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Happy new year!
Here's part of an e-mail announcement from the International Center:
"This event is hold to raise morale, keep discipline and to raise awareness of disaster prevention for citizens. This year marching parades and exhibition of firefighting vehicles will be conducted.
January, 7th (Sun) 10:00 am - 11:30 am, at Shirakawa riverbed (between Shirakawa Bridge and Taihei Bridge)
※This event will be canceled in case of heavy rain.
Firefighter Marching Parade, members and firefighting vehicles, inspection by mayor.
Shishimai · Performance · Taiko · Woodwind song · Ladder riding, All-out watering"
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=9600&pg=1&sort=0&LC=e
The following page has the same information in Japanese:
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&type=top&id=17768
Here's the URL of a web page in English about a similar event in the Tokyo area:
https://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/spot/festival/dezomeshiki.html
-- Kirk
Dezome-shiki - Japan National Tourism Organization
Warning people of the dangers of fire through acrobatic stunts on top of ladders.

During the blur that is New Years in Japan, you'll likely find yourself seated before a TV, and that TV will likely display a bunch of college students running in the Kanto cold. That would be the Hakone Ekiden ("ekiden" = relay race; trust the Japanese to turn everything into a team sport).
This is the premier running event of the year, with a few score of universities competing on outbound and return courses of about 108 kilometers split into five legs corresponding to roughly 20KM each; the outbound and return legs are conducted on separate days, usually 1/2 and 1/3. It has been held since 1920. There is a big hill. And sometimes snow.
Anyway, this year, six Kyushugakuin high school graduates will take part, representing their respective newfound universities. The high school is known nationally for its running program. So when you're ensconced under the kotatsu munching on mikan with your in-laws watching on TV a bunch of people running and you randomly point out and say, "Ah! Kyushugakuin!," you have a decent chance of being correct. - William
東京箱根間往復大学駅伝競走 - Wikipedia
東京箱根間往復大学駅伝競走（とうきょうはこねかんおうふくだいがくえきでんきょうそう）は、例年1月2日と翌3日の2日間にわたって行われる大学駅伝の競技会（地方大会）である。関東学生陸上競技連盟が主催し読売新�...

It may not be entirely appropriate to use this old "editor wanted" post to write a thank you note to everyone who has helped with the editing of the page this year, but I'd like to combine a "thank you" post with an invitation to join the team.
I started the "Kumamoto-i" mailing list about 18 years ago and then moved to Facebook more-or-less as my own pet project, though I got lots of help at each stage along then way. I'm very happy that many thoughtful and talented writers have come on board to help with the care and feeding of the page and that, in the process, the page has become less of my own pet project and more of a community forum. I am particularly grateful for the posts of other editors during periods in December when I was preoccupied with other matters and unable to post myself. Many people have posted thoughtful, interesting, and well-written posts during the past year but I'd like to thank William in particular for all of the energy he has put into the care and feeding of the page. There are many others I would like to thank as well but I'm afraid that if I try to name everyone I'll forget one or two and I don't want anyone to feel slighted or left out. Please know, though, that I appreciate each and every contribution.
One regret I have is that there were a couple of instances when I received requests to help publicize events, etc. but I failed to do anything in time. I'd like to apologize for all such failures and invite people who would like to utilize the page to promote their own projects to come on board as editors. You won't be asked to post regularly but the capability to post will mean that, when the time comes to get the word out about something, you won't need to wait for me to help you get the word out.
Thanks and best wishes for a happy 2018!
-- Kirk

If you've any length of experience in Kumamoto, you've seen Aramoto-san (新本さん). As a baker, he bakes a lot, but unlike others of his profession, he then gets on his bicycle to hawk his muffins all around town. He's 62 now and has been doing this for 30 years. If you see him pass by, a wave and a smile will be promptly returned. Better, stop him and buy a muffin.
He was recently portrayed on NHK. It's a tear-jerker of a video, so please watch. - William
ペダルを踏んで届ける元気～熊本 自転車販売のケーキ職人～【Human】
荷台にパウンドケーキの山を積んだ赤い自転車が熊本の町を走る。新本高志さん62歳、30年前から自転車を走らせケーキを売り歩いてきた。去年、熊本を襲った大地震。なじみの客の多くが被災、消息が途絶えた人もいる。�...

