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William Kumamoto deserved a mention in Japan Today as the Japanese city least expensive to bear a child (Tokyo was highest, 605,000 yen and 361,000 yen respectively - so we've basically got two for one here!) https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan-weighs-incentivizing-childbirth-by-fully-covering-expenses
I'd like to give a shoutout to Fukuda Byoin https://www.fukuda-hp.or.jp/ , the birthplace of my two children, as a comprehensive and compassionate maternity hospital. (It's also located next to a fascinatingly old section of the castle.) Most doctors there speak English quite well, prenatal care is extensive, and post-natal care is thoughtful, with a congratulatory in-suite dinner. (Also, it's on the tram line.)
熊本　産婦人科　福田病院（熊本県熊本市）地域周産期母子医療センター
熊本の産婦人科　福田病院　熊本県熊本市新町2丁目2-6　明治40年開院し平成27年で108周年を迎えました。「大学病院の医療水準」と「助産院のあたたかさ」を基本に女性のライフステージすべての健康を守り、その生活を支....

Kirk here with a news article about our new governor. It doesn't really seem to have "legs" in the sense that I haven't seen much media coverage about it after it first came out. I suspect the governor simply failed to recognize the need to be careful when disposing of leftover flowers but, still, avoiding even the appearance of impropriety is import.
Kumamoto Governor embroiled in flower scandal
Governor Kimura was accused of dealing pot...s of flowers.

The latest edition of The YOKA is out. Have a look! -- Kirk
The YOKA
This issue of the YOKA features... ​ JET Spotlight - Daryl Rose A New Lifestyle Abroad - Kate Abbate Goshoura Dino Museum - Ryan Moraga Snacks Native to Kyushu - Lily Feast "So, What Next?" -...

William Following up on Kirk's wonderful photo of Ezuko is a bit of geological knowledge I picked up from students. Aso has seen several eruptions over the last 50,000 years, the foremost causing a strata of impermeable granite followed later by permeable ash. This is shaped in a wedge-like formation, allowing artesian water to flow downhill until the substrate surfaces at Ezuko as well as Suizenji. (One reason why the zoo is located there is the abundance of water.) Look around there and you'll notice much granite - some of those boulders must have been hurled from a 100 kilometers away! Be glad you were not there when that happened.

Kirk here. I feel fortunate to live close enough to Ezuko to walk there fairly regularly. Today my wife and I saw a grey heron catch a large fish right before our eyes (only a few meters away). Then, as we were returning to the parking lot to head home, we happened upon this scene.

Found this in my news feed this morning. -- Kirk
The 10 'One Piece' statues in Kumamoto
Kumamoto is the hometown of Eiichiro Oda, the beloved author of the hit manga and anime "One Piece." To celebrate this connection, Kumamoto Prefecture proudly showcases a collection of "One Piece" statues dedicated to the iconic main characters of the series Each of the One Piece...

For anime fans and anime song fans.
Anime song event information , 26 May, Kumamoto.
Atsuko＼(*⌒0⌒)♪
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
ANINOVA
Date and time: 26 May 2024 (Sunday)
12:00 Opening.
12:30 START～19:00 END
Entrance fee: 2000 yen (all-you-can-drink soft drinks!)
Chocolate fountain free!
Minors and first time attendees of Anikura are also welcome!
All ages are welcome!
Junior high and high school students: 500 yen!
Free for primary schools students and younger! (with a parent or guardian).
Alcoholic beverages can be ordered at the bar counter for a fee.
Food and sweets will be sold at the Marché. You can bring your own food and sweets to the venue after purchase.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/k4AmHKKdNFPTqPo8/
🎉🌟Omoken Marché 20🌟🎉
✨Aninova collaboration✨.
The last Sunday of every month is Omoken Marche Day.
The Aninova Collaboration will be held for anime song lovers. DJs from all over Kyushu will gather in Kumamoto to showcase their live skills. The Omoken Marche 20 will be held on the same day as the anime song event, where you can sing and dance to your heart's content. 24 shops will be participating in a wide variety of shops! Enjoy the delicious 😋 and fun 😃 at-home atmosphere of the Marche to the fullest!
Date and time.
26 May (10:00-17:00)
(12:00-19:00 for Ani Nobua)
■Place: Starlight Cafe Kumamoto
(7-95-3 Demizu, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture)
Reconstruction (Light) Department Store #Amaterasu
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qk5n4HprTpFrQPDf8?g_st=ic
Check out Aninova's ▶️ for more information!
twipla.jp/events/598571
'The last Sunday of every month is Omoken Marche day'
Omoken Marché
https://facebook.com/events/s/%E3%81%8A%E3%82%82%E3%81%91%E3%82%93%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B7%E3%82%A720-%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%8E%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A1%E3%82%B3%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9B/1084256056013087/

