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This article discusses the following criticisms of the Abe administration's response to the quakes:
1. Statement issued on April 15th that people should be encouraged to stay indoors (to see a good Japanese article about this go to http://mainichi.jp/articles/20160416/k00/00m/040/150000c)
2. Refusal to shut down nuclear reactor to our south
3. Opportunistic connection of quakes with "need to fix the constitution"
It doesn't mention the delay in designating the Kumamoto earthquakes as "a disaster with extreme severity" (激甚災害指定 -- gekijin saigai shitei):
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1025249570881808
Nor does it say anything about the idea that Abe is ultimately responsible for having chosen a leader for NHK that called for the exclusion of experts that failed to parrot Abe administration positions:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1027579233982175
Abe was also pretty late in coming to Kumamoto. I heard from a reliable source that the Chinese ambassador came to check on students here but that it had to kept quiet because Abe had not yet deigned to pay us a visit.
I guess you can tell that I agree with the critical thrust of the article. :)
-- Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/05/09/commentary/japan-commentary/abes-questionable-handling-kumamoto-quakes/
Abe's questionable handling of the Kumamoto quakes | The Japan Times
The Abe administration is making a shameful attempt to use the Kumamoto earthquakes to further and unrelated political agenda.

I saw this on NHK's evening news. It's a map that shows areas in Kumamoto where liquefaction (ekijoka; 液状化) occurred. It says that the total affected area is about 40 times the area of Tokyo Dome. If you want to read a Japanese article about this or see the news video go to
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160511/k10010516871000.html
One thing that came out on the news broadcast was the connection with water, both streams and groundwater. One of Kumamoto's greatest strengths -- plentiful groundwater -- seems to work against it when there's a big quake.
The article also says that we need to be aware that liquefaction can cause hollow spots to form underground (especially where sand spurted out during the quake) and that such hollow spots may collapse suddenly long after they were formed.
Also, William posted about liquefaction the other day, so take a look at that if you are interested in the topic:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1033793100027455
-- Kirk

The Environmental Ministry confirmed yesterday that disaster victims whose houses were classified as "half destroyed" or above are eligible for full reimbursement for the cost of removing debris from their land even if the work has already been completed at their own expense. Applications for reimbursement should be accepted at your local town office. http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160510010.xhtml
家屋解体個人負担なし　半壊以上、補助対象拡大－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。

I posted this quite some time ago but should have referred back to it again today. In a pinch, this link the puts the Yahoo page through "Rikai" (http://goo.gl/zHJQDn) may be helpful.
-- Kirk

One further note regarding health and wellness during this period of time when there may be a more-than-usual reliance on ready-to-eat foods and a less-than-usual intake of vegetables: During a conversation (today) with a cardiologist in Kumamoto, I learned that there has been a fairly large uptick in the number of patients coming to him with very low Vitamin K levels. He attributed this phenomenon to the recently disrupted diets and lifestyle patterns. Normally, low Vitamin K isn't too problematic. However, for patients taking blood thinners, this can result in dangerously high PT-INR rates (increased risk of bleeding). So, in the spirit of Mother's Day, eat your vegetables, especially if you have low Vitamin K levels. -Jackie

This is quite peripherally related to Kumamoto, but please bear with me. Being without a TV for the first few weeks following 4/16, we went full-radio and noticed a definite shift of auditory sentiment towards traditional, uplifting songs. Just now on our newly-delivered TV is a music program dedicated to Kumamoto which contained, of course, Sakamoto Kyu's "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets). This reminded me of his appearance on the Steve Allan Show in 1963.
Though the war had ended 18 years previously, the audience clearly gives a very cold reception, but Kyu-chan barrels through with his indomitable light-hearted spirit. Better is the following interview: Despite his poor English, his ear for timing and what made people laugh surpassed language, absolutely winning over the entire house.
We're facing some tough times here in Kumamoto, but 上を向いて歩こう! For a deep smile, please enjoy this memory of Kyu-chan. - William
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpBtU4rAYWo
坂本九 踊り明かそう Steve Allen Show TALK
Odori akasou Japanese Joke USA-TV Show 1963-8-13

