Posts

Yatsushiro now has a wood-burning biomass power plant. --Kirk
Toyota Tsusho switches on 75-MW biomass-fired power plant in Japan
Japanese trading company Toyota Tsusho Corp (TYO:8015) announced today it commenced the commercial operation of a 75-MW biomass-fired power plant in Kumamo

For foreigners studying Japanese in Kumamoto.
Very surprisingly, this is not the standard language, apparently.
I think I have always read it this way. Sorry 🙏.
If you want to call it hard, you have to call it Kibishii.
You should read 厳か as Ogosoka not Kibishika.
If you want to say strong you have to say it Tsuyoi.
You should read 強か as Sitataka not Tsuyoka.
If you want to say sweep you have to say Haku.
You should read 掃く as Haku not Hawaku.
Kibishika, Tsuyoka, Hawaku are not correct, these are dialect, not standard language.
If you are in Kumamoto, you have probably heard of [Kibishika Tsuyoka Hawaku].
So interesting ! Atsuko(＞∀＜)‼︎

Matsuki Nobuhiro, from Kumamoto, is one of at least 17 people abducted by the North Korean government in the 1970s and 80s. -- Kirk
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240614_01/
"Matsuki is from the Japanese city of Kumamoto. He was abducted in 1980 at the age of 26, when he was studying in Spain."
Japanese abductee's siblings petition for his return from North Korea | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Siblings of a man abducted and taken to North Korea decades ago are petitioning the Japanese government to win the return of all such kidnap victims.

William Kumamon had a meeting with Myaku-Myaku, the mascot of the Osaka World's Fair and mutant Elmo, who had travelled to the Kencho to publicize his doomed event. 国内での抜群の知名度と海外からの人気の高さ (kokunai de no batsugun no chimeido to kaigai kara no ninki no taka-sa) means"Outstanding domestic recognition and popularity overseas," referring I assume to Kumamon, not Myaku-Myaku.
A link to a short video:
くまモンが大阪・関西万博スペシャルサポーターに就任【熊本】 (24/06/17 19:00)
熊本県の営業部長兼しあわせ部長のくまモンが、来年４月に開催される大阪・関西万博のスペシャルサポーターに就任しました。開幕まであと３００日。１７日は、熊本県庁で就任式が行われ、公式キャラクター『ミャクミ...

Hey there, Kumamotans! (Or is it 'Kumamotites'?) It's KumaKitty here with some advice about how to take advantage of information, particularly news articles, published on this page. Over the years, the Facebook algorithm has gotten more and more finicky. If you give it a link to a news article, it seems to assume that nobody is interested. So, even though this page has over 5,000 "likes," a post that is primarily a link to a news article will only appear in the feeds of a handful of those folks. So, if you would like to use this page to keep up with local news, you should probably make a point of actually navigating to it from time to time to see what has been posted recently.
By the way, the Facebook algorithm seems to like pictures of animals. I guess that's why my master, Kirk, thought I should be the one to post about this.
That's all for now. Back to my cozy little spot by the window for another nap. :)

William Kumanichi reports that northern Kyushu has entered rainy season, 13 days later than normal and 19 days later than last year.
Pictured are hydrangea, known as "ajisai" (アジサイ, or 紫陽花 - the katakana is more common) in Japanese. The flower is a symbol of rainy season.
　福岡管区気象台は17日午前11時半、熊本を含む九州北部地方が梅雨入りしたとみられると発表した。平年より13日遅く、昨年より19日遅い。

Kirk here with some news and a little commentary about what I think makes a good translation and what makes a bad one.
I'll put the commentary about what I find to be problematic about this "greenery season" translation of 新緑の季節 (shinryoku no kisetsu) in a comment or two.
Kumamoto: Greenery Attracts visitors to Waterfall Hotspot; Advanced Tickets Required Since Hit Commercial
OGUNI, Kumamoto — Greenery season has come to a rare spot where visitors can look out from behind a waterfall, and tourists are flocking to the site.

