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Olivia here,
There is Science Fair event at GrandMesse today and tomorrow.
I went there today with my kids, and we enjoyed the event.
The gate opens at 10 am, and many parents bring their kids there. There are simple science booths for kids to try and enjoy. You might need to queue a bit to join each booth.
Atsuko, one of Kumamoto International editor, volunteered in one of the booth called “Computer Science in English”.
There were food booth too in case you wanna spend longer time at the event 😊

Those of you in the Kumamoto area might want to put this on your calendar. As it says in the upper left-hand corner, the place is Ezuko and the date is August 31st.
-- Kirk

Keyword: Culture & Entertainment
Tristan Vick here.
In Japan, there is a limited television viewing selection in the way of evening dramas, comedies, and variety television (live shows, cooking, interviews, game shows, etc.).
And, quite literally, all of the dramas happen to be contemporary!
Think shows about salarymen / women, shows about high school / junior high school kids, young romance, entrance exams, bullying and mundane school drama, shows about your local police officer at the koban or state police (almost always set in or around Tokyo), and shows about modern Japanese family life, etc.
There is almost nothing in the way of historical period dramas unless it is a samurai drama. And, then, that's the ONLY type of historical dramas Japan seems to have (I know there are probably more but the oversaturation of samurai dramas is mind-boggling).
I'm currently watching The Naked Director on NETFLIX and am loving it.
It's about the rise of Japan's pornography film industry and of Toru Muranishi whose innovative approaching to selling sex to the public threatened to place him in prison with a 300-year sentence.
It's very fascinating and very well written and produced historical drama. But definitely racy with lots of adult content.

This shows the schedule for rugby games in Kumamoto. As you can see, games will be played here on the 6th and 13th of October.
I found a link that took me to this schedule in a New York Times article entitled
Rugby World Cup Shines Spotlight on a Less-Traveled Japan
Matches will be played in host cities across the country, but Kamaishi, Kumamoto and Fukuroi offer charming destinations and special deals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/travel/japan-rugby-kamaishi-kumamoto-and-fukuroi.html
For people already in Kumamoto, the introduction to the area probably doesn't contain much that you don't already know.
-- Kirk

Hello friends. How is Obon?
I enjoyed Onsen today at HIRAYAMA Spa in Yamaga city. Its hot spring's quality is great!! You might become smoothly, ツルツル.
I found interesting poster there. It's written in Japanese, especially Kumamoto dialogue.So you might be difficult to understand but good image to use. I also attached a website to introduce how to use Onsen below. The way it tells about magical towal and snake of shower nozzle😁, and taking bath are really pointed and interesting.
After you read this text, you might understand the image picture telling easily.
I hope lots international friends enjoy Obon holiday too. ーAtsuko(*Ü*)
How to use Japanese bath.
http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/onsen/how-to-take-a-japanese-bath/

This video shows the movement of the typhoon over the last 12 hours (5 A.M. to 5 P.M., Wednesday). You can see that the eye of the storm is huge, much bigger than Kumamoto Prefecture. This movie was created by combining a series of infrared satellite images. Here's the address of the JMA page from which I recorded the video:
https://www.jma.go.jp/jp/gms/
-- Kirk

Puberty Wounds from the U.S.A will be rolling through Kumamoto with some awesome Midwest American Hardcore Punk in September.Also on the bill are The MSGs which is an ex-pat/Japanese band from Fukuoka. Their sound is pop-punk. Think Ramones and Screeching Weasel. I know nothing about Hyper Gal other than they are from Kyoto. The rest of the bands are from Kumamoto. Tickets are 2000 Yen plus a drink ticket. Looks like Veggie meals will be provided. Word has it that Puberty Wounds are Straight Edge and they are playing a smoky live house that has a bar. I guess you take it when you get it. Their self titled release is on bandcamp. I give it a thumbs up along with The MSGs... Jay Onyskin

This illustrates the probability of tropical storm winds in the next 24 hours. As I write this, I'm listening to a TV report about the storm. They are saying that one characteristic of this storm system is its size: really, really big (超大型; cho oogata). The wind speeds are not those of a super typhoon but the area that will be affected is humongous. --Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