This is a little letter to the editor I wrote and that was published in the Kumanichi (Kumamoto's local newspaper) on May 3rd. I wound up submitting this little missive after I wrote the following post about Kumamoto dialect:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1026806274059471
One of the examples of Kumamoto dialect being used to express pride in Kumamoto and determination to rebuild that I quoted in my Facebook post was the title of this section of the newspaper: Dogyanka shiyou!
In my submission, I wrote about my experience on this page. Specifically, I wrote that, in Japan, we foreigners (along with children, the elderly, persons with handicaps, etc) are usually classified as "saigai jakusha" (persons that are disadvantaged in an disaster) because many of us face linguistic challenges, particularly if we have not been here a long time. Be that as it may, however, I pointed out that there have been many more expressions of interest in volunteering and donating than pleas for help. Of course, pleas for help are fine -- when you need help you should say so. But, it's simply a fact that expressions of concern and of interest in doing something to help were for more common than inquiries about getting assistance.
One of the things I've noticed over the years that I've been managing this page and the mailing list that preceded it is that there are lots of non-Japanese that have left Kumamoto but remember it fondly and follow the messages posted here just to stay in touch with a place they have come to love. And that was the last line of my letter: I wanted people in Kumamoto to know that there are a lot of people all over the world who care about Kumamoto and the people that live here.
-- Kirk

And for those of us in the classroom, this article provided some good nuggets about how to deal with things once classes resume. I found quite a few good takeaways here. Having asked a psychology professor what resources or processes might be available to students once classes got started, his response was, "Return to normal as quickly as possible." There is a new normal for students now, so returning to something that no longer exists is impossible. -Jackie
Teaching in Times of Crisis | Center for Teaching | Vanderbilt University
Teaching in Times of Crisis. Originally written in 2001 by CFT staff Revised and updated in April 2013 by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Whether local, national, or international in scope, times of crisis can have a significant impact on the college classroom. The students need not be directly…

For anyone who thinks that they, or a loved one, might be experiencing the after-effects of earthquake-related trauma, even if it isn't necessarily PTSD, may find the following article of some use. Kay (and I) also recommend the book "The Body Keeps the Score." Most often, symptoms will start surfacing 3-6 weeks after the traumatic event. -Jackie
Ask a Counselor: how do we recognize and cope with trauma?
Recently, I was Skyping with a client overseas who wanted to talk with me about symptoms of burnout and spiritual dryness. As she told me about a particular experience, I said, “That was real…

This is a follow up to my last post about evacuation information. One of the key points that I want to make to the prefecture is that the first step in making information more accessible to foreigners is making it easier for Japanese people to understand. A good case in point is the flooding that occurred in Joso City in Ibaragi Prefecture last year. To read an article about that in English (focusing particularly on the difficulties that foreigners had getting information) see the following:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/17/national/social-issues/foreign-joso-flood-victims-hit-citys-monolingual-response/
It was not just foreigners who didn't get the information they needed. The third image shows a rescue being conducted in the Misaka area of Joso City. This area did not receive an evacuation notice until it was too late. The first two images are from a television program called 真相報道 バンキシャ! (Shinso Hodo Bankisha) that was aired on the 13th of September last year. The first image shows how information is issued via text. This is currently exactly the same as the situation in Kumamoto and probably the rest of Japan -- notices are issued via text but not in map form. The second image shows how the TV station used a map to determine what areas had received evacuation notices and what areas had not. When the TV reporters plotted the locations on the map, it becomes clear that the spot marked with an X should have received an evacuation notice. When I saw this, I had two thoughts:
1) If the information had been issued on a map, residents might have understood that, even though their area had not received an official notice, they were in danger;
2) Putting the information in map form might have helped with officials realized that they had forgotten to issue a notice for the Misaka area.
I hope I can use this information to convince the prefecture to take steps to improve the way they put out information on the internet. Doing so should help foreigners and non-foreigners alike.
http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2144186372635717701