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous Year of the Dog (inudoshi, 戌年) to all of our Kumamoto International friends.

Here's another way to enjoy the castle:
https://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/12/17/miniature-kumamoto-castle-exhibition-lets-you-marvel-at-its-remarkable-architecture-up-close/
-- Kirk
Miniature Kumamoto Castle exhibition lets you marvel at its remarkable architecture up close
The intricate displays offer an alternative perspective on one of Japan’s finest castles.

Breaking news! Editor William's whippet receives a Kumamon blanket from his daughter (William's, not the dog's) and appears not displeased.

As the article explains, this international event is slated for November, 2019. -- KIrk
Promoting Kumamoto with Handball - NHK WORLD
People in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture are excited about hosting a major international sports event two years from now. They see the World Women's Handball Championship as a great way to promote the region.

Here's some information that was sent to Kumamoto International by Olivia Saputra. Thanks Olivia! -- Copied and pasted by Kirk
--- begin quote ---
Hello Kumamoto International 😊
My family went to Ashikita area at beginning of this month. It was not as cold as now when we visited there.
It was our first time visiting the town, and we loved it.
The town offers both beauty of the sea and mountain.
There is big park called Otachimisaki Park. And there is an Onsen nearby. We went to view the stars in the night nearby the onsen, but it was cloudy, so we only saw the moon.
We didn't check out the inside of the park because my oldest Son was not so interested in checking Parks anymore 😅
So we went straight to Luge Park and Playground.
The town has English Page, so everyone can check it out.
http://www.nihon-kankou.or.jp.e.wp.hp.transer.com/kumamoto/434825/detail/43482cb3282025751
Parking entry cost 500 yen, and kids will enjoy Long hours running around and burning their energy in the playground.
It will be great to visit here again when the weather gets warmer. I plan to do so 😃
I would avoid visiting here during Golden Week though because I heard it is one of the busiest time for them.
We drove a bit to Tanoura area for our culinary experience. My family loves Japanese Food and we love to try new dishes. The Michi No Eki at Tanoura city sells Fried Tachiou (LargeHead Hairtail) Set Dish. One should try it out. Their Shirasu Donburi was great too (for Fish Fan). My Husband sticked to Fried Tachiou. He was not a big fan of Shirasu 😃

The Year of the Dog (inu doshi) is rapidly approaching. You'll often see these two kanji to represent the new year:
犬 - pronounced "inu" or "ken". This is the most common for actual physical barkey-lickey-take-me-for-a-walk kind of dogs; those who keep dogs will often have a government-issued sticker above their door with this kanji. One theory of its usage is that it's onomatopoeic - that the "ken, ken!" sound dogs make resulted in its adoption. It can be used to represent the zodiac year, but the kanji below is more common.
戌 - this kanji is used for both the Asian zodiac and the 9th month of the lunar calendar (October/November in the Gregorian). Apparently, the kanji is a conflation of two axes ("ono", 斧); how it came to mean "dog" is unclear, but perhaps the brush clearing requiring axes conducted in autumn was equated with canines (I'm sure they enjoyed it).
Note: A third kanji, 狗, is on occasion seen. It is the most common Chinese kanji for dog. That the two languages did not settle on a single character for such an indispensable animal (as they did for others such as cow 牛, horse 馬, chicken 鶏, fish 魚, etc.) is interesting. - William

