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According to this article, construction of a large solar park is beginning in Yamaga.
A map included in the following Wikipedia article indicates that Kyushu has high potential for solar energy production:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Japan
A year or so ago, however, it looked like the Japanese government was trying to put the brakes on Japan's solar energy boom:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/14/national/sun-no-longer-shines-japans-solar-boom-subsidies-wane/
At any rate, I'm glad to see renewable energy being developed here.
-- Kirk
https://renewablesnow.com/news/smart-solar-breaks-ground-on-345-mw-solar-park-in-kumamoto-579294/
Smart Solar breaks ground on 34.5-MW solar park in Kumamoto
Aug 10 (Renewables Now) - Japanese company Smart Solar Corp announced recently the start of construction works on a photovoltaic (PV) plant of 34

Here's a report about the impact of the earthquakes on Sony Kumamoto:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2017/08/10/sony-kumamoto-earthquake-first-public-footage-devastating
-- Kirk
Sony Kumamoto Earthquake - first public footage, DEVASTATING!
In April of 2016, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto, Japan, the home of the Sony factory that makes a majority of the image sensor chips for the camera industry. Only 20 kilometers from the epicenter of the shallow, violent…

Shugakukan, ostensibly of Kumamoto, has won it's first game in the Koshien Tournament currently under way. I say "ostensibly of Kumamoto" because, though the school is located in Kumamoto, all of the starting players are from other parts of japan (this year as was the case last year):
https://www.kyureki.com/koko/121/1538/
As a long-term interloper here, I guess I should be open to young people coming here from other locations and, of course, ordinarily I would be. But in this case, Shugakukan works with some of the best young baseball prodigies that can be found in Japan while other coaches here have to work with the local students who happen to attend their school. Then those truly local schools must compete with Shugakukan to see who gets to represent Kumamoto in the national tournament.
With this tournament, Shugakukan is representing Kumamoto for the fourth consecutive time since the spring of 2016: spring '16, summer '16, spring '17, summer '17. We'll see how well they do in this tournament but in the previous 3 tournaments they made it to the final four each time:
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/秀岳館高等学校
Their domination has a relatively short history but there is no indication that it is likely to end in the near future.
So, my beef with Shugakukan is that, basically, kids from other "normal" schools hardly have a chance. I don't really understand how it happened but this year Kumamoto Kogyo also participated in the spring tournament as a representative of Kumamoto. Perhaps there was some recognition that Shugakukan was in a different category. I don't know.
I guess it would be kind of cool, in a way, if Shugakukan could win the tournament for Kumamoto this year. But I would be able to root much more enthusiastically if I were rooting for a group of local kids who, by dint of sheer effort and determination, had managed to come together to win their way to the top.
-- This rant has been brought to you by Kirk
https://mainichi.jp/koshien/articles/20170811/k00/00e/050/278000c
夏の高校野球：先制攻撃で秀岳館　横浜に競り勝ち初戦突破 - 毎日新聞
　第９９回全国高校野球選手権大会は第４日の１１日、１回戦４試合。第２試合は、横浜（神奈川）と秀岳館（熊本）の対戦。強豪同士の注目の試合は、初回に３得点をあげた秀岳館（熊本）が６－４で横浜（神奈川）を降し２回戦へ進んだ。

I posted about these quake resistant homes last year
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1165323783541052
and am prompted to post again because of this recent article in the UK's "The Sun":
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4149296/japan-fruit-themed-resort-earthquake-resistant-homes/
If you're looking for more detail, I recommend that Mainichi article I introduced last year:
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160710/p2a/00m/0na/002000c
If you prefer Japanese, you can read the Japanese version of the Mainichi article here:
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20160630/k00/00m/040/116000c
ドームハウス 地震に強い…被害わずか、６００人避難
-- Kirk
Inside the bizarre Japanese 'health resort' filled with hundreds of Teletubbies-style homes built to withstand earthquakes
THEY might look like something out of a kid’s TV show but these bizarre foam houses are actually built to withstand earthquakes. Kumamoto in Japan was ripped apart by a magnitude 7.0 quake la…

Yesterday I posted about medical interpreting:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1551050794968347
When, I posted, I had been unable to find information that a person in Kumamoto could use to find help. I did, however, find a Japanese pdf by Hiroko Saisho, the representative of Medical Support Kumamoto:
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/Upload/topics/p1_7421_21161201434517.pdf
The pdf contains Hiroko's e-mail and phone number but I wasn't sure if it would be OK to publish that information here. Thankfully, Hiroko has confirmed that she is happy to have the information published here:
090-2968-4971(最相)
E-mail: [email protected]
Here's part of her message to me:
"Anyone who needs the help of interpreter can contact me through e-mail or call me. If the hospital is either one among Kokuritsu hospital, Kumadai hospital, Nisseki or Fukuda hospital, patients don't need to pay for the interpretation. The fee is not regular interpreter fee. It is just 3000 yen."
Hiroko works with the English language but I think she could help you find someone to help with another language.
-- Kirk

