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Lotsa work going on around Shirakawa, some of which seems to proceed at a pace noticeable to humans, most not ("glacial" would seem rapid in comparison). Yet they did manage to finish this bend in Tatsuda. I mention this because its an interesting case of humans succumbing to nature and just letting it have its way - after the floods in 2012 which subsumed this little spit, they decided not to rebuild but to give the land back to the river. (It was also one of my favorite running courses before my body gave out.)There are a few good photos at the link. - William
https://this.kiji.is/244990849245446147?c=92619697908483575
白川、河道切り替え完了　12年九州北部豪雨で氾濫　龍田陳内 - 熊本日日新聞
九州北部豪雨で氾濫した白川の河道を切り替える工事が完了した龍田陳内地区＝６日、熊本市（高見伸・岩下勉、小型無人機で撮影）蛇行する白川に囲まれ、浸水被害に遭った龍田陳内地区＝２０１２年７月１９日、熊本市　２０１２年７月の九州北部豪雨で白川が氾...

A bit about rainy season for those who are interested in meteorology: the jet stream scoots around the Himalayas and picks up varying amounts of moisture - which, in this season as the snows melt, tends to be a lot. It then rushes east in a narrow band, and its course is pushed north/south by arctic pressure. In other words, during rainy season, it's always raining somewhere, and probably heavily - but you may have a sunny day.
Today's JMA photo looks very alarming, but the front is flowing greatly to the east - so, too bad, Kagoshima! (Kagoshima always gets pounded - perhaps someday I'll write about how their architecture has evolved to deal with this) Don't worry, though - it will hit us soon enough. - William

The following is the text of an annoucment I have received and been asked to share. -- Kirk
----------------------------
Dear Community Leaders of Foreign Residents in Kumamoto, Greetings from Japan IsraAID Support Program(JISP)
Thank you for taking an interest in the "Training Program on Community Leadership in Disaster Situations for Foreign Residents". We plan to hold this program for community leaders of foreign residents in Kumamoto. (Please see attachment).
We are pleased to inform you that we will be carrying out Training A "Disaster and Leadership" (1st training) according to the following schedule.
【Date and Time】 June 11th 2017 13:00-16:00
【Place】International Conference Room( 3th Floor), Kumamoto City International Center
【Language】English
【Lecturer】Tsuguyuki Ichii, expert on Community Based Disaster Prevention and Risk Management
After the training from 13:00-15:00, we will be having snacks, tea and coffee. We hope that we can have a chat with you and look forward to seeing you there.
If there are requests from many who are not able to participate the training on the above date, we are considering conducting the same training on the 18th Jun(Sun).
If you would like to participate, please let us know your 1name, and 2organization name(or community name) via email. Please let us know all of the names and number of people if you are participating as a group.
Contact Information: [email protected] (Samuel Nakahashi, General Affairs, JISP)

The rainy season has been officially declared to have begun in all areas of Kyushu. Oddly, I searched but couldn't find an English news article and this official declaration. There must be something out there but Google failed me.
-- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20170606/k10011007971000.html
九州北部と山口 九州南部が梅雨入り | NHKニュース
湿った空気の影響で、九州は曇りや雨の天気となっていて、気象庁は６日午前、「九州北部と山口県、それに九州南部が梅雨入りしたと見られる」と発表し…

I'd never heard of a "seismic isolation floor" until now. Apparently, there are various mechanisms to isolate a building floor from seismic shocks using a free-floating system of supports, dampeners, and restoratives. The floor on the left of the building in the attached video appears to be moving because the camera was mounted to the wall on the right, which was not seismically isolated and so was actually the location of movement - notice how the workers are able to walk even during this large quake.
It is nice to see technology succeed despite the sad circumstances. Below is an image of a typical construction; the link is to a fascinating video of such a construction in action in Sendai in a building that housed (probable really expensive and important) servers during the 2011 Tohoku quake. - William
http://digg.com/video/seismic-floor-earthquake?utm_source=atlasobscura

It's been over a month since this article came out but, if you have it seen it yet, it's still as relevant as ever.
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/25/national/kumamoto-couple-hard-time-parting-son-lost-earthquake/
Kumamoto couple have hard time parting with son lost in earthquake | The Japan Times
Shinobu Yamato, 49, still can't wash a pair of socks that her son, Hikaru, had left lying around before he was killed in the earthquakes that rocked Kumamo

