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This Japanese article contains a video showing the areas of the Kumamoto Castle grounds that will be open to the public on the 1st and 2nd (Saturday and Sunday).
-- Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20170325/k10010924291000.html
地震被害の熊本城 サクラの名所を期間限定で開放 | NHKニュース
熊本地震で大きな被害を受けた熊本城で、地震のあと立ち入りができなくなっているサクラの名所が期間限定で一般に開放され、多くの人が訪れています。

Here's an article about the recent fire-swinging (hifuri) festival.
-- KIrk
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201703230039.html
Fire-swinging festival held despite quake damage in Aso：The Asahi Shimbun
ASO, Kumamoto Prefecture--A mesmerizing Shinto fire-swinging festival has been held at Asojinja shri

The Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) will hold its 2018 All Star game in Kumamoto in July of that year. The decision to hold the game in Kumamoto for the first time in the history of the event was motivated in part by a desire to contribute to Kumamoto's recovery.
-- Kirk
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/hawks/article/318076
藤崎台で来年球宴　熊本復興支援で
日本野球機構（ＮＰＢ）とプロ野球１２球団は２９日、熊本地震の復興支援と銘打ち、２０１８年７月のプロ野球オールスター...

Joe Tomei here. A student of mine had a baito as a miko-san , which is one of the assistants at a jinja, selling hamaya during shogatsu. (trans "part-time job at a Japanese temple as a 'shrine maiden', selling ceremonial arrows to ward of bad luck for the New Year's festivities"). This isn't about how to get a baito at a jinja, but I hope that sentence may interest you in this guide to Shinto vestments. Links below on other aspects of Shinto shrines are also interesting.
http://www.nippon.com/en/views/b05212/
“Shōzoku”: The Shintō Vestments
The clothing worn by priests and priestesses at Shintō shrines is unlike anything you will see elsewhere in Japan. Here we describe the styles of traditional vestments that are part of the Shintō experience.

Joe Tomei here. John Spiri, a former Kumamoto resident who has a column in the Japan Times, is writing a piece on foreigner anxiety about placing children in the public school system. He asked me to share this survey with Kumamoto-i and he'd like to ask follow up questions.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfR7WHC1_j656x6FfxYU4Ip653yDoisbUwZe0K3a6vw5WBebg/viewform
cheers joe
Public Schools in Japan

A note regarding an employment opportunity:
Magic English School (Shinmachi branch) is looking for a motivated, professional person to teach on Saturdays, (1pm - 6:30pm, immediate start).
You must be a native speaker and willing to teach all ages, from pre-schoolers to adults.
Experience is preferred, but not necessary as training will be provided.
If you're interested, please e-mail a brief cover letter and resume.
Feel free to contact me for further information.
Barry Chandler
Magic English School
096-221-3479
[email protected]
www.magicenglish07.com

Travelers’ Treasures / Kumamoto Yamaemura-san Egomaabura (Perilla oil)
Perilla is an extremely robust plant that can even be grown in poor soil and cold areas. It has been cultivated in Japan for more than 5,500 years for oil to provide light and for food. At one point the cultivation of perilla declined with the appearance of rapeseed, which has high production effici...

Kumamoto quakes faults sample dug up for preservation：The Asahi Shimbun
KOSA, Kumamoto Prefecture--Workers here created a scientific time capsule by cutting away a section

Kanagawa man who tweeted 'lion scare' after 2016 Kumamoto quakes avoids charges | The Japan Times
A man who fanned a "lion scare" with false tweets following the deadly earthquakes that hit Kumamoto last April has managed to avoid indictment. The Kumamo

This is a Japanese news report (with video) of today's graduation ceremony at Kumamoto Gakuen University. The parents of Hikaru Yamato, the student who died tragically when the Aso bridge collapsed, were presented with a special diploma for their son. I was not at the individual ceremony for the parents but I attended the main ceremony that preceded it. There I learned that the tragedy occurred as Hikaru was returning from a trip to deliver water to a friend in Kumamoto City after the first quake.
For some background see
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1086747584732006
and
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1087632817976816
-- Kirk
http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye3012289.html
　熊本地震で亡くなった大学生、大和晃さんが通っていた熊本学園大学で卒業式が行われました。 　「黙とう」 　卒業式は去年、熊本地震で亡くなった経済学部の大和晃さんたちへ捧げる黙祷で始まりました。式では幸田亮一学長が「地震で被災した中、ボランティアに頑張った学生もいた。これからも、それぞれの地域で活躍してほしい」と卒業生たちを激励しました。式のあと、大学の学長室で大和晃さんの特別学位記が大和さんの両親に手渡されました。 　「おめでとう。やっと卒業できたねと、（晃さんに）言ってやりたい」（晃さんの父 大和卓也さん）（24日13:46）

A reader noted that last year the Honmyoji Hanatourou festival was held on 3/26. Unfortunately, according to the following web page (and to a comment below from Jan) no similar event is being held this year due to damage from the earthquake:
http://hanatourou.otemo-yan.net
The official site (which, unfortunately, seems not have been updated since the earthquake) is http://hanatourou.com/
Corrective edits added by Kirk
top of 本妙寺桜灯籠 Official Website
毎年3月末の土曜日、年にたった5時間だけ開催される住民手づくりのお祭り『本妙寺 桜灯籠～はなとうろう～』の公式サイトです。

