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A this point, it looks like the approaching typhoon is more likely to be a problem for Okinawa than for Kumamoto -- though we will probably feel its effects to some extent. If the prediction on the TropicalStormRisk website is correct, it may be a Category 4 when it hits Okinawa sometime around Thursday or so.
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com
Hurricane Katrina (2005) was a Category 3 or 4 when it actually hit New Orleans so that gives you an idea of what Okinawa might be facing.
By the way, the July issue of the Shisei-Dayori (City Info) has an article about the cancellation of garbage collection in the event of a typhoon:
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=7915&pg=1&sort=0&LC=e
The sources that they indicate that should be checked for confirmation, however, are all in Japanese. For example, Kumamoto City's emergency page:
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/kinkyu/pub/default.aspx?c_id=3
If you have trouble understanding information in Japanese , perhaps its a good idea to check with a friend or neighbor you can communicate with more easily. Or, when in doubt, save your garbage for the next collection day.

There are many things about Facebook that I don't like or am concerned about (no decent search function, tracking of personal information of users, etc.) but, as the manager of this page, I'm glad to be able to see how it is being used. This screen shot shows demographic information about who has been looking at posts over the past month. I downloaded the statistics and found that about half of the people looking at the posts are not in Japan. I thought that was interesting because the posts are primarily intended to be useful for people who are here now or planning to come some. The statistics also indicate that about 40% of the people who see the posts (post reach) are native speakers of Japanese but that only a little more than 20% of the people who have "liked" the page are Japanese. I hope more Japanese people will participate actively in the future.
ご愛読いただき、ありがとうございます。今後ともよろしくお願いします。

I posted about this preschool in Kumamoto the other day:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/857061781033922
This article has a few more pictures of what appears to be a an extremely well-designed facility.
-- Kirk
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/07/04/kumamoto-preschool-designed-to-become-a-giant-puddle-when-it-rains/
Kumamoto preschool designed to become a giant puddle when it rains
Kids will be kids. And being kids, one of the things they are inevitably going to do is play in rain puddles. No matter how they might be scolded later, the sheer joy of splish-splashing through some nice big puddles exerts an irresistible magnetic force on little feet. Rather than trying to reign i…

The opening ceremony of the Batten Hinokuni Summer Festival will be held at 4 PM on July 18th (Saturday) at the Bipuresu Square (across the street from Tsuruya Department Store).
One of the festival events is Honmyoji Temple's Tonshae, which will be held on July 23rd this year. For an English explanation of Tonshae, please see
http://kumanago.jp/en/events/detail/430000003663.html
A video that gives you an idea of what to expect can be found at
http://kumanago.jp/en/events/detail/430000003663.html
In addition, a Yukata festival will be held on August 1st and 2nd and then the main event, the Hinokuni Matsuri (festival) will be held on August 7th and 8th. For more information about the Hinokuni Matsuri see
http://kumanago.jp/en/events/detail/430000003540.html
This germ of this post is the following article from the July issue of Kumamoto City's Shisei Dayori:
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=7908&pg=2&sort=0&LC=e

According to this article in the July issue Kumamoto City's Shisei Dayori, the current National Health Insurance Card is only valid until July 31. If you are enrolled in the National Health Insurance program, you should get a new card in the mail in mid July.
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=7917&pg=1&sort=0&LC=e
Kumamoto International Foundation
The current National Health Insurance Card is only valid until July 31. The renewed card will be sent by registered mail in the middle of July. Those people who have received a notifcation requesting to renew their insurance card at the Government Office need to take procedures for making a new insu…

A storm is headed in our direction. On the news, I heard that it would probably be in the Okinawa area around Wednesday of next week. It's not very powerful now but is predicted to grow in intensity. I'll try to provide more information later.
-- Kirk
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

The Kumamoto Volters haven't been winning much. According to stats on the first URL shown below, their longest winning streak is two games in a row while their longest losing streak is an unlucky 13. Similarly, they have won only two games by more than 10 points while they have lost 30 by that margin. Perhaps this gentleman's arrival will help them do a little better in the future.
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/gameCent/p/leagueid/JPN/ot/1/season/2015/tid/6078010/teamView.html
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-sports/ci_28419743/nmsu-mens-basketball-nephawe-signs-pro-contract-play
NMSU MEN'S BASKETBALL: Nephawe signs pro contract to play in Japan
LAS CRUCES -- Former New Mexico State center Tshilidzi Nephawe has signed a professional contract to play for the Kumamoto Vorters in Kumamoto, Japan.