Here's an update on the "baby-in-city-council" issue.
In response to the attention Ms. Ogata's case has focused on the lack of daycare facilities within the Kumamoto City Hall building, Kumamoto City is reported to be planning the establishment of a daycare on the 3rd floor of the Shiyakusho (city hall) building. The Mainichi Shimbun article reports that one factor in the city's decision was over 500 letters / messages that individuals sent to the city after the media began to cover Ms. Ogata's case. Many of those messages called for the establishment of daycare facilities within the city hall building. Moreover, in response to a survey of more than 6000 city employees that was conducted between September and October (that is, before the media frenzy over Ms. Ogata's case), 86% replied that such a facility was needed in the building.
This is actually rather old news. The Mainichi article I'm quoting came out on the 16th of December and, since then, many other media outlets have covered this development and its implications for government facilities throughout Japan. Still, I came up empty handed when I searched for news articles in English on the topic via Google. I found the following articles (December 25th and 23rd respectively) but neither mentioned the concrete progress that has resulted from Ms. Ogata's actions:
"Baby in assembly" raises controversy in Japan
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/12/dcb4bb523a75-focus-baby-in-assembly-raises-controversy-in-japan.html
Men still making houses as women try to leave home
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/23/national/media-national/men-still-making-houses-women-try-leave-home/#.WkXCHyOB3_Q
Come on, English media (Kyodo, Japan Times, etc) -- get your act together. You guys are supposed to be professionals. ;)
-- Kirk
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20171216/k00/00m/010/204000c
熊本市：市役所に保育施設設置へ　働き方改革で対応加速 - 毎日新聞
　熊本市が来年度にも市役所に保育施設を設けることが１５日、関係者への取材で分かった。熊本市議会では１１月に緒方夕佳市議（４２）が子供を抱いて本会議に出席しようとして開会が遅れる問題があり、市にも子育て...

Everyone loves kanji. Kirk's post below regarding the documentary on Richard Brezina, 天草の鳥人 ("Birdman of Amakusa"), used a stylized form of "bird" and brought to mind the four recognized stages of kanji development:
甲骨 (kōkotsu) - literally "shell/bone," this earliest form was used by shamans to divine the future;
金文 (kinbun) - literally "metal character," this dates from the bronze age, when making a mistake on a piece of metal would annoy your boss;
小篆 (shyouten) - literally "small engraved," this is a stylized form often used on seals even today;
楷書 (kaishyo) - literally "square writing," is the block-style characters currently in use.
As an example, the character for "bird" written in 楷書 is 鳥, but in the advertisement is written as 小篆 (which is a font impossible to use on Facebook). Kanji evolution of the word "bird" can be seen in the four characters below. - William

Minamata disease (aka mercury poisoning) is normally Kirk's territory, but I'll go ahead and post this, a good primer. I remember a few years ago with my wife in Minamata eating oysters we'd pried off rocks ourselves and suddenly locking eyes: From the sacrifice of these victims comes a better world.
Aging Minamata disease victims continue to convey lessons
Most Saturday nights, a group of patients with the congenital form of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease dine together to discuss the challenges they face in coping with the ailment now that they are mostly in their 60s. The focus on a night in early September was Shinobu Sakamoto, who three weeks�...

Somebody had asked recently about how to recycle unneeded clothing. Apparently, Uniqlo has a program which takes clean, lightly-worn clothing and ships it to needy communities globally. Link below. There is also a facility in Suizenji called "Kumamoto Boshi" (熊本市母子) which cares for single mothers - if your clothes are children size, I would recommend that (very nice people - they sent me a letter of thanks after a recent donation). Link below.
Make sure the clothing donations are in presentable condition; anything too old can be mixed with burnable garbage and go out with the trash. - William
http://kumamoto-boshi.com/
http://www.uniqlo.com/en/sustainability/
Making the World Better Place/Sustainability(Corporate Social Responsiblility)
FAST RETAILING’s essential approach to Sustainability is to make the world a better place through planning, producing and selling clothing, which is one of the basic necessities of life. To remain a company that creates enduring value for the world, we will pursue appropriate management, grow with...

