Posts

There have been a couple of posts to this page about English teaching opportunities:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1292859824120780
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/10154459766068871
If you happened to have missed them and are interesting in such jobs, please take a look.
-- Kirk

Personally, 936 yen for this Kindle edition strikes me as a bit pricey. It is a collection of photos, mostly (as far as I can tell from the preview) of scenes that have become fairly familiar to readers of this page. It doesn't include the stories found in the Japanese edition. The Japanese edition, moreover, is available in softcover for about the same price as the English digital edition. Also, "Emergency Publication" appears in red toward the top of the cover but the Japanese version came out in May of last year. If the money were going to a charity, that would be different but I don't see any such indication.
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/18/national/english-edition-kumamoto-earthquakes-photo-book-released-download/
English edition of 'Kumamoto Earthquakes' photo book released for download | The Japan Times
A collection of photos taken after the earthquakes that rocked Kumamoto Prefecture and its vicinity last April has been released for download in English. T

The Agricultural Festival (ueki matsuri, 植木祭) will open Saturday at a new location due to the quakes. It used to be held on the Shirakawa riverbank, which was a great location; it then moved to Toshima, which was terrible. This year, it will be held at Jozan Park (Jozan Koen, 城山公園 - map at the link), which I hope will be an improvement. It's a good chance to catch a glimpse of plumb blossoms while enjoying a bowl of steaming horse offal stew (馬ホルモン煮込み - yum! My favorite!) Another, larger festival should open soon at Agricultural Park in Koushi Machi, but the JA Website is, typically, down, so I can't confirm the date. Spring is just around the corner!
http://kuma-uekiichi.com/

A note on terrible publicity concepts: Someone in our neighboring prefecture to the west, Nagasaki, who really at this point should be jobless, came up with this advertising slogan for JR (warning - NSFW): "Kiss my Nagasaki." Important here is that "Nagasaki" literally means "long peninsula" and the ad is accompanied by a photo of some boy band ... uh ... boys. It doesn't take Fellini to figure this out.
Fortunately, we in Kumamoto have our G-rated Kumamon. Any ideas on a G-rated mascot for Nagasaki? 99-Shimamon? - William
http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/kissmynagasaki/
KISS MY NAGASAKI | JR九州
キスマイのメンバーが長崎をまるっとご紹介。それぞれが旅したマイナガサキや、ラッピングトレイン、TVCMなどの情報盛りだくさん！

From the department of things that make you wonder at humanity: vandalism. Two guide signs at Kumamoto Castle were discovered vandalized early yesterday morning. I'd guess a couple of drunk yahoos. Remember, if you ever see vandalism in progress, discretely dial 110 and report it to the police.
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20170118003.xhtml

I got lunch at a little restaurant on Shimotori (downtown Kumamoto) last week, and noticed that there was a tiny area for non-smokers, while the rest of the restaurant allowed smoking. I've seen big changes in the provision of areas with clean air for non-smokers in Kumamoto in the 25 years that I've been here (it used to be much worse!) but the configuration of the restaurant made me realize that non-smokers were still being treated like a bothersome minority in some establishments. I hope the new law fixes the problem. (Apologies to smokers who like things the way they are.)
-- Kirk
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003462158
Bill brings ban on restaurant smoking
A smoking ban inside restaurants is one of the main pillars aimed at preventing damage from passive smoking (see below) in a draft revision to the Health Promotion Law, according to sources. It also allows for the installation of smoking rooms inside these facilities and imposes fines on serious vio...

