Kirk here. We need to utilize sustainable solar energy but there can been problems associated with solar panels as well.
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Kirk here. In keeping with the anniversary of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes (the first of which was on the 14th), an article has been in published in Japanese about Andrew Mitchell and the Kumamoto Earthquake Experience Project - KEEP. Even if you don't read Japanese, those of you who know the people involved may enjoy the photos.
Kirk here. The new children's library has opened! Has anyone checked out the collection of books in English?
Funky Friday Finds leaves Kengun and heads towards Kami Ezuko. Hop off the tram headed to the Kengun terminus at Kuwamizu kosaten and head south down Higashi bypass. The road will branch off after 100 meters, follow that road down about a half a kilometer and you'll be at one of the parking lots for Kami Ezuko. Another 200 meters down on the side where Higashi bypass runs is Yard, one of those hard to describe stores that Japan seems to specialize in. The reason I recommend it is they have a cafe with lunch dishes, coffee and deserts. More info is at their website
Kirk here with a Claude (AI assistant from Anthropic) translation of the article I'm linking to. (If you are interested in AI and why I'm using Clause instead of ChatGPT, please scroll down to the bottom.)
Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art - Museum Collection Exhibition (Two-Phase)
Kirk here. This has been rumored but now it's official: Second TSMC plant to be built in Kumamoto.
Kirk here. I had not realized that Luther was starting an English-language "international" school. The girl you see pictured is reciting a prepared statement in English.
Kirk here. This news article says the government will spend 1.2 trillion yen or $7.9 billion to support TSMC in Kumamoto. I asked AI (I'm using "Claude" lately) to calculate how much that would be per person if distributed to everyone in Kumamoto and the answer was 690,055 yen or $4,542 per person. Sure hope I get that level of benefit! ;)
Discovery Kumamoto Suizenji Seishuen Guided Tour
Vintage Automobiles Journey
Joe with Funky Friday Finds. I realize that I said that we were leaving Kengun, but with the posts about Hanami, I thought that I should tell you about the bakeries in Kengun, all of which are nice to pick up a lunch for your explorations of Kami and Shimo Ezu parks and beyond.
Kirk here. I was a bit surprised that there is actually going to be an eSports high school so I looked on the web for the main website of the school. Here it is:
Kirk here. As I recall this is the second knifing crime in Kumamoto in less than a month. Yikes! Note that when foreigners are involved in any illegal activity some folks inevitably complain about those $#!% foreigners and all their "foreign crime." As people following events in the US know, the same sort of use of individual crimes to demonization entire populations of people occurs there too so it's not at all unique to Japan. But, just the same, posting about this incident makes me want to point out that, whereas you may occasionally hear talk of "foreign crime" (外国人犯罪) in Japanese, you won't hear discussion of "Japanese crime" (日本人犯罪), no matter how long the string of incidents like this gets.
The first news I heard about this mentioned "no vital signs" (心肺停止) but it seems that at least one of the most seriously injured kids is going to be OK after all. Sure hope the other one pulls through too. 😟 "Two of the students from Kamoto High School were initially in serious condition but one of them later regained consciousness, school officials said." -- Kirk
Here's a nice English-language video about the damage done to the Aso Shrine and how it was rebuilt. -- KIrk
Kirk here. I'm getting older (as you can see in this selfie) and so I've taken up hiking to try to stay in shape. The other day I felt a little ambitious and thought I'd attempt a little hike near the volcano. When I decided to take this selfie everything seemed to be going well. But, when I looked at the screen of my phone, holy smokes Batman, Mt. Aso had just started going crazy! Yikes! I wanted to get some exercise but Mt. Aso got my heart pumping for all the wrong reasons!
This is an old article and most of it doesn't relate to Kumamoto but the caption for the picture does: "A V-22 Osprey with the Japan Ground Self-Defense flies over Kumamoto, Japan". Yikes! I didn't happen to notice at the time. -- Kirk
Oppenheimer can now be seen in Kumamoto. I don't have a single URL to share but if you search for "Oppenheimer showtimes near Kumamoto" you should find relevant information. -- Kirk
Here's something about the proposed revisions to the trainee program. It's not specific to Kumamoto but, naturally, applies here too. And, of course, the issue of how trainees are treated has been an important topic of discussion on this page. -- KIrk