The recent horrific department store fire in Davao City, Philippines reminded me of the Taiyo Department Store fire, which occurred in Kumamoto on November 29, 1973 and led to major reforms across Japan for large buildings where public gatherings are held regarding exits and internal extinguishing equipment.
Taiyo Department Store was on Shimotori; the site later became a Daiei franchise; the building was demolished two years ago to become the current Cocosa. The fire broke out on the second floor, quickly trapping those above in the 13-story building. 103 were killed and over a hundred injured. A monument exists on Shirakawa across from Shimotori for the tragedy, where a ceremony is still conducted each year. - William

JR elevating its tracks through the city not only pleased pretty much every driver but also opened up valuable real estate which the company has to figure out what to do with now.
Freed space to the south of the station (red below) will become a shopping and dining area which will be called "Higo Yokamon Market" (sheesh - okay, feudal era name for Kumamoto + Kumamoto dialect catchphrase which means "good" + market = 肥後よかモン市場). The plan is for an eventual 60 shops; 33 have thus far come aboard. The planned atmosphere is Kumamotoesque (and, yes, I do ignore those red squiggly lines under my writing which indicate a misspelling).
The new shopping area is set to open from March next year and is expected to not only offer a venue for local products but to contribute to revitalization of what has long been a neglected area. (Plus - more shops. My wife is pleased.) - William
熊本駅、高架下施設に60店　「よかモン市場」来年３月開業　ＪＲ九州 - 熊本日日新聞
　ＪＲ九州は２５日、来年春の熊本駅周辺の在来線高架化に合わせて駅構内に整備する新しい商業施設の概要を発表した。名称は「肥後よかモン市場」。６０店舗が入居し、３月１７日に開業する。人気ラーメン店や有名菓...

Albero Fujimori, born in Lima, was president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. He is called "polarizing" because, despite having been found guilty of murder, bodily harm, and kidnapping, some people are still like, "Yeah, but...." He was sentenced to what would have been a life term (unless he lived a really long time) but was released yesterday on humanitarian grounds.
His parents were born in Kawachi, Kumamoto, and immigrated to Peru in 1934.
Fun fact! Japanese law prohibits dual nationality from the age of 22; Peruvian law stipulates the president must be a Peruvian citizen - so, by accepting that position, Fujimori was de facto renouncing Japanese citizenship - yet, when on the run from the law and seeking refuge in Japan, he was recognized as a Japanese citizen. Lesson: Sigh and shrug shoulders. - William
Peru's president grants medical pardon to jailed Fujimori
Peru's president announced Sunday night that he has granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski released a statement saying he decided...

Good morning, merry Christmas, and happy holidays! Here's an announcement from KUMISA (Kumamoto University International Students Association). The event is being organized by international students at Kumadai but all international students are encouraged to participate as performers, exhibitors, etc. and all interested persons are encouraged to attend on January 27th.
If you're interested in participating, particularly as a performer or exhibitor, please contact the organizers at [email protected]
By the way, KUMISA has a Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/KUMISA15/
and several KUMISA participants were involved in putting together an booklet about the impact of the 2016 earthquakes on foreign students and non-Japanese residents:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1378337522239676
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1407729719300456
-- Kirk

Merry Christmas to our Kumamoto International friends from all of us at KI! We'll continue to keep an eye on things in 2018.

A note from the Kumamoto International Ornithology Desk (merged with the Feline Desk due to budget cuts, which, in retrospect, was a bad idea): the white wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small passerine (perching) bird known in Japanese as "hakusekirei" (ハクセキレイ, 白鶺鴒) - couldn't find any etymological meanings behind the kanji probably because this bird exudes an attitude of "We don't need no stinkin' etymology!" (though it is awesome kanji). Its various subspecies live pretty much everywhere in the northern hemisphere. With a striking black/white plumage in winter, it is known for its active tail movements. Nobody knows the purpose of its active tail movements; perhaps it simply enjoys moving its tail actively. (Wouldn't you?) It is insectivorous so prefers an open environment where it can hunt down those lower on the food chain - you'll often see them in parking lots.
When my son was a tot, we called them "pointy birds" after the famous poem by the American poet Steve Martin:
Pointy birds -
Pointy, pointy.
Anoint my head -
Anointy, nointy.
You can read more about the 白鶺鴒 here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wagtail
- William