Marathon
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According to the article, in the Kumamoto quakes, 52 of the 186 who died held disability certificates. Disasters, both natural and man-made, hit people who are already already vulnerable the hardest. -- Kirk
International Traffic Safety Workshop
William Teaching English at JHS or HS level in Japan oft requires instilling motivation as students do not understand the utility of the subject. This could be a good motivator: Kyushu Gakuin High School graduate Yoshihiro Sonoda (46) has been appointed exclusive interpreter for MLB Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. (Disclaimer: the alma mater of my two children) Prior to this, Sonoda had been working as a lighting engineer at a film company in New York. "Maybe you, too, could someday be an interpreter - or work in the film industry," you can tell your students.
Kirk here. This came to me in a feed for "Kumamoto" because it includes a picture from Kumamoto but the issue is national. The article includes the following sentence.
Kurokawa Onsen.
Kirk here. A while back I posted about how Kumamon is not allowed to enjoy cake because "he" is supposed to be male and "real" men don't go for sweets (at least that's the theory). You can find that post here:
William The Kumamoto District Court
Kirk here. It's official: a second TSMC plant will be built in Kumamoto.
William Zoos excite in me mixed emotions. On one hand, when done well, they provide a wonderful discovery experience, particularly for children (drive-through parks, such as https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/animal-kingdom/#/sort=alpha/ , at least provide a semblance of the creature's natural habitat); when done poorly, the are sense-killing life sentences for sentient creatures (see Kumamoto Zoo - or, actually, don't).
William Every city in Japan has its signature department store: Fukuoka = Daimaru; Osaka = Hankyu; Kyoto =Takashimaya; Tokyo = Mitsukoshi (this is all according to my daughter, whom you do not want to argue with). And, of course, Kumamoto = Tsuruya.
Kirk here with some news about local and national politics. The local politician at the heart of this story is not KAMIYA Sohei, the leader of the far-right SANSEITO party that you see pictured. Rather it's about TSUKUSHI Rumiko, who was elected to serve in the City Assembly and who ran as a SANSEITO candidate.
Kirk here. The article begins " . . . police stationed in Kumamoto -- One Piece author Eiichiro Oda's hometown -- arrested two foreign citizens suspected of infringing on Weekly Shonen Jump's copyright." I hope no one associated with page was involved in the crime.
Social afternoon - decorating cookies, speaking Japanese, playing games
William The new Tateno Dam is what is known as a "running water" dam (流水型ダム, ryūsui-gata damu) - that is, the three outlets at its base are kept open permanently, and the damn serves simply to control water flow.
William To my friends in earthquake-land:
William with an item tangentially related to Kumamoto: Though our local faults (geological, not moral) tend to be parallel, Japan itself is built atop a subductive fault, with the Pacific plate moving under the Eurasian plate (the one we're on), which means that something has to be pushing the Pacific plate westward.
William here with a personal request.
Yamaga Toro Roman - Hyakka Hyakusai
復興デパートアマテラス チャリティーイベント
