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This is what the double punch of two shindo 7 earthquakes did to Miyazono in Mashiki-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016. I took the picture on the left with a little iPhone after the first quake. The TV reporter is standing next to a sign that says "Miyazono Community Center" (宮園公民館). I went back to the same place after the second quake, which occurred during the early hours of April 16th, to take the second photo. You can see the same sign but the devastation is so great that otherwise it's hard to recognize this as the same place. I was able to stand on the pavement when I took the first photo but I had to climb on top of debris that had spilled into the road to take the second photo. -- Kirk

Another deer has been caught wandering around Yasuyo Machi, just adjacent Shimotori. It's the third deer to have wandered downtown this week. Let's hope it's not some type of omen. - William

The Kumamoto quakes (note the plural) got a writeup on Japan Today. Please, for you who did not experience them, listen to those who did and take necessary precautions for WHEN (not IF) another quake occurs. - William
https://japantoday.com/category/national/kumamoto-commemorates-5th-anniv.-of-deadly-quakes

Joe Tomei here. William already posted a short note about the 5th anniversary of the Kumamoto Earthquakes, but I'd like to pass this from Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland, JET program Prefectural Advisors, that has an interesting Kumamoto-i connection. Sara Kubota, the ALT mentioned below and appearing in the video, had iirc just joined us on Kumamoto-i a month or two before the earthquake, and when it hit, she posted a steady stream of messages and announcements. Her work was recognized by the Embassy and she met the US ambassador at the time, Caroline Kennedy.
It may also be a good time to invite people to become editors here. If you are interested, please send me a DM.
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Today marks 5 years since the first of two powerful earthquakes struck Kumamoto Prefecture, causing loss of life and incredible damage across the prefecture.
In the confusion that immediately followed the earthquake, the Kumamoto JET community pulled together and supported each other. In addition, one year later, a fundraising drive called "JETs Rally for Kumamoto!" saw both current and former JETs raising funds for the recovery effort.
Although there are still 400 people living in temporary housing, almost 99% of residents who lost their homes have found new housing, and several important milestones have been achieved. The main keep of Kumamoto Castle has been completely reconstructed, and vital infrastructure such as the Aso Ohashi bridge has been rebuilt and re-opened, re-connecting Kumamoto to Minamiaso. According to a survey conducted by Kumanichi Newspaper, 81% of residents feel a sense in their daily lives that Kumamoto has recovered from the earthquakes.
To mark this important milestone, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a video to share about Kumamoto's recovery to the world, and we have been asked to share that video with everyone. A former Kumamoto JET, Sara Kubota, makes a feature appearance. Sara provided critical information to the foreign community over social media in the aftermath of the earthquake.
You can check out the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qn2zLjh04E

Please feel free to share the video with your family and friends. Wherever you are in the world, we hope that you are safe and healthy. When you are able to come back and visit Japan (we hope before long), your second home, Kumamoto will be waiting for you!
Local to global: Kumamoto will keep moving forward.
This short video shines a light on how Kumamoto has rebounded from two devastating earthquakes in 2016. Join us on a journey to discover the best of what Kum...

Hello Friends.
Yes, today is the 5th memorial day of Kumamoto earthquake. We learned lots things from its evacuation life.
I'd like to post and share these ''yubisashi sheets'' again, here.
https://www.yubisashi.com/volunteer/
In case any emergency, you can find and use them easily by searching
#emergency in Kumamoto international post.
Please remember this post to help yourself and your family.ーAtsuko.╰(*´︶`*)╯

Kirk here. Today I got an e-mail from Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland, who have been doing yeoman's work in summarizing important COVID-19 information for us. Their e-mail starts with a summary of how this is the 5th anniversary of the quakes and continues as follows:
"To mark this important milestone, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a video to share about Kumamoto's recovery to the world, and we have been asked to share that video with everyone. A former Kumamoto JET, Sara Kubota, makes a feature appearance. Sara provided critical information to the foreign community over social media in the aftermath of the earthquake.
You can check out the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qn2zLjh04E "
The primary "social media" referred to is this page. Sara got an award for her work from U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, in part because she did good work and in part because she had registered in advance as a "warden" (someone who helps the consulate get the word out to expats in the area, not a jailer ;) ) for the U.S. consulate in Fukuoka.
The video is beautifully done, and, of course, Sara's comments are spot on. If you have a computer, please watch it full screen.
Local to global: Kumamoto will keep moving forward.
This short video shines a light on how Kumamoto has rebounded from two devastating earthquakes in 2016. Join us on a journey to discover the best of what Kum...

Today marks five years since the quakes. I spent the night in a tent at Kaishin High School with my wife and dog. If you were here then, please let us know what you did - it might be useful for future reference. - William

This photo was published in the Kumanichi last year. The occasion was the first lighting up of the castle and environs since the 2016 earthquakes. It's a very large, high resolution, stunning photo. Enjoy! -- Kirk
http://kumamotto.kumanichi.com/index.php/kumacole/earthquake/1680550
and
http://kumamotto.kumanichi.com/sites/default/files/images/imported/2020-11/1118doron-kumamotojyou.jpg

The author Natsume Soseki is a lot like Washington: he seems to have always slept somewhere, likely near you, which is kind of creepy. His residences in Kumamoto are particularly numerous. His most famous work, 吾輩猫である (wagahainekodearu - the joke here is that 吾輩 is an extremely presumptive way of referring to oneself, which is how a cat would naturally do), is about a cat's vision of the world. The book is so noted that a road running by one of his numerous houses is called "吾輩道り.” If you're into cats, go there. Also, Atlas International will host an event on "supernatural cats" at a cost of $12, but ailurophiles (had to look that up) would be better off just visiting the street for free. - William

Ajisen Ramen is an international company founded in Kumamoto. To commemorate the restoration of the Aso Bridge, which is 2.5 meters longer than its predecessor, it is offering ramen 2.5 times longer than its average ramen. That's a whole lotta slurping. - William
https://kumanichi.com/news/id192151

Our neighbor to the southwest, Miyazaki, got a writeup on Gaijinpot Travel. Both that prefecture and Kagoshima are breathtakingly wonderful places to visit if you have a car and a tent - and remember, you can camp anywhere for free.
Get to know Japan's 47 Prefectures: Miyazaki
Miyazaki is a mountainous, mango-growing and palm tree-lined prefecture to rival nearby Okinawa in the tropical paradise stakes.

