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This is from the 19th. NHK doesn't keep videos up for long so get it while it's hot!
-- Kirk
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170519_23/
Kumamoto Castle repair work shown to media- News - NHK WORLD - English
Work to restore the main tower of Kumamoto Castle was shown to media on Friday, about one year after a series of earthquakes struck Kumamoto City, western Japan.

Map makers track Kumamoto quake damage and recovery：The Asahi Shimbun
KUMAMOTO--Devastating earthquakes changed the face of this city in April 2016, and the task of asses

The photo you see was taken a few days ago in Ezuko, Kumamoto City. I was prompted to look for photos of fireflies (hotaru) in Ezuko by an RKK news segment I saw. The segment talked about how, when the weather is right, the fireflies are putting on evening shows in Ezuko these days. I'm a big fan of the Ezuko area but have never been there after sunset (7 to 9 PM or so) to enjoy the fireflies on a warming evening. I may even go tonight!
-- Kirk
https://twitter.com/zanshin_photo/status/864740096452419584
しんいちphoto on Twitter
“江津湖のホタル 2017年5月16日撮影 #photography #photo #写真好きな人と繋がりたい #トワイライト #熊本 #KUMAMOTO #江津湖 #ホタル #蛍”

Leanne Vibe shared the link to this article on the Kumamoto-i mailing list:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/13512
Thanks Leanne! Even though I started the mailing list, I have tended to neglect it in recent years. Readers of this Facebook page show know, however, that interesting and valuable information is shared on the mailing list and I often neglect to share it again here. Also, an e-mail forum has some advantages to Facebook (easier to strike up independent conversations with people, no manipulative algorithm that winds up determining what you do and do not see, etc.). So, some of you may wish to participate in the mailing list if you don't already.
Favorite line from this article: "Q: Where do you go to escape Kumamoto? A: Kumamoto IS my escape."
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/05/13/people/paraglider-richard-brezina-not-stranger-high-adventure/
Paraglider Richard Brezina: 'I am not a stranger to high adventure' | The Japan Times
Canadian native living in Kyushu recalls his experiences of extreme sports in Japan.

A long time ago, I set all of the posts from this page to be tweeted and then forgot about it. If you prefer Twitter to Facebook, you might consider following us there, but the way posts get cut short can make it hard to understand the intended point.
https://twitter.com/Kumamotoi
-- Kirk
Kumamoto-i (@Kumamotoi) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Kumamoto-i (@Kumamotoi). I'm an international mailing list about Kumamoto, Japan. Kumamoto, Japan

I came across this bit of information today: The tallest man to be drafted to play in the NBA is from Kumamoto. Wikipedia says that Yasutaka Okayama was 7'8" (234 cm) when he was drafted, making him a bit taller than Manute Bol. Bol is still the tallest person to have played in the NBA because Mr. Okayama declined to enter into negotiations after he was drafted. -- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2015/05/20/basketball/hoop-hero-okayama-reflects-lost-chance/
Hoop hero Okayama reflects on lost chance | The Japan Times
Long before recent international Japanese basketball stars like Yuta Tabuse, Yuki Togashi and Yuta Watanabe, there was Yasutaka Okayama, who might have mad

'River' of paper lanterns glow for Kumamoto quake victims：The Asahi Shimbun
MINAMI-ASO, Kumamoto Prefecture--About 8,000 messages of support from around Japan to the victims of

Carnations back in Kumamoto's streetcars a year after the quakes：The Asahi Shimbun
KUMAMOTO--Streetcars decked out in carnations are back in service here for the first time in two yea

Think I posted this long ago - a very entertaining summary of Japanese history. The creator, Bill Wurtz, has summaries of other phases of history, including a 20-minute one he recently released which traces existence from before the Big Bang (granted, rather anthropocentric, but aren't we all), available on Youtube. Check 'em out when you need a few minutes of comic relief. - William
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o
history of japan
http://billwurtz.com patreon: http://patreon.com/billwurtz spotify: https://play.spotify.com/artist/78cT0dM5Ivm722EP2sgfDh itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us...

Sounds like a cool opportunity! I'm sharing the post so that more people can see it.
-- Kirk (Too old to participate :( How about a geriatric sequel? )

This is a Kumanichi (the local Japanese newspaper) article about a British dentist named David Fujiwara who visited master sword smith Matsunaga Genrokuro in northern Kumamoto. I have had the pleasure of visiting Matsuaga-sensei's home to learn about sword making and swordsmanship and know many non-Japanese who have studied with him quite regularly and intensively. Through his openness to non-Japanese pupils and other activities, Matsunaga-sensei is continuing to make an important contribution to international understanding and the promotion of traditional Japanese culture.
-- Kirk
P.S. For more information in English go to
http://www.matsunaga-sword.org/about.html
英国サムライ「真剣」修行　荒尾市　７年ぶり技磨く - 熊本日日新聞
古武道小岱流のけいこに励むディビット藤原さん＝荒尾市　英国で古武道小岱流を学ぶ歯科医ディビット藤原さん（２６）が８～１１日の４日間、同流宗家の刀匠松永源六郎さん（６９）＝荒尾市＝の下で、７年ぶりの修行に励んだ。 　小岱流は、真剣で物を切る技...