In September of last year, I wrote about "a non-profit organization in Kumamoto that was established to help children and young people of mixed roots study Japanese, finish their homework, and perhaps even more importantly interact with teachers and other young people that understand the challenges, both academic and interpersonal, that children of mixed roots often face in Japan."
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1144708982269199
A program about the NPO was broadcast on NHK's educational channel today:
"熊本県合志市では、NPO法人「外国から来た子ども支援ネットくまもと」を運営する日本語教師が自宅を開放し、無料で日本語を教えている。"
I missed it but, fortunately, it will be rebroadcast at midnight Thursday evening:
再放送6月9日（金）0:00（木曜深夜）
-- Kirk
http://www6.nhk.or.jp/baribara/lineup/single.html?i=462#top
NHK　バリバラ | “外国ルーツ”の子どもたち
“外国ルーツ”の子どもたちのページ。「生きづらさを抱えるすべてのマイノリティー」の人たちにとっての

Come & Enjoy Boccia!
Arts & Sports for Everyone, an NPO, is to hold an event where you can enjoy a universal sport, boccia, with people living in temporary housing after the quake and people with difficulties.
Anyone with/out difficulties and with/out experience of playing boccia is welcome. If interested, please contact ASE by emailing to [email protected] NOW.
No entryfee needed and lunch provided. Ideally, please make a group of three or four, but individuals are also fine. We will make a rainbow team.
-- Yuichi

I just posted about the upcoming rugby test match in Kumamoto:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/photos/a.129499733790134.25925.123734781033296/1471703799569714/?type=3&theater
Here's some of the same information delivered in Head Coach Jamie Joseph's mellifluous Kiwi accent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNdkarKZsoI
-- Kirk
リポビタンDチャレンジカップ2017 ジェイミー・ジョセフHC コメント

"Japan host Romania on June 10 at Kumamoto’s Umakana-Yokana Stadium, which will be renamed Egao Kenko Stadium in February."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2017/01/27/more-sports/rugby/jrfu-announces-venues-brave-blossoms-june-test-matches/#.WTAEfsaB364
Ticket information can be found (in Japanese) at:
https://www.rugby-japan.jp/2017/03/03/lipod2017_ticket_info/
If you need help with the language, the translating function on Google's Chrome browser might prove helpful.
Parking will be severely restricted on the day of the match. Check the website for details.
-- Kirk
#Rugby

For the opening of Jyosaien (城彩苑) in 2011, a Tokyo company with the cool name of Toppan Insatsu (凸版印刷 - "relief printing") produced a virtual reality presentation of Kumamoto Castle called "Wakuwakuza" (湧々座), which is still on display there. Later, Kumamoto University Professor Koutaki Gou (上瀧剛助教 - another cool name) realized that this data could be useful for reconstruction.
Toppan has provided some 40,000 highly detailed images of the pre-quake castle, and Prof. Koutaki has created a computer program that matches each stone to its original position. The method is still time-consuming as each stone awaiting restoration must be imaged for its location to be sourced (improvements are under investigation), but it is an important step which somehow makes this tremendous endeavor seem possible. - William
More about Wakuwakuza can be found here: http://9tabi.net/kumamoto/kumamoto00/kumamoto080.html
and the Kumanichi article here: https://this.kiji.is/242830341186422269?c=92619697908483575
熊本城、石垣修復で産学連携　熊本大院と凸版印刷 - 熊本日日新聞
熊本地震で崩れた熊本城の石垣。右奥は天守閣＝今年１月　熊本地震で崩れた熊本城の石垣の修復工事を効率的に進めるため、熊本大大学院先端科学研究部（熊本市中央区）と凸版印刷（東京）は３１日、連携協定を結んだと発表した。凸版印刷が所有する被災前の熊...