The post I made a few minutes ago about the rain prompted me to check for evacuation notices. The first image you see is from e-mail notifications I have received. The first message says that evacuation orders (not recommendations, orders) were issued for persons in Minami Aso at 10:50 AM. The other two messages say that persons in Uki and Uto have been recommended to evacuate. Persons in areas that are vulnerable to mud slides should pay particular attention to such notices.
The second image gives the details for the evacuation order issued in Minami Aso.
In the future, I will try to get the prefecture to improve the system to make it more accessible to foreigners (and even if you understand Japanese, the current system has several problems that need to be fixed). In the meantime, the best source of information available through the internet is e-mail. You can sign up for e-mail notifications such as I received here:
https://www.anshin.pref.kumamoto.jp/now.html
Unfortunately, the interface is in Japanese and the messages will come in Japanese. Even if you don't understand Japanese, however, you may be able to make some sense of the information using Google Translate and other such tools.
The prefecture also has a page that is an index of the current evacuation notices that have been sent out via e-mail:
https://www.anshin.pref.kumamoto.jp/osirase/index.cgi?type=1001
Unfortunately, the way this page is set up makes it impossible to run it through Google Translate automatically. Moreover, as the third image shows, the order of the information is, well, mechakucha (a mess).
As I think I have written in the past, in addition to current notification methods, I think the prefecture needs to establish a map-based system that visually shows people where current evacuation notices have been issued and to color code them to show the level (order, recommendation, watch, etc).
-- KIrk

The link at the end of this post is to a post on Kumamoto City's Facebook page about unscrupulous merchants attempting to take advantage of people hit by the quake (trying to entice consumers into agreements to have their homes repaired at exorbitant prices, etc). Actually, I received a robocall from one such merchant. I found the robocall to be particularly irritating because
1) robocalls (automated, prerecorded calls) force ordinary people to drop what the are doing to answer the phone without spending the valuable time of flesh-and-blood employees (in other words, their time is precious but our time is free)
2) one never really knows where the robocall has come from (no viable call-back number, no way to verify legitimacy)
In this case, I pushed "1" on my phone indicating that I was interested. Of course, I wasn't but I wanted to file a formal complaint about the practice and thought I might be able to do so if I could get a live human being on the phone and get him or her to give me a viable contact number.
Then I called the city's consumer office (消費者センター). Sadly, I learned that there was nothing I could do. In Japan, shady businesses are permitted to robocall thousands of people, interrupt what they are doing, and leave them no clear way of contacting and/or complaining to or about the company responsible for the robocall. Even more sadly, the person who took my call at the city's consumer office didn't seem to fully understand what was problematic about the current system. When she said "just hang up," I had to explain that that was not the point. The point in my mind is that the current system that allows unscrupulous companies to take advantage of consumers with impunity. She seemed to understand this after I explained it to her but I wondered why I, the consumer, had to explain that to her, the consumer issues specialist.
A day later, someone from company called me from a mobile phone. I asked for a company phone number but couldn't get one. This confirmed my suspicions about the shadiness of the business but I had already been told by the Kumamoto City representative that nothing could be done so I told the guy why I was displeased and left it at that.
It's good that the city, prefecture, and national government have hotlines for consumers who have been taken advantage of. It would be even better, though, if they would fix the system and take away the unfair advantages that shady businesses have been allowed.
https://www.facebook.com/KumamotoCity/photos/pcb.1120819334607588/1120818681274320/?type=3&theater

Helping kids avoid PTSD and recovery from the stresses of the quakes and life as evacuees is really important topic. This is one of many ways that adults are trying to help kids cope.
-- KIrk
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605080010.html
Instructors help Kumamoto kids dance away quake stress：The Asahi Shimbun
KUMAMOTO--Sports instructors are touring evacuation shelters here to help children relieve stress an

As I wrote earlier today, I've been trying to collate media coverage of Kumamoto International or media coverage that Kumamoto International played a role in (e.g. helping foreign media find people to interview). As I looked through old posts I thought "The CBC contacted us. Did they ever publish anything?" That led me to find this video. It features interviews with Taylor Blades, Kay Schultz, and Anna Fast. I don't know if Kumamoto International played a role in this but, well, who cares! (Anna Fast used be in a class I taught. I'm so happy to see her on TV looking well!) If any of you happen to know of any other CBC coverage featuring friends in Kumamoto (or yourself), please let me know.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/667268675979
--- Kirk
P.S. If any of the three young women feature here would like to have a permanent copy to keep (you know, something to show to kids or grandchildren some day) let me know. I've recorded it from the web and can send it to you as a memento.