Hello all,
Olivia here, posting an advert on behalf of a friend,
💫Looking for volunteers 💫
Need some female foreign volunteers for an overnight English immersion event in Oguni on Aug. 7th & 8th.
It’s more of a volunteer work so it’s not much of compensation
Honorarium is about 7,000 yen for the whole event.
The accommodation is great though as well as the food since it’ll be an overnight stay in a traditional Japanese inn with a really nice onsen.
The volunteers need not prepare anything.
They just need to come & join.
Meeting place will be at the International Center near Kumamoto castle.
We will be dealing with 6th graders in elementary for the 1st day in the afternoon (half day only) & 3rd year junior high on the 2nd day in the morning till noon.
More details, please contact this email address directly::
[email protected]
💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫

Fiona here, with a recommendation for anyone wanting to try water sports in Kumamoto city. I used to live very close to Ezu-ko and always enjoyed it as an area for walking, and for my children to paddle, practice cycling, go fishing etc. Yesterday was the first time for me to get out on the lake in a kayak to enjoy the sunset and see the surroundings of the lake from a different angle. I didn't know it was possible to rent kayaks here but a friend visiting from Tokyo set it all up. The company we used (Go Nature) offers kayaking and SUP experiences and also operates at Midorikawa dam. They can cater for groups of up to six people and children over the age of three are able to participate. Since the lake is very calm it's an easy place for beginners to kayak, and it's a great way to show our beautiful city to visiting friends and family.

News about a fire in the residence of 6 interns from Indonesia. Fortunately, they were out when the fire occurred. -- Kirk
途中で“ボン”という音も… 「すごい熱かった」6人暮らす家炎上　熊本市【スーパーJチャンネル】(2024年6月13日)
熊本市内の6人が暮らす住宅から「煙が見える」と通報があり、激しい炎が上がりました。目撃した人「燃えていて、途中でボンという音も聞こえたので動画を撮ったんですけど、すごい熱かったですね」　この家にはイン.....

Kirk here with a little report about something happening at my workplace, Kumamoto Gakuen university. It's about a program for students from the U.S. and India who are interested in studying manga at Coamix, a Japanese manga and anime production company with an office in Kumamoto. Here's a ChatGPT translation from the report:
--- start translation ---
The agreement includes provisions for executives from Coamix to give lectures at the university and for students to provide Japanese language support to people who come to Japan from countries like the United States and India to train at Coamix's second headquarters in Kumamoto, aiming to become manga artists.
--- end translation ---
This was reported in a faculty meeting I attended but this news report answers a question I had in the meeting: who would provide the Japanese-language support? It seems, according to the report, that students, not faculty, will be doing that work. Gakuendai has a program to prepare students to become Japanese language teachers so I assume that those students will be the ones to provide the assistance.
About Coamix (Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coamix
Coamix English-language website:
https://www.coamix.co.jp/en
News article / video:
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/1231026?display=1&mwplay=1
マンガ講義を大学で！熊本学園大と出版社のコアミックスが協定　インターンシップや外国人材のサポートで交流 | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
熊本学園大学とマンガの出版社『コアミックス』が、人材育成に関する協定を結びました。この協定は、企業の経営やブランディングができる人材を育てようと締結しました。きょう（6月14日）の締結式には、熊本学園…

More "Kumamoto as semiconductor hub" news, this time as related to Yatsushiro. -- Kirk
ESR Group partners with Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu to transform Yatsushiro City into a premier logistics hub
ESR Group Limited (“ESR” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”; SEHK Stock Code: 1821), Asia-Pacific's leading New Economy real asset manager, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Kumamoto Prefectural Government, Yatsushiro City, and Mercury C...

Another article on a topic we've discussed before. -- Kirk
Are Japan's Transportation Cards at Risk of Going Extinct? - Unseen Japan
IC transportation cards are an easy way to get around Japan. But five companies in Kumamoto say they can no longer afford to accept them.

Kirk here. This is a translation (ChatGPT) of the Japanese article:
--- start translation ---
Kumamoto University announced that from October this year, they will accept several foreign children into their Elementary School attached to the Faculty of Education.
Kumamoto University also announced that next month they will conduct entrance exams to accept foreign children at the Elementary School attached to the Faculty of Education.
The university plans to accept a few first-grade students, holding an informational session on the 25th of this month and conducting an English-language exam on the 27th of next month.
Kumamoto University aims to establish international classes in the Elementary and Junior High Schools attached to the Faculty of Education from the 2026 academic year.
For the children accepted this time, classes will be conducted in Japanese, with newly hired foreign support staff providing assistance in English.
--- end translation ---
Sound strange to me. The classes are in Japanese, right? Does that mean that they have heretofore refused to teach "foreign" children, even in Japanese? If so, this is a step in the right direction but that would make their policy thus far rather anti-foreign, would it not? And what was all of the hype about classes in English?
Yours truly,
Confused in Kumamoto
熊大附属小に外国人児童受け入れ　国際クラス設置を前に試験的に (24/06/11 12:00)
熊本大学は教育学部附属小学校に今年１０月から数人の外国人の児童を受け入れると発表しました。熊本大学は、教育学部附属小学校で来月外国人の児童を受け入れるための入学試験を実施すると発表しました。受け入れる...