Joe Tomei here with FFF as we go by the Prefectural University of Kumamoto and introduce two places.
The first is nice little cafe just across from the uni, behind the AU store on the corner called Cafe Puu (https://www.instagram.com/puucafe/) The couple does sandwiches and curry lunches, along with coffee. Parking is a bit troublesome, but if you are at the uni or the Red Cross hospital, it's just across the street.
The second place is Po Po Po Shokudo (https://www.instagram.com/popopo2021.1/), which is 600 meters down from from the university on Joshidai dori, across from the Higo Ginkgo parking lot which you can use and get a parking card if you eat there. I had passed it a number of times and it had a high school bunkasai feel with red and white plastic tableclothes and foldup tables and chairs, and wondered what the deal was, so gave it a try and I have to say, it is off the hook. The owner is a former pâtissier and all the food there is made with great attention to detail. For the lunches that have rice, you can get a onsen tamago (soft boiled egg) And on Sundays, he does ramen (very well, I might add). It's often full up, so you want to get their early.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Moisson (https://www.instagram.com/moisson.kumamoto/), a bakery across from the West gate of the University. Where you go if Puu and Po po po are full.
A little note about the history of the area, this was where the airport was in Kumamoto from 1960 until 1969, when construction started on the Aso-Kumamoto airport, which was completed in 1971. The field was known as Kengun field and as one might expect, the location of that airfield was intially related to military matters, with the Jieitai base formerly a Mitsubishi airplane factory. In fact, not only was the airfield the launch point for Tokutai/Kamikaze flights against Okinawa at the end of the war, it also was the jumping off spot for the raid at Yontan airfield in Okinawa, shortly after Okinawa campaign started. At the time, the area was originally known as Takamiya-so, but came to be called Kengun, expanding from the original Kengun, probably because of the military industries in the area. Looking for information, I came across this 1964 picture of a plane and a boy who is probably my age at the time and so could still be living in Kumamoto. (link below)
One page (link 4) had picture of where the airfield was, which I've included. Matching up with Google maps, this is the area that begins at the new Starbucks, up the Kokutai doro until the Mister Donuts on the corner. You can still find a few of the concrete structures that were part of the airfield on the left side of the street. Also, on the photo is marked 熊本鉄工団地 [Kumamoto Ironworks Complex], which is still an ongoing concern, with the name changed to Shin Nippon Stainless [新日本ステンレス工業鉄工団地].
Because FB only allows 2 links, the historical information is here if anyone wants to follow up
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Yontan_Airfield
2. https://wjon3117.medium.com/operation-gi-the-japanese-attack-on-yontan-airbase-okinawa-d1fa340b0e3d
3. https://flyteam.jp/photo/3064736
4. http://hikokikumo.net/a8502-01-Kengun-F86F-000.htm

Here's some sad news about a local bonsai artist becoming the victim of a major heist. If you are interested in bonsai, the Japanese name and address should help you find the place:
雅松園
〒861-3203 熊本県上益城郡御船町高木3242-1
Some of the most valuable items have been stolen but I would guess that there are still plenty of more reasonably priced pieces, and I'm sure they would appreciate getting more business. -- Kirk
Bonsai thefts rise around Japan, as demand remains strong overseas | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
MIFUNE, Kumamoto Prefecture—Thefts of bonsai trees have surged around Japan, leading to tens of millions of yen in losses and fears among infuriated growers that their prized plants are being sold overseas.

Kirk here with another helicopter crash update (apologies to those who are not interested).
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3262615/2-hongkongers-among-3-seriously-injured-japan-after-helicopter-makes-crash-landing

A possible third TSMC fab (semiconductor fabrication plant) in Kumamoto? -- Kirk
--- quote ---
Kumamoto’s newly appointed governor, Takashi Kimura, who took office in April, stated in an report from Bloomberg on May 11th that he would spare no effort to persuade TSMC to establish a third fab in the region.
--- end quote ---
Correction: The governor was elected, not "appointed."
[News] Kumamoto Vying for TSMC’s Third Fab, Looking to Build Semiconductor Hub | TrendForce Insights
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has planned to build two fabs in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Kumamoto's newly appointed governor, Ta...

