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Mifune is an attractive small town, a gateway to central Kyushu, but there was really no reason to go there - until Costco put it on the map. "The name recognition of our town has rapidly improved. It's just like a theme park," says Mifune mayor Masayuki Fujiki. The Mainichi has the full story here. To our readers who have been there, please note your thoughts in the comments section. - William

Kirk here. Recently, William mention the new Kyushu Chuo Expressway. I missed it at the time but it seems to have opened in February. Eventually, it will allow people to get from Kumamoto City to Nobeoka in Miyazaki Prefecture. Currently, however, it makes a trip to Yamato (previously known as Yabe, where Tsujunkyo is) much easier. Here's a YouTube video (from which the screenshot was taken) about the opening:

Information about workshops on hands-on science learning.

Y'know when you're trekking and much of your day is spent worrying about the logistics of where you'll eat and sleep? This company has come with a unique idea: it arranges for the nitty-gritty of accommodations, meals, intermediate transportation (obviously, you're not going to walk around the entire island) on a pan-Kyushu tour including Kumamoto, etc., allowing you to focus on the fun of your trek. Whether you do it yourself or recommend it to visitors, it sounds like a wonderful way to discover Kyushu. - William

Beautiful Higo Asagao @ Suizenji park

With rainy season over and that infernal cauldron which is summer upon us, perhaps you would like to flee Kumamoto for the relative coolness of the mountains. My wife's family hails from Yabe (now referred to as Yamato-cho); family business took me there recently, and I drove the new trans-Kyushu expressway (Kyushu Oudan Kousokudorou 九州横断高速道路, photo below). Not only has it turned what was once a two-hour drive into a 45-minute one, it is a gorgeous, surprisingly straight road with few tunnels and many bridges from which tiny hamlets and rural scenery can be viewed.

Heavy rains are always a possibility in the later summer and early autumn here. They tend to be particularly severe when they come in the early morning hours, when folks are asleep. If we get some storm warnings (as we already have this year) please take them seriously. -- Kirk

The Asahi points out that Taiwanese have surpassed Koreans as the largest source of Kumamoto tourists, leading to a spike in sales at such stores as Tsuruya, which has added signage in the traditional Chinese characters used there (the mainland uses the simplified form). One visitor was quoted saying something I'm sure we can all agree upon: “Kumamoto, I like the tempo here. It’s more relaxing than in Tokyo and other big cities.” - William

Crane Game Workshop for Parents and Children

A final chapter in a long saga:

This is Shirakawa, which is on my way to work right now.

Another example of inhumane treatment of leprosy patients at the Kikuchi-Keifuen. This one is new to me. -- Kirk

The topic of foreign tourism has been the zeitgeist recently now that COVID travel restrictions have been lifted. While the central government is doing all it can to increase tourism, local governments have complained about the burden these tourists supposedly cause.

This is a continuation of Hitoyoshi Local Vegetable Shop.

Yatsushiro now has a wood-burning biomass power plant. --Kirk

For foreigners studying Japanese in Kumamoto.

Matsuki Nobuhiro, from Kumamoto, is one of at least 17 people abducted by the North Korean government in the 1970s and 80s. -- Kirk

William Kumamon had a meeting with Myaku-Myaku, the mascot of the Osaka World's Fair and mutant Elmo, who had travelled to the Kencho to publicize his doomed event. 国内での抜群の知名度と海外からの人気の高さ (kokunai de no batsugun no chimeido to kaigai kara no ninki no taka-sa) means"Outstanding domestic recognition and popularity overseas," referring I assume to Kumamon, not Myaku-Myaku.

Hey there, Kumamotans! (Or is it 'Kumamotites'?) It's KumaKitty here with some advice about how to take advantage of information, particularly news articles, published on this page. Over the years, the Facebook algorithm has gotten more and more finicky. If you give it a link to a news article, it seems to assume that nobody is interested. So, even though this page has over 5,000 "likes," a post that is primarily a link to a news article will only appear in the feeds of a handful of those folks. So, if you would like to use this page to keep up with local news, you should probably make a point of actually navigating to it from time to time to see what has been posted recently.

William Kumanichi reports that northern Kyushu has entered rainy season, 13 days later than normal and 19 days later than last year.