the antibodies required for healthy adulthood. Scientists also have it that this is where kissing comes from, and the habit of mothers chewing food and passing it on to their children. Recent reports suggest that parents cooping their children indoors during the pandemic may reduce their opportunities to confront viruses and develop immunity. Suggestion for our readers with young children: release them in the park and let them eat dirt. They will thank you for this later. - William
Are We Too Clean? Letting Kids Get Dirty and Germy
Should you let your kids get dirty and be exposed to germs? WebMD discusses this idea and the benefits and risks associated with it.

Kirk here with an inquiry we received: "Does anyone know of a podiatrist in Kumamoto City?"
Well, I didn't expect to be able to recommend a "podiatrist" (foot doctor) because, generally speaking, "podiatry" isn't a big thing in Japan. I'll comment below on why I think podiatry is a thing in English speaking countries but not in Japan but first let me introduce the website I found.
I searched for "熊本" (Kumamoto) and "足病医" (sokubyoui), a word that is not used very much in Japanese but is sometimes given as the translation for "podiatrist" or "foot doctor." This site looks good (and the hospital, Hotakubo Seikeigeka, is not far from my home) but I don't know anything about it.
My impression is that, generally speaking, Japanese people with foot problems go to a 整形外科 (seikeigeka; orthopedic ward) in a big hospital. I think such doctors are familiar with the sorts of problems that a podiatrist deals with. However, I've been told that orthopedic surgeons tend to specialize in particular joints or parts of the body. So, levels of familiarity and skill in dealing with foot problems must differ from doctor to doctor.
Now, I'l like to address the cultural background behind the relative lack of "podiatry," at least as a popularly recognize area of medical practice, in Japan. If you'd like to check to see what I'm talking about, ask a Japanese friend if they know of or have been to a 足病医 (sokubyoui; podiatrist/foot doctor). I doubt that you'll get many positive responses. My theory about why this is the case is that the Japanese language doesn't distinguish clearly between "leg" and "foot." "Arm" and "hand" are distinguished between as "ude" and "te" but "leg" and "foot" both come out as "ashi". So, whereas it's very easy to explain "podiatrist" with the phrase "foot doctor" in English, it's a bit harder to describe that part of the body in Japanese clearly and concisely.
My little theory comes under the heading of linguistic relativity or the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. The idea, according to the Wikipedia page on the topic, is that "the structure of a language affects its speakers' worldview or cognition."
Back to the original question: Where to go for medical help with your feet. I've gotten good help in the past at the Shintoshin Hospital (used to be NTT) near Kumamoto Gakuen University. If others of you can recommend a good foot specialist, please write a note in the comments. Otherwise, the hospital I link to below might be worth checking out.
熊本足の外科センター｜（医）保田窪会 保田窪整形外科病院
患者様に寄り添った治療で足首から下の怪我や病気を診療する、熊本市東区保田窪にある熊本足の外科センターのWEBサイトです。

When you walk around your neighborhood, you may often come across stone monuments. Usually, they were built to commemorate people or events in the past but Koshi City has interesting ones, which are called Kinshu (禁酒, No-drinking) stone monuments. They are very unique on a nationwide level and we can see No-drinking stone monuments only in Koshi City and one small village in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Exploring the world of stone monuments is just like time traveling. They tell us local stories and history in the area.
For further information, check out the link below and I hope you will enjoy the world of stone monuments!
- Chieko

Budding ornithologists must distinguish between herons, storks, egrets, and ibises (egrets, I've had a few...). Look them up. Kumanichi reports that that snowy herons are flocking to a reservoir adjoining route 57 in Aso's Nagakusa (阿蘇市永草). I Googled "heron chicks" to see if there was some special word for them, but apparently, it's only "chicks," so I'll go out on a limb and call them "heronettes." Camera people, get going! - William
https://kumanichi.com/articles/278709