Kirk here with a follow-up to yesterday's post about the helicopter accident. Here's an article in English:
--- quote ---
Two Hong Kong tourists were injured when sightseeing at Japan's largest active volcano after their helicopter made an emergency landing due to engine failure. Japanese media reported that the helicopter was carrying two passengers from Hong Kong to Aso Volcano in Kumamoto...
--- end quote
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/sections-news-print/262773/Two-Hongkongers-hurt-after-volcano-copter%27s-engine-fails
The picture was taken from here:
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/-/1166414?display=1

Kirk here with a a Claude (AI service) translation about a helicopter accident in Aso:
---- start translation ----
Around noon on the 13th, a sightseeing helicopter made an emergency landing in Aso City, leaving a total of three men and women, including the pilot and passengers, with serious and minor injuries. Although the fuselage of the helicopter that made the emergency landing remains intact, parts of the tail rotor are scattered, telling the magnitude of the impact.
[TV Nishinippon reporter Kenta Sato, from the heliport] "This is above Aso City, Kumamoto Prefecture. A helicopter can be seen making an emergency landing in an open space. A white sheet has been placed over the aircraft."
Just after noon on the 13th, a call was made to the fire department reporting that "a sightseeing helicopter had an engine failure in mid-air and made an emergency landing" near the nursing home facility 'Miyamasou' in Kurokawa, Aso City.
It is reported that there were a total of three people on board the helicopter: one man in his 50s, the pilot, and two men and women in their 30s, believed to be tourists from Hong Kong with Chinese nationality.
According to the fire department, the male pilot suffered a suspected pelvic fracture and is in serious condition, while the male and female passengers complained of pain in their chests and backs and were taken to the hospital. They are conscious.
According to the company operating the helicopter, the aircraft that made the emergency landing was a sightseeing helicopter heading from the nearby theme park 'Aso Cuddly Dominion' to the crater of Mt. Nakadake in Aso.
The sightseeing helicopter took off around 11:50 a.m. and was scheduled to fly for about 7 minutes, but it made an emergency landing on a grassland 300 to 400 meters away from its intended destination.
This is the footage from an information camera installed at Kusasenri just before noon on the 13th.
On the right side of the screen, a helicopter can be seen heading from the direction of Mt. Eboshidake toward Mt. Nakadake and turning north.
Although the footage alone cannot identify the aircraft as the one involved in the accident, it matches the scheduled time and flight route of the accident aircraft.
No signs of trouble can be confirmed from the footage.
[Staff of a nearby facility] "At the time, the sound of the helicopter was louder than usual. It didn't particularly feel like it had crashed. I never thought it would crash."
According to the company operating the sightseeing helicopter, "no abnormalities were found during the pre-flight inspection."
The person in charge also stated that the cause of the emergency landing "may have been engine trouble."
---- end translation ----
https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/698622

Sorry to not get out of Kengun yet, but I need to share some info about tram terminus in Kengun. It ends at Piacres covered shopping street. Back in the day, Japanese sararimans (sararimen?) would stop there to have drinks before going home. However, that culture has disappeared and so the area is changing with a number of food places and here are a couple of them.
After getting off the tram, cross the intersection and go left up the big street and on your right is Si-Sa, one of the two Okinawan restaurants I know of in town (the other is Nuchigusui, at the end of Kamitori and up the street, you can recognize it from the Orion sign)
Si-sa is a family favorite, and a couple of times we have been there, there has been some live sanshin music. Our set order is goya champuru, soki soba and taco rice and, if we are really hungry, the spare ribs. The picture is from google maps.
Going right from the tram terminus, there's a new place for Bahn Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich that is based on a French baguette, but softer in the middle. It's a culinary marvel and the bahn mi at Conny's Bahn Mi really deliver. He also sells the Bahn Mi rolls if you are looking to make your own. https://www.instagram.com/connys_banhmi/
You may have noticed that I've outsourced the food photography to the missus, though the out of focus shots are yours truly. Conny's is located just off the covered shopping street next to the SunLive grocery store.
We were out that way last Saturday, but he was at an event at the TKU housing plaza. There was a new restaurant selling abura soba, Menya Daisen (https://www.instagram.com/menyadaisen.2008/), with quite the line in front. I'm still not convinced by abura soba, since the best thing about Japanese noodles is the soup, but my wife had seen on instagram a place selling musubi onigiri. Unfotunately, it was closed, but the next door place had takoyaki. All three places seem ideal for getting some food and then walking straight out of the covered mall to the large park at Shimo Ezuko, about 15 minutes.
The vending machine is not related to any of the shop, but felt like I had to toss it in, it sells Kumamoto Tonsoku (pig feet)
The FFF google map is at
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1qUH94Bac7Hr939b7_8gtvebaJZffGRsX&usp=sharing

I suspect I'm much more interested in this issue that 99% of the readers of this page but, nonetheless, here's another article on the developing story. I found last night's 報道ステーション (Hodo Station) to be particularly informative. There's a good deal I might say but I've got other things to attend to so I'll just offer this article for now. -- Kirk
Ito apologizes to Minamata patients for dead mic controversy | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Environment Minister Shintaro Ito apologized directly to representatives of a group of Minamata disease patients on May 8 for ministry staff cutting off their microphones during a discussion to collect their input.