"World Monuments Fund announced today their partnership with Kumamoto Machinami Trust (KMT) supporting local community efforts in Kumamoto Castle Town, Japan, to restore several iconic structures damaged by the Kumamoto Earthquake in April 2016. World Monuments Fund’s efforts are made possible by a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation."
http://artdaily.com/news/97984/World-Monuments-Fund-to-restore-Kumamoto-earthquake-damage
-- Copied and pasted by Kirk
World Monuments Fund to restore Kumamoto earthquake damage
a href= http://www.wmf.org target= _blank World Monuments Fund /a announced today their partnership with Kumamoto Machinami Trust (KMT) supporting

I just saw an NHK news segment about medical interpreting services in Saga Prefecture. Apparently, there has been a sudden rise in the non-Japanese population there, and that his brought an increased need for medical interpreters.
I know that the Kumamoto City International Foundation has been striving to train more medical interpreters. Here, for example, is a Japanese page about one such event that was held in April
2017年度 第2回医療通訳ボランティア養成講座オリエンテーション
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/event/event_detail.asp?id=2&kiji_id=9151&LC=j
The TV segment made me realize, however, that I don't know what a non-Japanese person in Kumamoto who would like to get some help from an interpreter should do. If anyone knows, please write a comment to this post. Thanks!
-- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/k/saga/5085737611.html
外国人のための無料健康相談 - NHK佐賀県のニュース
佐賀県のニュースをいち早くお伝えします。

The typhoon seems to have passed without incident but left a rainbow which some of our friends captured. Thank you, all! - William

According to TropicalStorm.com, the anticipated path of the storm has shifted to the east. That's good news for us. The site still says that we're likely to get some strong winds, but I don't think they take topography (the Aso mountains, etc) into account when they generate these maps. JMA is still warning of strong winds and rain in our area so it's probably premature to plan a picnic for this afternoon but, as Joe suggested, you may want to take advantage of the relatively mild weather while you can. -- Kirk

Well, since Typhoon Noru-chan decided to go somewhere else, folks may want to go River Port 9, on the far side of Taiko bashi (the bridge that carries the densha), and check out the Shirakawa Summer Matsuri. -- Joe

This Japanese website provides a chronological guide to fireworks events in Kumamoto. I should have posted this earlier, as a couple of major events have already been held. There's still lots more to come, though. I realize that the timing of this post may be a bit odd, with the typhoon approaching, but I thought I should get the information out before I forget.
If you're unable to read Japanese, I suggest that you use the translation function on the Google Chrome browser. I just tested it and found that, while place names are not always rendered correctly, the translation is good enough to function as a heads up about upcoming opportunities.
-- Kirk
熊本県の花火大会2017まとめ | 花火大会ガイド2017
2017年(平成29年)に「熊本県」で開催される花火大会(33ヵ所)の日程、打ち上げ数、開催場所などを一覧にまとめています。

According to http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com, all regions of Kumamoto are quite likely to be experiencing tropic storm winds (see key in second image) in about 24 hours. Over the years, my experience with this site (TropicalStorm.com, that is) is that actual events are sometimes considerably less severe than predicted but, importantly, are sometimes more severe. Since weather and climate are chaotic systems (that is, systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions), prediction is never an exact science. It's better to err on the side of caution.
Also, I heard on TV that it's possible that wind and rain will pick up just as the system is about to leave our area. This is because cyclones spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and so air and moisture from the southwest may be sucked in just after the system passes overhead. At any rate, I'd like to encourage everyone to take this seriously -- assume the worst, and hope for the best.
-- Kirk
P.S. I also heard on TV that the arrival of the storm will coincide with high tide. This could cause a dangerous storm surge in coastal areas. Please plan ahead so that you don't wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

According to TropicalStormRisk.com, our outlook has improved a bit. It looks like the path of the storm has shifted to the southeast. Good news for us, however, is bad news for Kagoshima. The web site is predicting that the cyclone will hit Kagoshima Sunday evening and then move north rather rapidly.
-- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