The Kumamoto red cow (褐毛和種) is pretty famous as far as cows go. I'm not sure if that's something they appreciate. However, they will appreciate that Kyushu Tokai University has agreed to provide grazing land on their Aso campus to bovines bereft of grazing ground following quake damage. Remember that next time you eat a really expensive, tasty steak. - William
https://kumanichi.com/news/id191157

Good morning!
Here is a post from Untapped Kumamoto about Seta Shrine in Ozu Town and Kumamoto Earthquake Museum, which aims at passing on lessons and stories of the disaster to the next generations.
It’s been almost 5 years since Kumamoto Earthquake. Seeing the progress of reconstruction is a great hope for all of us and makes us feel that we are moving forward.
Check the article below and I hope it will be your opportunity to visit some of the sites. I’ll be a great support for locals.
- Chieko

Shiromiyagura (城見櫓 - literally, "Castle View Turret") is a restaurant just across from the castle's nagabeya that I've long planned to visit but never have - but now I definitely will. It had been closed due to building damage since the quakes but has recently reopened with the help of crowd funding (that's apparently グループ補助金 in Japanese), spiffed up with an entrance designed to resemble the castle walls and the owner, Hayashi Shōzō-san, promising that every seat will have an excellent castle view. So now I've really got to go. - William
https://www.shiromiyagura.com/

As a native Californian, I'd been raised to be a touchy type. Once in Japan, I realized that YOU JUST DON'T TOUCH. And you draw a very strict line between professional and personal communications, as a female teacher from Kumamoto related in this Kumanichi story, The "# Teacher's Baton," an initiative from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, aimed at both publicizing the attractiveness of the profession and drawing lines on appropriate behavior. As she succinctly put it, "If you can't follow these guidelines, choose another profession." - William
教師の魅力伝えるはずが…過酷な実態訴え続々　「＃教師のバトン」文科省ＳＮＳプロジェクト ｜ 熊本日日新聞
現職教員が会員制交流サイト（ＳＮＳ）で学生らに向けて自由にメッセージを寄せる文部科学省の「＃教師のバ...

Kirk here sharing another valuable post from Charles Waterman.

Kirk here. Today I'm feeling quite happy to be a resident of Kumamoto City -- a community with a municipal government that really listens!
The screenshot of Kumamoto City's web site you see shows how machine translated pages currently appear. Machine translation is nothing new on the website but the ability to move quickly and easily between a machine translation and the Japanese original is (note the "Japanese" link under the other languages).
Here's the address of the City's page:
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/
Try it for yourself. The machine translations are still rather funky but now, if something seems to be important to you, you can easily find the original Japanese and, if you can't read it yourself, show that to someone who can help you figure out the details.
This is something I requested about a year and a half ago. Here's a link to the copy of a letter (in Japanese) that I submitted to the mayor:
https://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/2021/Kumamoto/提案書.pdf
I got the idea to write this letter from discussion we had on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/2840263016047112
That discussion was prompted by a post from Atsuko. Thanks Atsuko!! I'm SO glad I invited you to edit / post to the page.
My next target is Kumamoto Prefecture. They use the same machine translation service but, as was the case with Kumamoto City's page in the past, there's no obvious way to move between translations and the original pages -- just a warning that the translations may be wrong.
So, to sum up, although I do a fair amount of griping and carping on this page, here's at least one example of my complaining leading to something positive. :)

The Mainichi Shimbun published a series of photos of the restored castle (including views of exhibits inside the castle, an views from the observation platform). -- Kirk
In Photos: Restored Kumamoto Castle unveiled to media - The Mainichi
Kumamoto Castle's keeps are seen in Kumamoto's Chuo Ward on April 6, 2021, after interior restoration work was completed, during a media preview ahead

Kumamoto got a good writeup on GaijinPot which might be useful for clueless relatives wondering where the hell you live - except the caption "Smoke on the water" seems to encourage a bad habit. - William
Get to know Japan's 47 Prefectures: Kumamoto
Between the smoking crater of Mount Aso and the isolated islands of Amakusa, there’s plenty of attractions to keep you entertained in Kumamoto prefecture.

"Kodokushi" - 孤独死 - means "to die alone." My dog recently died in my arms, and of all the wonderful experiences he'd had in his life, that was likely what he was most grateful for. The "temporary housing" erected for victims of the Mashiki quakes has seen it become "temporary" only as their residents die alone and unattended. Another poor soul, a man described only as "in his 70s," departed this world yesterday, bringing this sad number of those dying alone to 33. I wish something more could be done for these people, but Mashiki is just so far away, both in location and in mind. - William
熊本地震の復興住宅で７０代男性「孤独死」　県内２人目 | 熊本日日新聞社
　熊本県は９日、熊本地震の被災者向け災害公営住宅（復興住宅）で、２０２０年度に１人暮らしの７０代男性が誰にもみとられずに亡くなったと発表した。復興住宅で「孤独死」が確認されたのは２人目。