Kirk here with a Minamata related article, similar in content to what I posted on Friday. Here's a quote from the article:
--- quote ---
When Ito was asked about the various individuals whose speaking time was cut off, he said, “I did not believe the mike had been turned off.”
--- end quote ---
I remember that the word he used in Japanese was "認識する" (ninshiki; be or become aware of). I wasn't there but, from the video, everyone else seemed to be aware of what was going on so why couldn't he figure out was happening?
But on a more positive side "he said another opportunity would be set up because it was difficult to hear everything at one meeting." Good. I hope he follows through.
Minamata victims ‘silenced’ during meeting with minister Ito | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
MINAMATA, Kumamoto Prefecture--A meeting between sufferers of Minamata disease and the environment minister ended in uproar because government underlings switched off the microphone when participants exceeded their allotted speaking time.

Atsuko with Hitoyoshi Enjoy information for those who go to Hitoyoshi to buy papaya.
Recommendation①.
The cool Sekisuiji Temple, decorated with wind chimes. You can write your wishes on wind chimes and folded paper cranes and dedicate them. It is said that if you stroke the stroking Buddha and make a request, the bad part of your body will be cured. I saw banana flowers in the car park for the first time. Hitoyoshi seriously interesting.
https://www.google.com/travel/hotels/s/xFPwyS41jkR5FgXD9
Recommendation②.
Spicy ramen shops. I ate 8x; if you finish 50x, your name will be left behind.
辛麺屋ひとよし
0966-24-8726
https://g.co/kgs/zizN1t6
Recommendation③
Craft experience at Roadside Station Hitoyoshi and Craft Park. I made a glass necklace. It's easy and fun.
Craft park
https://h--craftpark-com.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
Until 30 June, there is also a Hitoyoshi Reconstruction Discount, which reduces the cost of accommodation.
While you are getting papaya, please also enjoy supporting Hitoyoshi's recovery.

Hitoyoshi Reconstruction Campaign
https://hitoyoshionsen.net/2024_hitoyoshi_reconstruction_cp/

William Of concern has been traffic considerations on the narrow roads connecting to the new TSMC and related facilities. Kumanichi reports on the popularity (?) of new express bus routes. Many Silicon Valley (セミコン in Japanese) companies also provide their own buses Once on a train in San Jose, I attempted conversation with a seatmate only to be castigated, "Can't you see I'm WORKING?!" Such is the life of IT employees.
「セミコン通勤バス」利用者急増　TSMCの菊陽進出で高まる役割　23年度は1.6倍の26万人｜熊本日日新聞社
　菊陽町のJR原水駅と半導体企業の工業団地セミコンテクノパークを結ぶ通勤バスが、台湾積体電路製造（TSMC）の進出を機に役割を高めている。2023年度の利用者数は、増便の効果で前年度の1・6倍に急増した。町は慢性化す...

Atsuko here.
GW Outing Recommendation.
How about a pizza making and eating experience with your friends?
Usually reservations are required and only available for groups, but for one day every GW, you can experience it with a small group without reservations.
The view from the top of the MISUMI mountain is great. The owner is particular about making pizzas with prefectural flour and handmade bacon.
Both children and adults can enjoy it. Pizza 700 yen, rice balls 100 yen, delicious.
I can't go this year due to other commitments, but please give my best wishes to the owner.(｡•̀ᴗ-)و ̑̑✧
https://taiken-miyata-mobi.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

May 5, 2024 ,ONLY
Time: 10:00~15:00 (order stop at 14:00)
Menu: Pizza (700 yen), rice balls (100 yen), roasted marshmallows, hakama rice We also offer a rice cooking experience service.
• Number of people: Available for 1 person or more. (No reservation required)
*Promotion ends as soon as pizza dough runs out. note that.
Map, telephone
食と農の体験塾
090-2583-8060
https://g.co/kgs/bqrbS8P

Sean here.
File under: Teens are alright.
A follow up to a previous post.
It is great to see local media celebrating teens and all the understated contributions they make every day.
This event will continue until tomorrow. Head down to Shimotori and let your trash vote for you.