This video from the Kumanichi (the local newspaper) shows a remotely operated piece of heavy equipment being used to remove fallen stones. The possibility of further collapse makes the area too dangerous for human workers. This is the first such use on a site of such historical importance. The five "claws" that grasp the stones are made of (or coated with?) a rubber-like material. The stones must be handled carefully because they will need to be used again when the wall is reconstructed.
-- Kirk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-MswEMs5M
無人重機が崩落石を回収 熊本城飯田丸五階櫓
熊本市は２９日、熊本地震の影響で立ち入りを規制している熊本城の復旧工事を報道陣に公開した。余震による２次被害を避けるため、飯田丸五階櫓では、遠隔で操作できる無人重機が崩落した石を回収。文化庁によると、国の特別史跡で無人重機を使用するのは初めて。

JR Kyushu’s luxury sleeper train returns to boost Aso：The Asahi Shimbun
FUKUOKA--Kyushu Railway Co.’s luxury sleeper train Nanatsuboshi (Seven stars) will run through the A

This news article about tattoos and onsen in Japan got me wondering about the situation here in Kumamoto. I searched in both English and Japanese and the best information I was able to find about where people with tattoos can enjoy a nice soak was on the following English page:
https://en.unknownjapan.net/tattoo-friendly-onsens/
If there are other tattoo-friendly spots in Kumamoto that you'd like to recommend, please write a note about them in the comments.
-- Kirk
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003720878
Bathhouses in fog about accepting people with tattoos
While the number of foreign tourists to Japan increases, operators of bathhouses and other such facilities are perplexed, after the government approved a written statement that said access to public bathing facilities should not be restricted just because customers having tattoos, at a Cabinet meeti...

Stunning crescent moon in Kumamoto's early evening sky tonight. Ramadan mubarak to all of our Muslim friends on Kumamoto International. - William

Large disparities in temperature between the bottom of basins and higher atmosphere often result in fog. Mt. Aso is famous for this; the phenomenon is known as 雲海 (unkai, "sea of clouds"). A recent video taken of the Grand Canyon in the US showed the same phenomenon. So here you are: Dueling videos of 雲海. - William
https://vimeo.com/217407298
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRl5D096E-w
SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM: KAIBAB ELEGY
Millions of visitors a year come to Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the most visited national park in…

A snake caused a brief power outage in parts of Kumamoto City yesterday. -- Kirk
http://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003201705251754200111
RKKラジオAM1197kHz・ワイドFM91.4/92.3/94.2MHz、RKKテレビは3ch！九州・熊本のラジオ＆テレビ放送局(TBSテレビ系列)です。

JCI stands for "Junior Chamber International." Their website says that "JCI is a nonprofit organization of young active citizens age 18 to 40 who are engaged and committed to creating impact in their communities. Active citizens are individuals invested in the future of our world. JCI gathers active citizens from all sectors of society."
https://jci.cc/about
Another web page says that the "2017 JCI Academy in Kumamoto will enable the participants, the future leaders of JCI and the community, to deepen mutual understanding among one another. At the same time, it will provide an opportunity for participating members from JCI Japan to establish a connection with overseas delegates, so that the Japanese delegates can be even more involved at the international level in the future."
They are looking for host families and volunteer interpreters to help with this event (the following pages are in Japanese):
http://2017jciacademy.com/f/interpreter/
http://2017jciacademy.com/f/family/
-- Kirk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1J2-B8u60A
【full ver】JCI Academy kumamoto

There have been some recent reports about cracks in the ground in Oita Prefecture, our neighbors to the east. When I first saw something about this on TV I assumed it had something to do with seismic activity, but the article says that the cause is unknown.
-- KIrk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/23/national/ground-cracks-form-oita-city-prompting-evacuations-amid-landslide-fears/#.WSTSAMaB2-o
Ground cracks form in Oita city, prompting evacuations amid landslide fears | The Japan Times
The city of Bungo Ono, Oita Prefecture, has seen cracks in the ground in 81 locations, leading the municipal government to warn nearby residents of possibl

This article came out a few weeks ago but I just found out about it today. -- Kirk
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170430/p2g/00m/0sp/040000c
Soccer: Monaco show support to Japan's quake-hit Kumamoto in Ligue 1 game - The Mainichi
MONACO (Kyodo) -- French Ligue 1 leaders Monaco showed their support for relief efforts in quake-hit Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, on Saturday, when they held their home game with Toulouse as a charity match for the region.