Years ago, I was in my hometown near Los Angeles waiting for my wife outside a Japanese supermarket and fell into conversation with an older woman distributing fliers for a shogatusu celebration, and it turned out she had emigrated from Kashima several decades previously. She was shocked to hear my stories of how Kashima had developed since then (huge shopping malls!)
Kumanichi has an article on Kumamoto diaspora in LA who have organized a group called "Kumamoto Reconstruction Assistance Hinokuni Festival IN LA Executive Committee" 「熊本復興支援火の国まつりＩＮ　ＬＡ実行委員会」to hold a festival coinciding with the Hinokuni Festival to raise funds for earthquake relief.
It's a small world. Hope the approaching typhoon will not adversely affect the festivities. Enjoy, everyone! - William
“火の国まつり”ＬＡでも　熊本市出身者ら企画　復興支援に - 熊本日日新聞
「火の国まつり」を冠したイベントのチラシを持つ安藤みちよさん（実行委員会提供）　熊本市の中心市街地で４～６日に開かれる「第４０回火の国まつり」に合わせ、熊本から遠く離れた米ロサンゼルスでも現地時間の５日、火の国まつりを冠したイベントが初めて...

The caption to this photo from the NASA site is sufficient: "NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik photographed Super Typhoon Noru in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean on August 1, 2017, as the International Space Station passed overhead. He shared images of the massive storm on social media, writing, 'Super Typhoon #Noru, amazing the size of this weather phenomenon, you can almost sense its power from 250 miles above.'" - William
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/space-station-flyover-of-super-typhoon-noru

If you are a fan of either the Japanese science-fiction anime television series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" or of the art of Japanese sword making you may want to check out the traveling exhibition in progress at the Kumamoto Prefectural Art Museum. Here is the first paragraph from an article about the exhibition when it began in Paris:
"The Japan Foundation held the Evangelion and Japanese Swords Exhibition in Paris from April through June, 2014 after the exhibition enjoyed a great popularity in Japan, and also organized the event in Madrid in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Japan-Spain exchanges from July 5 through September 28, 2014. In this exhibition where master craftsmen across Japan challenged the world of Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition, a popular animated film series, the swords and other sharp-edged weapons replicated with traditional skills such as the Lance of Longinus, Bizen Osafune and Magoroku Sword which are important items of the story as well as 20 Japanese swords and other items created by craftsmen who got inspirations from Evangelion and its characters were mainly shown together with 5 famous and traditional Japanese swords, accessories, the real-sized sculpture of Eva 01 and character image panels."
http://www.wochikochi.jp/english/special/2014/09/the-evangelion-and-japanese-swords-exhibition-from-the-perspective-of-a-spanish-manga-lover.php
-- Kirk
http://www.kab.co.jp/special/evangelion_tousyou/
「ヱヴァンゲリヲンと日本刀展」が熊本へ！2017年7月27日（木）より熊本県立美術館 分館で開催！

This is an image from a TV show (News Station) that I recorded last night. The point is that ocean temperatures around Kyushu are high and that this means that typhoon is likely to remain strong as it approaches. As I understand it, heat is the fuel that makes cyclones go so there is concern that global warming is giving rise to increasingly powerful storms.
-- Kirk

The image shows some of the devastation that Kumamoto City suffered as a result of intense bombing in 1945. Buildings that were well known at the time are marked in red. The Shiyakusho (City Hall) is the building marked on the far right. If we could see the castle, that would help us recognize this scene as being Kumamoto City but the castle had already been destroyed in the Seinan Civil War of 1877 and did not get rebuilt until 1960.
This image is from the following blog:
http://nasushoten.blog.jp/archives/8486354.html
I'm not sure if the exact same image is part of the display currently on view at City Hall (the downtown Shiyakusho) but I assume that many similarly interesting photos are. Here's a Japanese web page from Kumamoto City's site about the display:
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&type=top&id=5917
It says that the panel display will be at the Shiyakusho until August 9th and then move to the Higashi Kuyakusho (East Ward Kuyakusho) until the 17th.
-- Kirk
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/nasushoten/imgs/d/a/da985415.jpg

According to TropicalStorm.com, NORU (Typhoon No. 5 in Japan) is scheduled to arrive in about 4 days. It's a strong system and may be a category 2 or even 3 cyclone when it hits Kyushu. That's a good deal stronger than the typhoon we experienced earlier this year, the one that did a fair amount of damage. On the other hand, though stronger than the previous one, the angle of approach should reduce the impact that we feel here in Kumamoto.
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com
-- Kirk
P.S. Here's the address of a previous post of mine in which I explain what it was about the angle of approach that increased the damage last time:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/photos/a.129499733790134.25925.123734781033296/1511645678908859/
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

Tamana (about an hour's drive north of Kumamoto City) had the highest temperature in Japan today. As you can see in the image, the temperature was 37.9 C or just over 100 F. This was the second day in a row for Tamana to be at the top of the list of "hot spots" in Japan. -- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kumamoto/5005710641.html