Surely a temporary setback, probably due to some sort of glitch in Instagram's algorithm. ;) -- Kirk
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/3367/

Kirk here. This video of Starlink satellites (Space X, Elon Musk) was recorded in California last year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8OxL4twwrU) but I'm prompted to post it today because a similar sight has been reported here in Kumamoto:
Good still shot:
https://kumanichi.com/articles/1129996
Video (but not quite as good):
https://news.ntv.co.jp/n/kkt/category/life/kk874e00e94d1c4cb6aeed45f7e0071a2b
If you are a night owl (or an EXTREMELY early riser) you can see the satellites on their next flyby which is as follows:
Timings with good visibility
3:43 am, 12 Jun 2024
Starlink-170 (G10-1) (new), BRIGHT (3.1) for 4 mins
Look from NORTHWEST to SOUTHEAST (details)
Elevation (from horizon): start: 10°, max: 58��, end: 11°
4:03 am, 12 Jun 2024
Starlink-171 (G8-8) (new), BRIGHT (1.6) for 4 mins
Look from NORTHWEST to SOUTHEAST (details)
Elevation (from horizon): start: 10°, max: 72��, end: 11°
https://findstarlink.com/#1853433;3

Kirk here. The photo you see is of a clean room at Kumadai.
"Kumamoto University -- located in Kumamoto prefecture, where TSMC is building its chip production complex -- established a semiconductor device curriculum in fiscal 2024. Students wearing protective suits receive hands-on training in a clean room built on the school's premises."
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Japan-universities-gear-up-to-train-new-generation-of-chip-talent

I'm not a big fan of the horses-for-meat industry but, nonetheless, I'm very sorry to hear about this incident. -- Kirk
Man Caring for Horses for Meat at Ranch Falls Unconscious after Being Kicked in Face by Horse in Kumamoto Pref.
A man taking care of horses for meat fell unconscious after being kicked in the face by a horse at a ranch in Kumamoto Prefecture on Wednesday, police said.

Kirk here. Kumamoto and Miyagi Prefectures will be the first in Japan to get special treatment that will allow them to bring in foreign workers more quickly. The headline refers to "semiconductor-related personnel" (半導体関連の人材), but I suspect that they are really talking about bringing in foreign construction workers (folks willing to take jobs Japanese people tend to avoid); TSMC has had plenty of time to screen and prepare to bring in highly-trained engineers.
--- ChatGPT translation of the article ---
Shortage of Semiconductor-related Personnel: Kumamoto Designated as National Strategic Special Zone (Kokka Senryaku Tokku) to Shorten Foreign Worker Residency Screening Period
June 6, 2024, 16:32
With the advance of TSMC, the severe shortage of personnel has become a critical issue. As a solution, Kumamoto Prefecture has been designated as a "National Strategic Special Zone (Kokka Senryaku Tokku)," allowing for the shortening of the residency status screening period for foreigners employed by semiconductor-related companies.
Prime Minister Kishida (June 4, National Strategic Special Zone Advisory Council)
In Kumamoto, the concentration of semiconductor-related companies has progressed with TSMC's advance, resulting in a severe shortage of personnel and a growing demand for foreign workers. However, according to the prefecture, currently, issuing a certificate of eligibility for residency status for foreigners requires not only the residency status screening but also the examination of the stability of the employer's management, which can take up to about three months.
To address these issues, the prefecture applied for the newly established special zone system by the Cabinet Office aimed at solving regional and social issues.
At the National Strategic Special Zone Advisory Council held on the 4th, Kumamoto Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture were designated as the first-ever "Industrial Base Formation Collaboration 'Kizuna' Special Zones" (Sangyō Kyoten Keisei Renkei 'Kizuna' Tokku) nationwide. As a result, the residency status screening period will be shortened to about one month.
Governor Takashi Kimura of Kumamoto Prefecture
Governor Kimura commented, "We believe that this will further accelerate the resolution of various issues accompanying the concentration of the semiconductor-related industry and contribute to the realization of the 'New Silicon Island Kyushu'."
半導体関連の人材不足『熊本が国家戦略特区に』外国人労働者の在留資格審査期間短縮へ｜KKT NEWS NNN
TSMCの進出に伴い人手不足が深刻となる中、半導体関連企業で採用する外国人の在留資格の審査期間を短縮することができる｢国家戦略特区｣に熊本県が指定されました。

Here's something about an educational innovation in Yamaga. -- Kirk
Nintendo Switch used to teach programming and promote logical thinking in Japanese elementary schools
A city in Kumamoto prefecture has launched a successful initiative to teach programming to 6th graders using Nintendo Switch consoles.