Kind of the best thing about being an adult is that you can have weaker people do crazy stuff even for no reason (though it's a double-edged sword - one is seldom the lead dog for long). In Hitoyoshi, where it was at the time 2°C, adults decided it would be really fun to have a bunch of kindergarteners of ages Kumanichi reports to range from "0 to 6 years" run around shirtless over distances ranging from 20 to 1,110 meters. I'm guessing that the 20-meter course was reserved for the shirtless 0-year olds and that they didn't actually run, though the article does not clarify this; on the other hand, when you're zero and shirtless and the temperature is a scant 2° over your age, it's a good time to learn. This was reportedly the 38th time they've done this and might be a major factor in explaining rural depopulation. - William
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20170116002.xhtml

A note regarding things you really don't want to do: Nankan Machi's fire department has a tradition dating back to 1882 of including in their year-opening drill ceremony a water battle in the middle of Kan River wearing nothing but an outfit called Edo hara (江戸腹 - Google it and be glad you're not them). The originating culprit for this torture was the introduction of the water pistol, called the ryudosui pump (龍吐水, りゅうどすいポンプ- literally, "dragon vomit water" - Google that, too; there were several types which vastly improved upon simply tossing buckets of water on flames). Video at the link.
And, yes - it is cold: -5°C downtown, according to our trusty thermometer, and not scheduled to get much warmer this week. Stay out of the water is my advice. - William
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20170114007.xhtml
勇壮に伝統の放水合戦　南関町で消防出初め式－熊本のニュース│ くまにちコム
熊本日日新聞社が取材した熊本のニュース。新聞紙面に掲載前の記事もお伝えします。

Here's a notice about a teaching job:
"Freedom English School is looking for an English teacher to teach a Junior High School class approximately twice a month on Saturday mornings. The class runs from 10:30 to 12:15. The date of the first class is Saturday January 28th."
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/topics/13472
-- forwarded by Kirk

Kumamato University eyes collaboration with UTM on halal food industry
JOHOR BARU: Japan’s Kumamoto University is keen to collaborate with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on water resource management, water treatment technology and setting up a halal food hub, as well as a student exchange programme.

A note from the Kumamoto International Zoological and Botanical Desk (merged due to budget cuts): Camellias (tsubaki, つばき、椿), native to eastern and southern Asia, are in full bloom now. Over millennia, they have been cultivated and eventually resulted in both ornamental varieties and - get this - the tea plant! This explains their Chinese name, cháhuā (茶花), or "tea flower."
I'd wondered why they blossom in mid-winter, when pollinating insects are scarce; turns out they're pollinated by birds, particularly the bulbul (Hiyodori, ヒヨドリ) - a large and annoyingly noisy bird - and the white-eye (Mejiro, メジロ) - a small, quiet bird that returns from the mountains to spend its winters in lower areas. They feed on the nectar, which explains the flowers' wide shape and prodigious nectar production. Click on the photos and note the pollen-covered beaks.
Kumamoto has six symbolic flowers, the most important of which is the Higo tsubaki. Manhole covers in Kumamoto City are often imprinted with images of these flowers.
Below are Wikipedia links to more info and a few photos. - William
Six flowers of Kumamoto (Higo Rokka, 肥後六花): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%82%A5%E5%BE%8C%E5%85%AD%E8%8A%B1
Bulbul (Hiyodori, ヒヨドリ): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%83%A8%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA
White-eye (Mejiro, メジロ): https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%82%B8%E3%83%AD
Camellia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia

There was an earthquake at about 7 PM. I was on my bike and didn't even notice but it was covered live on NHK's national news (which I had recorded) because it was Level 4 in Kikuchi. The magnitude was 3.2.
By the way, sorry I haven't been feeding much news to this page recently -- computer problems. I've done a "clean install" (starting over with a fresh install of the OS and then adding programs and data little by little) and am finally getting back to normal. If there are any Mac users out there, I can share that this experience has led me to add something called Carbon Copy Cloner to my backup arsenal. Time Machine is good but sometimes it's nice to have a bootable clone. A clone can be a "time machine" in a way that the Time Machine app can't -- it can let you go back, via a clone, and use a previous OS version and any apps that stopped working with an update.
-- KIrk