Kirk here. The other day, Atsuko posted an image of a pdf document that Kumamoto City has made to help non-Japanese residents understand how to dispose of trash properly. (Thanks again, Atsuko!)
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/2839866092753471?__tn__=-R
I think the City's publication of this information in English, Chinese, and Korean is a very positive step forward. It would have been even better, however, if they had published a Japanese version, preferable a "simple" Japanese version (furigana added, simple phrases added to improve clarity for non-native readers, etc.), with the foreign-language versions. Here are some reasons why I think it's a good idea to publish Japanese versions with translations.
1. Makes it possible to check the original
Even if one does one's best to produce a clear, readable translation that is faithful to the original, some things can be lost or garbled in the translation process. So, it's good to be able to check the original Japanese version when one has a question about the meaning of a term or phrase. Even if a foreign resident doesn't understand Japanese, it's nice to have a Japanese version to show to Japanese friends and family.
2. Facilitates communication with neighbors, etc.
An English translation may be sufficient to help one understand the meaning of the original. If, however, one wishes to communicate with ordinary Japanese people about the same content it is usually necessary to know the Japanese terminology. Providing an English translation without the Japanese original can leave a foreigner understanding the basic content but unable to communicate effectively with neighbors about that topic.
3. Facilitates Japanese language study
This year, a new law was passed that holds the government responsible for teaching Japanese to all foreign residents:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/21/national/new-law-holds-government-responsible-teaching-japanese-foreign-residents/
Providing Japanese versions of all information deemed important enough to translate into English is a very inexpensive way of facilitating the practical study of Japanese. It is no substitute for formal, classroom instruction and tutoring but may be an important way in which to augment such study. Moreover, providing simple Japanese to foreign residents conveys the expectation that foreign residents should apply themselves to the study of Japanese. Conversely, not publishing simple Japanese with foreign language translations seems to say "we decided not to waste your time with the original, which we don't really think you're capable of understanding anyway."
I'm planning to write up a proposal, formally asking the mayor to make publishing Japanese texts with translations city policy. I hope to incorporate any feedback that I get to this post in that proposal. Thanks in advance!

This video was published on AJ+, an online news and current events channel run by Al Jazeera Media Network. The production values are good and it's getting a big response. The woman on the right, holding her baby, is Kumamoto's Yuka Ogata, whose case we have discussed on this page at length. --Kirk

Kumamoto Kogyo's next game is Wednesday afternoon at 1PM. --Kirk
https://www.nhk.or.jp/koushien/2019-summer/results?date=2019-08-14

The article says that school buildings in Kumamoto ARE all "fully quake-proofed."
-- Kirk
Survey finds 894 buildings at public elementary and junior high schools not yet quake-proof | The Japan Times
A total of 894 buildings at public elementary and junior high schools were not earthquake-proof as of April 1, down from 978 a year before, an education mi

A post from the Kumamoto International Desk of Confusion: I'm watching Koshien and cannot understand why the upper inning is always written in kanji (表) but always in katakana for the lower ( ウラ). Any ideas? - William

This is a follow-up to my last post about how to navigate from the English machine translation of Kumamoto City's website to the original Japanese:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/2840263016047112
Once you get the original Japanese page you can use Hiragana Megane
http://www.hiragana.jp/en/
to put furigana on everything. Cool, huh?
-- Kirk