The other day, NHK did a major story about this hospital in Kumamoto. After ten years, it remains unique. The NHK program mentioned, as this article does, that efforts to established a second such baby hatch failed because no doctor could be found to take on the role that Dr. Hasuda plays here. He's truly a special person. -- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/09/national/social-issues/kumamoto-baby-hatch-accepted-125-babies-nine-years-since-launch/#.WRR3mVKB1uU
Kumamoto 'baby hatch' accepted 125 babies over nine years since launch | The Japan Times
The controversial "baby hatch" set up at a Kumamoto hospital in 2007 to enable people to leave infants anonymously took in a total of 125 babies over nine

At 8:25 this evening we had a magnitude 4.3 quake that was Level 4 on the Japanese scale in Minami-ku (South Ward) of Kumamoto City. To me (in Chuo-ku), it felt like it was approaching from fairly far away and rumbled for several seconds before settling down.
-- Kirk
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/6/20170511202535495-112021.html

This article came out several weeks ago but I seem to have neglected to share it. One thing I learned from it is that there's a law that "stipulates that temporary housing can only be used for up to two years." With thousands of people still in temporary housing, a lot of progress needs to be made in the next year. -- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/13/national/caught-off-guard-deadly-quakes-kumamoto-still-learning-lessons-one-year/
Caught off guard by deadly quakes, Kumamoto still learning lessons one year on | The Japan Times
It was just after midnight and I was dozing off at a capsule hotel in the city of Kumamoto on April 16 last year when the "Big One" hit. Suddenly, I was bo

The image is from a Japanese article predicting kosa (黄砂; yellow sand) being blown in from China today:
https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/201705/060105/
The article warns about sand in this area tomorrow and says that visibility was reduced here this morning.
The yellow sand particles tend to be a problem this time of year but sandy days become very rare after the rains begin to wash the particles from the atmosphere in June:
http://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/env/kosahp/kosa_table_1.html
-- Kirk
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170507/p2g/00m/0dm/033000c

Kumamoto's Kikuchi Gorge shines like an emerald on Greenery Day - The Mainichi
KIKUCHI, Kumamoto -- With the national holiday Greenery Day falling on May 4, it is worth noting the stunning verdant beauty of Kikuchi Gorge, located here.

The article says that a "total of 2,282 people in Kumamoto and the neighboring prefecture of Kagoshima have been officially recognized as sufferers of the disease." The number of certified patients, however, is far lower than the number of people affected. That number is more difficult to calculate (the definition of "affected" can be debated) but one interesting indication of the scale of the disaster is that, between May of 2010 and July 31 of 2012 over 45,000 people (45,933 to be exact) applied for compensation for health effects they had suffered:
http://www.minamata195651.jp/pdf/kyoukun_2015/kyoukun2015_07.pdf
The huge discrepancy between the official certification numbers and the numbers of people who have applied for some kind of compensation is indicative of governmental and corporate collusion in the artificially suppression of the numbers of people who could become certified. (There is ample historical documentation of this collusion, by the way.) Given this history, I think it is irresponsible of journalists to merely report the number of officially certified patients without reminding readers that those people are arguably less than 10% of the actual total number of people who have been adversely affected.
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/02/national/social-issues/kumamoto-marks-61st-anniversary-since-minamata-disease-recognized/
Kumamoto marks 61st anniversary since Minamata disease was recognized | The Japan Times
A ceremony was held on Monday in the city of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, to mark the 61st anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata disease, o

Kumamoto is a major producer of igusa, the material used in the production of tatami. It's not normally considered to be a food. The idea of making edible, tatami-flavored chopsticks seems wacky enough to be an April fools joke, but this seems to be legit, at least as far as I can see. The YouTube video in the announcement even has English subtitles.
-- Kirk
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kumamoto-japan-develops-worlds-first-tatami-flavored-edible-chopstick-made-out-of-igsa-rush-grass-300449209.html
Kumamoto, Japan, Develops World's First "Tatami-flavored" Edible Chopstick Made out of "IGSA" Rush Grass
KUMAMOTO, Japan, May 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --- Pair of Tatami-flavored Chopsticks Contains Equal Amount of Dietary...

I think it's great that this little art museum in southern Kumamoto has been featured in a national publication. If you have a chance, stop by!
Here's an English page that includes a Google map:
http://japanese-museum.com/tsunagi-art-museum-kumamoto/
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/05/02/arts/openings-outside-tokyo/amigo-koike-exhibition-higashi-nihon-kumamoto-still-3-11-2011/
'Amigo Koike Exhibition: From Higashi-Nihon to Kumamoto — Still 3.11 2011' | The Japan Times
April 29-July 17 Born and raised in Gunma Prefecture, Amigo Koike worked as an illustrator after he quit college in the 1980s, and was a musician and DJ du

"There was an earthquake in Kumamoto in 744, according to 'Shoku Nihongi' [an official chronicle mainly of the Nara period (710-784)]. The chronicle says, 'In Yatsushiro and Amakusa, more than 470 houses and more than 1,520 people were swept into the water and sank. Landslides could be seen at over 280 locations, which crushed to death more than 40 people.' It seems the Yatsushiro coastal area was damaged by tsunami and cracks in the ground."
This lengthy article includes extended comments by Earthquake archaeologist Akira Sangawa, haiku poet Yuko Masaki, and Kazufumi Onishi, Kumamoto City Mayor. -- Kirk
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003652981
Thoughts 1 year after Kumamoto Earthquake
One year has passed since the Kumamoto Earthquake. After two temblors struck the region, each hitting the maximum of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, what challenges and lessons were left behind? What should be done in the future? We asked three people: a municipality leader working on reh...