Joe Tomei here,
this is a message from Huy Tran in Yamaga about job openings.
====
Please feel free to post and share wherever you think qualified candidates would be interested.
You are also free to share my contact information if some people have particular concerns or detailed questions.
Sincerely,
Huy Tran
Direct hire ALT positions for the Yamaga BOE for the upcoming April 2017-March 2018 school year are now being considered for review. Yamaga BOE is continually searching for quality ALTs throughout the year.
Interested Candidates should mail paper copies by JPost by February 1st, 2017 to the address below.
〒861-0592 熊本県山鹿市山鹿987-3　 山鹿市役所　 教育総務課
〒861-0592 Kumamoto-ken, Yamaga-shi, Yamaga 987-3
Yamaga-shiyakusho Kyouikusoumuka
1. Resume (English)
2. Rirekisho (Japanese resume)
3. Cover Letter (English and Japanese) which should share your thoughts regarding...
a. Why is learning another language important?
b. What is your educational philosophy?
c. Share the highlights of your previous English teaching experience in detail.
Application deadline is Feb 1st, 2017.
Be ready to do a short live interview in Japanese and English about Mid-March.
Positions Details
Salary: 280,000 Y - 300,000 Y per month depending on experience
Benefits: Shakai Hoken (1/2 paid by employer, 1/2 paid by employee) 10 days paid leave per + 1 day each consecutive year (nenkyu)
(If your Japanese fluency is high and you are savvy enough, it is possible for you to negotiate better terms of employment.)
Time: 40 hrs per week typically Mon-Fri - classroom, prep, special events 12 month working temporary contract with yearly renewal depending on evaluation.
Schools: JHS and/or ES schools per week with occasional ES and kindergarten classes, eikaiwa classes 5-8 times per semester. This is a unique ALT position for a dynamic individual. The classrooms at these schools have high speed internet, HD TVs, and are slowly but surely having a progressive English education culture. You will have a schedule the same as Japanese teachers, and you are expected to work during the summer time when classes are out doing prep work, collaborating with JTEs and other ALTs unless you take nenkyu.
Besides the typical JHS duties of an ALT, the position is interested in individuals possessing the following goals and abilities of the 21st Century ALT.
1. Be passionate about teaching and learning.
2. Build great relationships with JTEs, team member ALTs and students.
3. Actively speak English with students at all times.
4. Make textbook lessons real and relevant by sharing videos, articles, music, and original writing.
5. Coordinate authentic communication skills such as speaking and writing with students from foreign countries with Skype, e-mail and letter writing on a regular basis.
6. Research, create and share multimedia such as YouTube Videos, smartphone apps, learning websites with JTEs and students.
7. Create student centered, cooperative group learning activities that use English for self-expression to communicate with foreign students.
8. Use the computers as an active learning tool to bring English to life.
9. Be an active team player.
If you are an interested ALT who has a vision to help move English education forward in the 21st Century please mail your paperwork by Feb 1st, 2017.Please feel free to post and share wherever you think qualified candidates would be interested.
Sincerely, Huy Tran

Here's an inquiry from Andrew Wolff. If any of you can provide any clues, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
"I'm an ex gaijin resident of Kumamoto and friend of Sean who I think you know. He posted a photo of one of my favorite restaurants in Kumamoto called Rugger, which was owned by a lovely couple who I was friends with. I think their surname was 坂口 (Sakaguchi)。 They served delicious and very generous portions of katsu kare and were popular with Kumadai pharmacy department students as Rugger was just round the corner on hakuzan doori. They have closed and I have lost contact with them. Would love to know if they are still around the area if anyone knows."
By the way, I attempted some Google in Japanese and English but came up empty handed.
-- Kirk

Our friend Billy Bento has reopened his eponymous cuisine outlet at his location in Minami Tsuboi. He can be reached at [email protected] or at his Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009289978056&fref=ts
https://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&pc=FACEBK&mid=8100&rtp=~pos.32.8077497_130.7132353_Billy+Bento+biz&cp=32.8077497~130.7132353&lvl=16&sty=r&rtop=0~0~0~&mode=D&FORM=FBKPL6&mkt=en-US
Bing Maps
Map multiple locations, get transit/walking/driving directions, view live traffic conditions, plan trips, view satellite, aerial and street side imagery. Do more with Bing Maps.

