Posts
Stumbled across a cave one winter in Hainan, China, and heard the sound of a waterfall, so I ventured inside - but realized there was no water flowing out and the floor was covered with a sticky substance that I recognized as guano. I looked up to see a thousand bats rustling as they roosted; hence, the sound. How carefully I backed out of that cave one can imagine. They were Asian parti-colored bats, a migratory, insectivorous species who winter in southern Asia and move north in the summer to feast on the so very delicious insects inhabiting Japan. One knows summer has arrived when they return. Saw a bunch of them flitting about my neighborhood this evening. They are your friends: they can eat their bodyweight in mosquitos each evening. They often roost under rain gutters. Treat them well. - William
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_particolored_bat
My hometown of Los Angeles has a lot of bears. They are remarkably unthreatening animals, spending most of their days in such conversation: "'Sup?" "Foraging." (Except, as is true with EVERY animal, never get between a mother and cub.) Aso Cuddly Dominion has a newborn bear. You can go out there and see it if you want, or you can just look at photos and say "Ahhh!" and really, really wish that you had that young woman's job. - William
https://kumanichi.com/news/id206222
Kirk here with some thoughts on the cognitive dissonance I experienced yesterday. This article is from the Nishi Nippon Shimbun but I saw a similar piece on RKKs evening news announcing that over 3,000 people had lined up to get into Amu Plaza (AMUPLAZA?) on opening day. The governor and mayor and other important people were there for a tape cutting ceremony. That was the top story. After that I saw the governor again looking more solemn to announce that Kumamoto had moved back into level 5, the highest level of alert regarding the spread of COVID-19.
I'm sure the governor was in a difficult position and, politically, he may not have felt that he could handle things differently. Still, the governor's two different media appearances and the way that RKK put them together in their broadcast made me think of a driver hitting the brakes with his left foot while continuing to step on the accelerator with his right.
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/728480/?fbclid=IwAR3O0D5FPIBBb6iHIxAAcfg0rm231dRGntdpKngfLD7TpgbrXNynjY5Owgo
P.S. I posted this earlier this morning but I realized later that, for some reason, I hadn't posted as "Kumamoto International" but as myself. When that happens, the Facebook algorithm doesn't show the post to many people. So, I'm reposting the same content.
JR九州が開発を進めていたJR熊本駅ビル（熊本市西区）の複合商業施設「アミュプラザくまもと」が23日、オープンした。駅前広場には開店前...JR九州が開発を進めていたJR熊本駅ビル（熊本市西区）の複合商業施設「アミュ.....
Joe Tomei here with the latest from Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland, JET Program Prefectural Advisors for Kumamoto Prefecture.
======
Hello everyone,
Kumamoto Prefecture has once against raised its independent Risk Level, this time to the highest level, "Level 5".
The prefecture is requesting residents to avoid all travel to other prefectures, effective tomorrow (24 April). Governor Kabashima said in the press conference announcing the change that he wishes for residents of Kumamoto to stay within the prefecture during Golden Week.
Furthermore, if the high level of infections persist, additional measures will be taken. For example, the prefecture is considering requesting business in certain areas to shorten their business hours (request closures by 9pm) as soon as May 1st, as well as potentially changing the plans regarding the Olympic torch relay scheduled to pass through Kumamoto on 5-6 May.
The prefecture believes that internal movement within Japan from other prefectures to Kumamoto during the end of and beginning of the fiscal year is responsible for much of the increase in cases.
The information has not yet been uploaded to the prefectural website, but here is a summary of the press conference on Yahoo News: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/db6e4b5bf582da79b225b13fedd49e4fd63bc28b
When English is used in the context of Japanese is it English or Japanese? This may sound like an odd question but recently I've begun to think that, in Japan, there seems to be an assumption that English used in the context of Japanese isn't really English and as such is not subject to the rules and conventions of the language.
One example, would be the "Go To トラべル" expression. If the kanatana is converted to English (as it often was) this becomes "Go To Travel" which is, of course, weird English. But, perhaps the idea was that, originally at least, "Go To トラべル" was just a borrowing of English into the Japanese language and as such didn't have to be "correct". Of course, even if this was the original notion, it quickly became "Go To Travel" and "Go To Eat," further exacerbating confusion about what constitutes good English (including proper capitalization).
