Posts
A week or so ago, the Kumamoto District Court issued a decision in favor of family members of leprosy patients who were demanding compensation from the government for the discrimination they suffered. This is the second historic decision regarding leprosy that the Kumamoto District Court has issued and the government has decided not to appeal.
-- Kirk
In 'rare' move, Abe says government won't appeal damages awarded to leprosy patients' kin | The Japan Times
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that the government will not file an appeal against a recent court ruling in Kumamoto awarding damages to former lep
中国語と日本語の逐次通訳による講演の案内です。感謝を持ちそうな方へのシェア大歓迎！
In this post, I'm introducing a public lecture that will be conducted in Chinese with consecutive interpretation to Japanese. The topic is the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the speaker is an economist from Shenzhen University. As many of you are aware, Shenzhen is known as China's silicon valley. It was China's first special economic zone and has grown at an amazing rate. It has been in the news as a major site for the production of Apple products and as the home of Huawei. If you understand either Japanese or Chinese, I think you'll find the content to be very interesting. Also, if you could please share this with anyone who you might be interested, I'd appreciate it.
-- Kirk
Just a quick reminder that INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SPIES, Kumamoto's only escape room game, will be closing at the end of this month. If you want to try to knock Team Jutaku Five from the top of the leaderboard, you'd better be quick! You can book a timeslot for your team (2-6 players, 1000 yen each/500 yen children and students) by visiting Escape from Britz. You don't need any prior escape room experience but you will need speed, skill and dexterity to solve the mystery and save Kumamoto from a deadly plot!
Fiona
Sorry for the last-minute notice but I'd like to share some information about two events, one Saturday afternoon and one Sunday morning, that Yuka Ogata has planned for this weekend. Both events are in Japanese.
On Saturday, the topic will be the mainstreaming of children with disabilities in elementary school. （土曜日のテーマは特別支援を必要とする子どもとそうでない子どもが一緒に学ぶ小学校に関する講演です。）On Sunday, the topic will be increasing the participation of women in local politics. （ 日曜日のテーマは女性議員を増やす環境整備となります。）There will be student presentations Sunday morning.
Yuka Ogata is the local politicians who made international news by attempting to attend a City Council meeting with her baby. If you would be interested in meeting her, this might be a good opportunity.
-- KIrk
P.S. You can find more information in Japanese here:
https://www.facebook.com/yuukahagukumu/posts/2669473439747423
Now that the storm is over and the sun has come out, here's a little update on the 5-level warning system that is intended to make it easier for people to understant when and if they need to evacuate.
First, I found one article in English that presents a version of the new table:
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00466/new-five-level-warning-system-introduced-for-heavy-rain-disasters.html
The attached image of an English-language table is roughly equivalent to the more colorful Japanese table. Unfortunately, however, even though the information is the same, the scale is in the opposite order (in Japanese, the highest level of alert is on the top while in the English table it's on the bottom) and the color scheme is different.
I called the JMA today about this and spoke with a nice man who seemed quite sympathetic to my request for an official English version of the Japanese chart. He said he would pass my opinion to his superiors.
In the meantime, I'd like to encourage everyone to make sure you understand what the various levels mean so that if they come up in the future, you can make sense of them -- even if you don't happen to understand the Japanese words used in the chart.
-- Kirk
P.S. I think the meaning of level 5 isn't explained fully in the article. The article says that "level 5 indicates the need to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard one’s own life." In plain English, this means that, by this point, trying to get to an evacuation center may be more dangerous than hunkering down where you are. So, if you didn't evacuate at level 4, then at level 5 you're probably better off to just try to find that safest place in your immediate vicinity.
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00466/new-five-level-warning-system-introduced-for-heavy-rain-disasters.html
My corner of Kumamoto City is surprisingly quiet now (not much rain). I seem to be in a pocket of white in the radar image you see below. The nastier colors (green, yellow and red) are likely to come this way from the west, however, so it ain't over 'till it's over, so to speak. I think that's probably why my university (Kumamoto Gakuen University) and Kumamoto University (and perhaps others -- I haven't checked) have canceled classes this afternoon.
The image is from the following site:
https://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/zoomradar/
-- Kirk
The image you see is NOT from today but from seven years ago when the Shirakawa, which flows through Kumamoto City, flooded. We don't seem to be in any danger of that today but this video compares the situation at the river today with the flooding that occurred then. If you haven't seen the footage of what happened in Kumamoto seven years ago, you might want to check it out.
-- Kirk
https://www.fnn.jp/posts/00420192CX/201907031152_TKU_CX
Here's a link to a video about how more than 80,000 people have been called to evacuate, mostly in the Hitoyoshi and Amakusa areas. For more about how to get information in English about which areas are being evacuated please see my previous post.
-- Kirk
http://www.news24.jp/nnn/news162134366.html
Kirk here with more rain news. Evacuations have been called for in several parts of Kumamoto. By "evacuations have been called for" I mean Level 4. There are many more places at Level 3 (get ready to evacuate). To get a more-or-less comprehensive list of calls for evacuation, I recommend
https://crisis.yahoo.co.jp/evacuation/43/
This site is in Japanese but if you can use the translate extension on the Chrome browser
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-translate/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb?hl=en
You can not only view an English translation but also check the original Japanese by placing your cursor over the translation, you can check the original Japanese. Most of the translation is pretty good but occasionally a place name is rendered incorrectly so this can be helpful, especially if you or someone nearby is able to make sense of the Japanese when the English doesn't sound right.
For example, 錦町 in Kumagun has been rendered Kamo-cho, instead of Nishiki-machi.
Be safe!