Post Title: How to get from Kumamoto City's machine translation to the original Japanese.
Kirk here. Atsuko posted some useful information about trash disposal. Thanks Atsuko! One of the links she included was to a machine translated web page from the Kumamoto City website:
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp.e.fm.hp.transer.com/cal_recycle/pub/default.aspx?c_id=14&lmst=1&smst=19&fbclid=IwAR1mPkObVsrOAdS7ZA5I1E4T9VEGul4V2vsFdDchSKSMGm-qkKFyFCezra0
Because it's a machine translation and such translations are typically not very reliable, they have the following disclaimer:
"This page is translated using machine translation. Please note that the content may not be 100% accurate."
OK. Fair enough. Now I've been warned that the translation is likely to be pretty dodgy but what do if I need to find out what it really says? Actually, until now, I don't think there's been a good answer to this question. Today, however, I've discovered a little hack that I hope some of you will find to be useful.
What you need to do is remove the following letters from the URL:
".e.fm.hp.transer.com"
Just highlight that portion of the URL and then hit "delete." You'll be left with something like
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/cal_recycle/pub/default.aspx?c_id=14&lmst=1&smst=19&fbclid=IwAR1mPkObVsrOAdS7ZA5I1E4T9VEGul4V2vsFdDchSKSMGm-qkKFyFCezra0
which is the original URL -- the Japanese page that was translated. Now, if you understand Japanese you can check that. Or, you can ask a Japanese person for some help. Or, you can use the following Google service to get a different machine translation that lets you go back and forth between the English and the Japanese:
http://itools.com/tool/google-translate-web-page-translator
That's the tip. I hope some of you find it useful. :)
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/2839866092753471?comment_id=2840172812722799&notif_id=1565347824553113&notif_t=feed_comment

Hello friends.
Now, it's also the leaving season for international students and ALTs.
Here is the webpage how to get garbage out, and the calendar of the day.
My international friend had a problem. He got his plastic garbage as usual but the staff didn't bring it out. He seemd to have done it out correctly in these website way. We searched and tried to find out the reason why they didn't accept his garbage.
The answer was the difference about semi- transparent bag. He got his plastic garbage out with week white bag. It can be seen through from outside. But it's not semi-transparent in Japan, unfortunately. He asked me what is the semi-transparent bag. I showed him the difference between transparent bag, semi-transparent bag and Kumamoto city organized bag. After I showed them he could understand the reason and the difference.

He wants to share his problem in case someone doesn't understand the difference between semi-transparent bag and colored bag.
We think Kumamoto city government should tell and show the difference semi-transparent and colorless bag from colored bag more clearly and more BIG letters!!!ーAtsuko(*Ü*)
It's a calendar for citizen who live Kurokami,,,,,.in English.
If you live other place, pleasure put your address into it.
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp.e.fm.hp.transer.com/cal_recycle/pub/default.aspx?c_id=14&lmst=1&smst=19
It's how to get the garbage out in ....
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpKiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&id=15590&class_set_id=5&class_id=904&fbclid=IwAR25ibaCel3CCLlrJXUoJRFbvefkMqGR1D41NWr2thdOBrGEdb9pTQRw25E
.

Olivia here,
We are approaching Obon holiday soon. Kikuchi summer festival is this Saturday, 10th of August.
They have 3000 fireworks to make the festival merrier.
I have never been to Kikuchi summer festival before so I don’t really know how the atmosphere is.
Anyone who has been there before is welcome to share their experience in the comments below 😊

If you're interested in the ongoing high school baseball tournament, you might want to catch Kumamoto Kogyo's game at 10:30 tomorrow. These games are broadcast on NHK's main channel (not educational, not satellite).
-- Kirk
https://www.nhk.or.jp/koushien/2019-summer/results?date=2019-08-10

Hello friends, especially international students.
I like and respect international students because they are hard learners and honest, friendly and having lots of challenging spirit!!
I hope lots of them have good opportunities to get their job with good treatment. I hope they enjoy not only their school days but also their work in Japan.
Here is a good information to share, to spread, to be known about their chances.
Hey, international students, let's make Kumamoto more liable, more happy prefecture together.ーAtsuko(*Ü*)
https://www.facebook.com/6321018343/posts/10156365049098344/

Basic Japanese Language Course for Beginners at KIF
Without basic Japanese ability, living in Kumamoto can be hard! Kumamoto International Foundation (KIF) is now offering an intensive basic Japanese course for people who have just come to Kumamoto and have trouble communicating, or people who have lived here for a while but have not yet studied the language seriously. For more information, please see the flyer or the link below.
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/event/event_detail.asp?id=2&kiji_id=10810&LC=j