The article points out that the capacity of Kumamoto University’s Institute of Resource Development and Analysis to produce genetically modified mice for domestic and overseas research institutes has been impaired.
"Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, professor at Kyoto University, has asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to extend state support to the Kumamoto institute. State-affiliated research institute Riken is considering giving researchers at the Kumamoto institute access to its gene analysis equipment."
http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002931669
Kumamoto quakes cause negative effects on medical research
KUMAMOTO (Jiji Press) — A string of powerful earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and nearby areas since last month have started to have negative effects on medical research, with a major production base for genetically modified mice being damaged.

As a result of the earthquakes, Kumamoto International has shown up in foreign and domestic media several times. I've been meaning to put together a little "Kumamoto International in the news" post, with links to all such instances but I just noticed that I don't seem to have written anything about the TV3 (New Zealand) coverage of the magnitude 7.3 quake that occurred on the 16th, which featured interviews with fellow editor William Baerg and yours truly. At this point, the video is probably only of interest to William and I and a few family members but, nonetheless, here it is.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/magnitude-71-quake-strikes-japan-2016041605
Magnitude 7.3 quake strikes Japan
Two powerful earthquakes a day apart have shaken southwestern Japan killing at least 29 people trapping many others beneath flattened homes and sending thousands of residents to seek refuge in gymnasiums and hotel lobbies

News from our friends at the International Center via the JET Program:
Sakai-san and Takahashi-san are available to take calls in English and offer assistance to foreigners in Kumamoto affected by the quakes. They have tarps, storage/cleaning supplies, and other goods, so please give them a call at 096-359-2020.
They stress that no place is too far for them to go to, so please don't hesitate to contact them!!

William here with two "Show me the money!" themed articles from the Kumanichi.
First, a bit about government compensation for property damage. As the chart at the link shows, areas designated Standard Disaster leave victims shouldering between 30 and 50% of recovery costs, while those designated Large-Scale Disaster, as Kumamoto has been, require victims to shoulder between 10 and 30%. However, given the scale, the Kumamoto government is in negotiations with the Central Government to enact a special law which would eliminate deductibles, with the Central Government providing full compensation. The article contains few details but notes, "Kumamoto Prefecture has asked the Central Government to raise subsidy rates and expand them to areas not included under original provisions to cover the full amount of the local share. As recovery is expected to take much time, affected local governments hope to create an environment conducive to reducing business anxiety regarding financial aspects of restoration."
However, this would be of little help to people such as 81-year old Murakami-san of Uchinomaki, Aso. Eligibility for disaster relief depends upon the issuance of a "Risai Shoumei" (罹災証明, "affliction certificate") by local governments. These are divided into four types, with compensation levels determined by type: 「全壊」「大規模半壊」「半壊」「一部損壊」"completely destroyed," "large-scale partial destruction," "partially destroyed," and "some damage." Murakami-san's predicament is that, while his house was judged to be in the latter, least-severe category, subsidence has left his property over a meter below the bordering road, which not only prevents access to the property but leaves it in great danger of flooding, as the photograph at the link will attest. The article notes that government officials are aware of this loophole as several other Kumamoto residents are facing similar circumstances and are working to provide a solution. Let's hope they do before rainy season.
The first link is to Murakami-san's predicament; the second to the special law.
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160508017.xhtml
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160509003.xhtml

Good news for Kyushu's tourism industry . . .
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/116187.php
Luxury sleeper train Seven Stars rolls again in quake-hit Kyushu
Kyushu Railway is resuming tours on a luxury sleeper train following last month's deadly earthquakes in southern Japan, which closed part of the route.

The other day I posted about an organization called Plan Japan and their efforts to help children recover from the emotional trauma and stress caused by the quakes:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1030851050321660
The beginning of the video shows part of a djemba (African drum) performance I described in that message. If you would like to invite Plan Japan to hold a performance in your local school, please click on the link to my original post.
上のリンクをクリックしていただければ、近所の小学校へに来てもらう手続きに関する説明があります。
-- Kirk
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/fnn?a=20160506-00000932-fnn-soci
熊本地震　避難所となっている学校で授業再開に向けた動き加速（フジテレビ系（FNN）） - Yahoo!ニュース
熊本地震、避難生活の厳しい現実の一方で、避難所となっている学校では来週からの授業 - Yahoo!ニュース(フジテレビ系（FNN）)