Hi Joe Tomei here, This is the flyer for a Japanese musical to be held in Uto-shi on July 15th and I pass it on not only if any folks are interested in attending, but also because it's a group that puts on a musical every year, with practices and professional guidance, so there may be parents with children who might be interested.
These images are from today's RKK news show (around 6 PM). For a short time, you will be able to see the segment on YouTube at the following address.
-- Kirk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=vg4VjgDyDhI
Parts of Kumamoto are still at elevated risk for landslides but the situation is worse in Kagoshima. There was a report on the news of one landslide and a possible fatality. I hope things settle down without more damage.
-- Kirk
P.S. The English side of the JMA site has useful maps like this one that you may want to take a look at.
https://www.jma.go.jp/en/doshamesh/
I said I would stop posting but I can't resist. It looks like some "training" may be developing right now. Fortunately, however, the bulk of it seems to be over the ocean but it's too close for comfort -- especially for Amakusa and Kagoshima.
-- Kirk
https://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/zoomradar/
This will be my last post about the rain for now.
Earlier today, Atsuko shared a web site that provides information about evacuation sites and about areas that are vulnerable to landslides. Thanks Atsuko!
Even if we don't experience extreme rain in the next 24 hours, we've had enough already to significantly heighten the danger of landslides. The website is only in Japanese and you can't even use Google translate with it. Still yellow is risky and red is very risky. So, if you can figure out where you are, you can see if there are slopes that are deemed to be at risk for landslides, etc. nearby. Also, the green sites are evacuation sites.
I think there are probably relatively few non-Japanese readers of this page that live at the foot of a dangerous slope or on the banks of a raging river. I think it's probably more likely that one or two of our readers might decide to drive along a path that could put them in danger. People have died in Kumamoto when their cars have been hit by landslides. So, if you're not sure exactly what areas on a route you are considering are risky, you might want to delay your trip until the weather gets better and the slopes have died out a bit.
-- Kirk
http://sabo.kiken.pref.kumamoto.jp/website/sabo/kuiki/?fbclid=IwAR1AAh5hIeAAaAbE4HTukHw9aBnIi9zBz28MvxpIgde0p7CMK_K3HKtTL6A
These photos are from a nationally broadcast news program called "Bankisha" and all related to the rain in Kumamoto. I'll write comments on each one so, if you're interested, please click or tap on the photos to see my explanations.
-- Kirk
In a few minutes, I'll introduce some images I took from a nationally broadcast TV news show (Bankisha) that focused on the danger of heavy rain in Kumamoto. On the news program, they reported that meteorologists are saying that there is a significant possibility that Kumamoto will experience a phenomenon called "training" (線状降水帯) in the next 24 hours. I was unfamiliar with the concept so I did a little web search and found this Gawker article on the phenomenon. "Training" has nothing to do with "learning" or the cute little training wheels on a kids bike. Instead think of "I feel like I got hit by a train." The Gawker article reports that the process is called "training" because "the thunderstorms look like they’re train cars moving along railroad tracks. Training can continue for hours, forcing a few unlucky areas to get caught under this relentless heavy rain until the air stabilizes and the storm development stops." So, now that you know what "training" is and that there's some possibility that it may occur here, I'll start to prepare another posts that focuses on Kumamoto.
-- Kirk
The Incredible Process That Lets the Atmosphere Dump an Ocean of Rain in a Few Hours
Last week, Austin, Texas, and surrounding communities found themselves flooded after a relentless thunderstorm dropped more than a foot of rain in just a few hours. This astounding rainfall event was the result of a phenomenon known as “training,” and as Austin saw, training can lead to devastat...
Hi! I hope the heavy rain wasn't too much of a problem for most of you today.
The rain in Kumamoto is a major news story in Japan today. Unfortunately, I was too preoccupied with my own activities to post about evacuation and flood warnings today (there were quite a few) but, as more rain is expected, I'd like to follow this post up with a few more in the hope that providing more information might help some of you avoid dangerous circumstances.
-- Kirk
Rain to intensify in many parts of Japan | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Weather officials in Japan are calling for caution as continuing heavy rain could prompt landslides, flooding in low-lying areas as well as gusty winds across the country.
Good morning friends.
You might get alarm to escape from flood, landslde.
Here is hazard map about flood around each river. You should check the river area you live near. 白川 is Sirakawa, 坪井川 is Tsuboigawa,....
I've shared one like this was a hazard map to escape from Tsunami. This one is different.
https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&id=2121
This page is hazard map about landslde.
http://sabo.kiken.pref.kumamoto.jp/website/sabo/kuiki/
If you want to escape to somewhere, you should go to KOUMINKAN, community center or school.
Be safe, be careful.ーAtsuko(*Ü*)
熊本県土砂災害情報システム 警戒区域・特別警戒区域
Hello! Ruth here! 🍀 Hot days are coming, so if you know of any parents who want to learn some fun 'Summer English' with their young children, please share the info below with them✨ I'm running a morning English program at Kumamoto International Center, for two weeks this summer **夏休み親子で英会話**7月末から、二週間で!! It'll be indoors, and full of communication activities, games and fun!! 💬🌈🌍
**夏休み親子で英会話**Parent & Child Summer English Course at KIX**募集中✍️ Now taking applicants!!
♦When? From 30th July to 8th August (全8回)
♦Where? KIX... 熊本市国際交流館
♦対象:4歳~6歳✨ Younger siblings can join too!
♦What activities? Games... Songs... Dances... Crafts... Stories... 🎨🎹🛒🦋🌈
♦受講料: 6000円
お問い合わせ: Please contact KIX for sign-up or more info! It's part of the グローバルカレッジ initiative🔤See poster ☟ Feel free to share!
よろしくお願いします🙏 是非シェアしてください