The beautiful article linked below is from the Guardian and regards how politeness pervades Japanese society, written from an Australian perspective. The article ends: "Does Australia have anything that Japan doesn’t? Yes! The new $5 note, designed with a raised bump so blind people can identify it."
Actually, all Japanese currency is designed so that sightless can identify it by touch. Look at the bottom corners of any of your bills and you'll see raised print areas of different shapes for each denomination. Those with sight may not notice them, but those without tend to become very sensitive to touch - and they can. The image below is of the raised print signatures on each bill. - William
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/how-japan-weaves-caring-and-sharing-into-all-layers-of-society

Remember when you were young, and youth itself was akin to a drug? - Okay, combine that with being a mascot, and then put that mascot in Paris, and - well, let's just say he was escorted onto his departing flight. (It could have been worse.) Kumamon in Paris (the video he doesn't want you to see).
Tip o' the hat to Explore Kumamoto. https://www.facebook.com/franceiine/videos/1071689626277017/

If you're like me (and I sincerely hope you're not), you use Windows and must log in every morning, staring at whatever photo the algorithm has determined will most calm you while your machine grinds itself to life. This morning, I was startled to see that photo as being Enkei Bunsui (円形分水【えんけいぶんすい】), a little-known remnant of 19th century irrigation technology located in Yabe.
Called in English "circular tank diversion works," the device solves a problem of how to combine and divert rapid, large-volume water flow from irrigation canals. The answer our clever ancestors came up with was to force the water up through pipes and allowing the now-tamed flow to spill gently over the lip of the circular tank. Good idea, guys!
They're rare, and this one in Yabe is particularly famous. It splits the flow of one powerful channel into two at a ratio of 7:3 - the larger of the two eventually crosses Tsujyun Bridge. If you're ever out in that neck of the woods, it's worth a look - or maybe you'll see it on your Windows login page. The link is to an informative and entertaining explanation. - William
http://www.ajkj.jp/ajkj/kumamoto/yabe/kanko/enkeibunsui/enkeibunsui.html

For any boxing fans out there . . .
http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/fukuhara-set-fight-wbo-interim-title-387780
-- Kirk
Fukuhara set to fight for WBO interim title • Boxing News
By David Finger Comebacks are never easy, just ask the city of Kumamoto in Japan. It’s been eight months since …

My lodgings in Kyoto when I first came to Japan were not so luxurious as to include bathing facilities, so I relied on the local sento (銭湯, public bath). These differ from onsen in that the water is usually artificially heated and that the purpose is more utilitarian. Sento have mostly disappeared, but the few that remain in Kumamoto stepped up after the quakes, offering free services to the weary, waterless populace. (Sadly, Jigoku Onsen [地獄温泉] near Kamitori was damaged so badly in the quakes that it has shut its doors for good.)
There is apparently a tradition on January 2, when the sento reopen, of adding sake to the bathwater, and the six remaining in Kumamoto did just that. This is said to increase circulation and improve skin condition. The below photo shows the Daifuku Yu (大福湯) sento in Tsuboi Machi where two sho (升, a volume unit slightly less than a half gallon) of sake and a kilogram of sake kasu (酒かす - the solidified remains of the rice used to make sake - it's also often used as animal feed, much to the delight of the livestock) have been added to the bath.
Drinking the bath water is not recommended.
If you're interested in sento and where to find them, please let us know. - William
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20170102003.xhtml
ほろ酔い気分で入浴楽しむ　新春恒例の酒風呂－熊本のニュース│ くまにちコム
熊本日日新聞社が取材した熊本のニュース。新聞紙面に掲載前の記事もお伝えします。