The "Go To" issue is rather old but I recently found myself thinking about this issue when looking at the images I've shared in this post. Perhaps "NEWS & EVENT" was considered to be OK in Japanese because, as loanwords, that's how Japanese people use them: ニュース、イベント. The problem occurs, however, when the same graphic is used on the English part of the page. There you have this weird situation of the heading being "NEWS & EVENT" and the "translation" being "News & Events".
The use of spaces presents a similar issue. Spaces are not part of the Japanese language. So, if they are used in Japanese, it's merely to improve the appearance, not because they are required in order to be "correct." Of course, the situation in English is different. A word or name is usually either written with a space or it isn't -- it's not something that can go either way depending on the context. So, as Japanese, it doesn't really matter if something is "AMU PLAZA" or "AMUPLAZA." As someone who looks at these letters as English, however, my sense is that either one is possible but "decide on one and stick to it."
Any little irritation I feel about these matters isn't really important. I'll survive. But, I do worry about what impact this "devil-may-care" (いいじゃないですか) approach to public English may have on young people who want to learn English. I think it's natural for such young people to pay attention to the examples of English they see around them and I worry that this approach to English just causes more confusion.
So, to answer my own question, I would recommend that "News & Event" be viewed as English and that as such, it should be checked and corrected. I'll be interested to read any thoughts any of you may have.
-- Kirk
It's sports day season, which, aside from having to prepare your kindergartener's stuff, is the time that parents most dread. Advice: Get your stuff together night before with a sheet and food. Set your alarm clock for 4:30 AM (you'll probably oversleep, so better to be cautious). Make sure that you have several times more food and space on your sheet as those who did not take such precautions will avail themselves upon you. And pretend to enjoy it. - William
Today on Funky Friday places, it is Hot Diggity Dog day! There are several burger places in town (but there can never be enough burger places imho0, but hot dog places? Well, over by Misotenjin, there is One Five Dog.
https://www.instagram.com/onefivedog/?hl=en
https://tabelog.com/kumamoto/A4301/A430101/43015008/
Hot dogs, some other sandwiches and deserts and hot coffee. It's a cheerful little place and there's a cheap parking lot just across (30 min for 50 yen!) And while Costco will have their hotdogs, you aren't going to get chili cheese or guacamole. Now if some place would only have a Frito chili cheese...
#kumaifunkyfridayplace
Our friend Liz Suenaga, a philanthropist, Kumamoto fixture, and a very talented photographer has provided us with this image of koinobori afloat. (Swimming permitted 09:00 - 29:00). - William
Today is Earth Day. The Financial Express published a collection of photos from all over the world, some of which show the beauty of the natural world and some of which remind us of the ways in which human activity has led to more intense storms and other environmental problems. This picture from the Hitoyoshi area is in the latter category. The caption reads "A view shows damage after floods caused by torrential rain, in Kumamura, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Reuters Photo)."
-- Kirk
https://www.financialexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/2238064/earth-day-images-take-a-look-at-20-stunning-photos-of-our-natural-world/13/
Allan Sutherland provided a very detailed response to my rather snarky previous post on Minamata disease. It deserves to be reposted verbatim. Please see his writing below, and a Wikipedia link to the Minamata disease. - William
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease
The photographer was W. Eugene Smith, and he used a wide range of cameras, ranging from Rollieflex mid-frame, Nikons, Leicas, and so on. There are photographs of him sporting an array of cameras, although as Liz points out, they would often be fitted with an array of lenses; zoom lenses were not as refined then as now. Some would also have different films installed, to accommodate lighting conditions, slow, mid- or high-speed films. (I commonly carried two film cameras, one for B&W, the other for colour slide, and had two lenses.) In Minamata Smith' camera(s) of choice was the rather unimpressive Minolta SRT-101, not the more commonly used 35 mm Leicas or Nikons, at the time. In the 5 or so years preceding going to Minamata he spent a lot of time in his loft in New York City, where he photographed incessantly, inside and outside of the window: inside was of many jazz musicians who hung out there, performed there, rehearsed there; outside the subject was the views and the passersby on the street 5-floors below. When he went to Minamata his health was not good, he had suffered severe injury as a war photographer during the Battle of Okinawa. In Minamata he was severely beaten up by 'employees' of Chisso, which severely damaged his eyesight. His wife was Japanese-American. One of these pictures is of his photo-equipment from Minamata. I will watch this bio, but expect it will be a typical Hollywood biopic of cinematic and verbal cliche.