Where's my tram? Thanks to the magic of GPS technology, it's now possible to see in real time exactly where the tram you are waiting for is:
https://www.kumamoto-city-tram.jp/Sys/web01
-- Kirk

I'm not sure if this is still available but this printer, which was offered for free, is an example of the kind of information that you can find on the Kumamoto-i mailing list that may not show up here. -- Kirk
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/13493
Yahoo! Groups

This job announcement came to me via a mailing list called PMJS (for specialists in pre-modern Japanese studies). I'm not sure if anyone who reads this page would be interested in actually applying for these positions but I found it interesting to learn that there is a strong Japanese studies department in Kyushu University that offers advanced degree programs taught in English. -- KIrk
http://www2.lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/impjh/

For a long time, I've been wondering why we couldn't use Google maps to figure out what bus to take to get where we need to go in Kumamoto City. I even wrote a letter to the editor in the Kumanichi and prepared a video letter for the mayor. Here's the address of the video letter:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/152794928181679
Well, either someone was listening or it was simply an idea whose time had come -- we can now use Google maps to choose the best bus to reach the local destination of our choice.
-- Kirk

Bonfire glows on mountainside as Kumamoto’s Aso strives to rebuild：The Asahi Shimbun
ASO, Kumamoto Prefecture--A massive bonfire lit up a mountain here on March 18 in a show of gratitud

There are times when you look around and think, "Gee, there are not enough characters." This happened recently when those in charge of Higomaru, Kumamoto Castle's official character (below left) decided he needed some friends and thus came up with 熊本城の仲間たち (Kumamotojyo with Friends, below center). The characters are all named after various famous locations within the castle (Iidamaru-kun, Gennoshin-kun, Nagabei-kun, Utoyagura-ji, and the sole female representative, Akazu-chan - the latter is hilarious if you know anything of the history of that gate); they are portrayed with various ailments symbolizing the current dilapidated condition of the castle, but their appearances will improve as castle reconstruction proceeds. - William

An update on the American Consulate video shoot to be held today (3/21): The gathering time is from 3:30 at the parking area of Ninomaru Park; rehearsals and shooting will last from 4:00 to about 6:00. Everyone is welcome, whatever nationality! I have reposted the original mail from the consulate below. - William
Dear U.S. citizens in the Kumamoto,
We wanted to let you know about a project we are organizing at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka that we were hoping you might help us with. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Kumamoto, we wanted to convey to the people of the region America’s continued solidarity with them, and we also wanted to let them know how touched and inspired we have been by their positivity and resilience after the disaster.
In this spirit, we are developing a “tribute” music video to Kumamoto, adapting and performing the Kumamon Taiso exercise routine and song. The video is a joint project by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Fukuoka are together with other American agencies and organizations in Japan and the Kumamoto Prefectural Government. You can get a feel for the original version of the Kumamon Taiso, if you don’t know it already, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBBZop5j6D0. Maybe you saw a previous video that we made together with the Embassy and other Consulates in Japan, which became a viral sensation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xuXlpvWw1I). We hope this video will have a similar reach.
We are hoping to have a big group join us for the climatic shot of the video at the grounds of Kumamoto Castle on the afternoon of March 21, from 4 – 6 pm (please RSVP so we can let you know more details and if there are any changes). If you have a sense of people who might be willing and interested to participate, please spread the word.

About a month ago, the caution level at the Aso volcano returned to Level 1. Under normal circumstances, tourists would be allowed peer down into the volcano from its rim at this level but damage to the roads and other infrastructure make that impossible now. I'll try to post something to this page if the situation changes.
-- Kirk
http://www.aso.ne.jp/~volcano/eng/
P.S. The link above has another link to "more detailed information" but it is a machine translation of a Japanese page, so the English isn't perfect. As I have written before, machine translation can be useful when there's no budget for proper translations but I really wish a link to the original page could be included with the translated information. Here's the missing link to the original page:
http://www.city.aso.kumamoto.jp/2017/02/17/阿蘇中岳警戒情報-2/
It is certainly true that providing information in English (and other languages) (even if only a machine translation) is a welcome addition to Japanese information for non-Japanese users. However, I'm afraid that too many people have jumped to the mistaken conclusion that foreigners ONLY need information in foreign languages and that information in Japanese is irrelevant. I need to try to find the time to talk to more people who might be in a position to change this.
Information on restrictions for the Aso Volcano West Crater
Hours are extended during the Golden Week and New Year’s holidays Please be advised that the above hours may be changed due to conditions at the crater, such as the extent of gas emission.

It's cloudy today but yesterday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day that really felt like spring. I noticed the bee in this photo when I stopped to admire the flowers. I think you can see that its 'pollen baskets' are almost full. For more about how bees carry pollen, see:
http://science-at-home.org/kid-questions-pollen/
-- Kirk