No photo description available.
Author Natsume Soseki was similar to the protagonist he's most famous for, 吾輩猫である, a most presumptuous way of referring to oneself as a cat (as cats can't help but doing) - he was equally felinely periplectic. You can't throw a stone without hitting a house in Kumamoto that he'd never lived in. A road in Kumamoto celebrates him, aptly called 吾輩通り。For ailurophiles, it is a must visit. - William
As a neophyte in Kumamoto, I scavenged oysters from the crags of Minamata with my wife, both of us greedily slopping them down - and then learned that maybe that was not a good idea. My hometown of Orange County has a similar, era-spanning issue with dioxin having been dumped in barrels in the sea. Most know that Johnny Depp (whatever your opinion of him) has starred in the eponymous movie. Kumanichi has a writeup about it at the link - but, seriously?! How many cameras do you need?! - I always got by with one, even back in the days of 35mm film. - William https://kumanichi.com/news/id203675
Carp streamers (鯉のぼり)
are symbolic: the fish swims upstream, against the flow, all the time, until they die, symbolizing the eternal struggle of life. (Actually, it's kind of depressing if you think about it in that way.) But on we go.
Our friend Yoshiko-san recently posted a photo of the kindness a shorestop had shown to bees. Be kind to bees. Without them, we would all die. (Look really closely - "bees-knees distance" as it's had - at the sign.- William
So they've got that new Amu Plaza downtown with, apparently, a stunning indoor waterfall. Check out the video to be stunned. - William https://kumanichi.com/news/id202013
A note to those who have lost a pet: legally, you're supposed to go through some facility such as the Kumamoto Aigo center, but there exist many private facilities that will undertake the undertaking. It costs a bit, but from my experience, they were extremely polite and professional. If contact information is needed, please PM us. (Pictured: my dog.) - William
http://doubutsuaigo.hinokuni-net.jp/
Joe Tomei here. After just posting the COVID news, I'm not sure if I should be posting this, but May 7-9, KAB is holding a Festa at the newly fancified Kumamoto Station. Here is the web page
http://www.kab.co.jp/special/ekimaefesta2021/
A colleague of mine here at Gakuen, Akira Sakai, who seems to be involved in more things that one can shake a stick at, has some of his students selling some yaki nikku tare, which has some relationship with the innoshishi summit, which is a collection of farmers, hunters, restaurant owners and others who are dealing with the problem of wild boars, which damage crops and farmland. While the tare doesn't offer an protection from COVID, it is quite tasty, so if you do venture out, check them out.
Joe Tomei here with more a follow up from yesterday's shared email from JET Program Prefectural Advisors Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland. As always, thanks to them for letting me share these with Kumamoto-i.
=====
Hi Kumamoto,
As we mentioned yesterday, Kumamoto Prefecture announced yesterday that it has raised the Risk Level to Level 4.
The prefecture is acknowledging that this represents the start of a "fourth wave" of COVID-19 in Kumamoto, and has outlined what requests to the public that this Level increase entails. One important change is that the Prefecture is requesting residents specifically avoid travel to Fukuoka Prefecture, regardless of whether it has a State of Emergency/Stronger Measures, or an infection rate of over 15 per 100,000.
Here are all of the updated measures [on attached image] translated into English.
The original information about the Risk Level in Japanese is on the Prefectural website here: https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/51409.html
Information is also available in English on the website of the Kumamoto Support Center for Foreign Residents here: http://www.kuma-koku.jp/support-center/page156.html -- it should be updated later today with information from yesterday including the Risk Level change.