Kumamoto is looking for a native speaker of English to teach and work in elementary schools in the city, beginning at the end of August. The details are on the web page. If you see only Japanese at first, just click on the "English" link.
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&type=top&id=9378
English Teaching Position Available (英語指導助手募集)

I love this idea. If you would like to know where this preschool (yochien) is located, check out the following link:
http://sc.kumamoto-net.ne.jp/daiichi-Pre/one_html3/pub/default.aspx?c_id=38
-- KIrk
This Preschool Turns Into a Huge Puddle Playground When It Rains
Kids need to play—it’s simply how they learn. More and more, scientists who study early childhood development say that preschools and kindergartens are focusing on academics when they should be letting kids simply play. Not at this preschool in Japan.

This is a Japanese article about the heavy rains we had on Monday. It says that a 70 year old man was rescued (unhurt) from this car in Higashi-ku (East Ward) of Kumamoto City.
http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH713DC5H71TIPE00F.html
九州で強い雨、熊本は一時避難勧告　長崎で住宅浸水：朝日新聞デジタル
　九州では１日未明から局所的に強い雨となった。熊本県の５市町村で一時、避難勧告が出されたほか、長崎県では住宅が浸水する被害が出た。　熊本県菊池市で同日未明、１時間に５９・５ミリの雨を観測。菊池、合志、...

A reader of this page alerted me to this article in the Mainichi Shimbun. It's about the arrest of a member of Kumamoto's English-speaking community for the crime of graffiti. I hesitated to post about it because I don't want to compound the troubles of the arrested person. On the other hand, as it is public knowledge in the Japanese media and the object of ridicule from Japan's racist netizens (see second URL), I thought I should at least introduce the URLs so that the accused person's friends could be alerted to the situation.
There are many things I like about Japan, but I have deep concerns about the degree to which the rights of the accused are protected. I'm not sure if anything can be done, but if someone reading this recognizes the accused as a friend, you might consider requesting a visit.
-- Kirk
http://sp.mainichi.jp/area/kumamoto/news/20150630ddlk43040331000c.html
http://ai.2ch.sc/test/read.cgi/newsplus/1435659169/l50
落書き：寺の看板に　容疑で男を逮捕　熊本北署　／熊本 - 毎日新聞
　熊本北署は２９日、熊本市の寺の看板に落書きをしたなどとして、オーストラリア国籍の熊本市東区東京塚町...

First and second period classes at Kumamoto University have been canceled but not at Kumamoto Gakuen University. I haven't checked to find out how other universities are handling the heavy rain.

The first image is from a site that indicates which rivers are in danger of flooding. Currently, the Kikuchigawa is at the hanran keikai joho (flood warning information) level, the third highest. Tthe highest is confirmation of an actual flood and the second highest is the "danger" level, indicating that at flood is imminent. The water level in the Shirakawa, which runs through the heart of Kumamoto City, is also elevated. The photo is a screen shot of a live camera of the river. There does not seem to be much danger of flooding but the level is indeed higher than normal.
To see the site with the flood warnings go to
http://www.river.go.jp/nrpc0502gDisp.do?areaCode=89
To see the live camera go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0Mz9V2xZQ&feature=youtu.be

The heavy rain has caused "sediment disaster alerts" (warnings about landslides) to be issued and evacuations called for in various parts of Kumamoto, particularly, but not restricted to, the Aso area. The evacuations I am aware of are:
Minami Aso Mura: 4721 households
Mifune Machi: 7091 households (entire area)
Many parts of Aso Shi
Gyokuto Machi (near Tamana): 1986 households
The information about evacuations that I have comes from
http://www.anshin.pref.kumamoto.jp/osirase/index.cgi?type=1001
The two images have have shared in this post come from
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/doshamesh/349.html?areaCode=349
and
http://www.bousai.pref.kumamoto.jp/GmnDsp.exe?M100A0S0N1P0

There are warnings about heavy rains that are likely to be at their strongest early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. The image you see is from
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/warn/349_table.html
To see animated radar images of the Kumamoto area, go to
http://kumamoto.wni.co.jp/radar/rnkg/info_frame.html
If there are calls for evacuations, they should be listed at
http://www.anshin.pref.kumamoto.jp/osirase/index.cgi?type=1001
Unfortunately, however, this information is only presented in Japanese (and in a less than ideal format even in Japanese) so you have to make quite an effort to figure out what is happening.
If you live near a river that might flood or a steep slope where a landslide might occur, it's a good idea to make sure you have people to provide you with any help you might need.

This announcement from the June issue of Kumamoto City's Shisei Dayori is about health insurance for people between the ages of 65 and 74. If you are enrolled in the system, you should receive information in the mail about your insurance premium in the middle of July.
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=7849&pg=1&sort=0&LC=e
Kumamoto International Foundation
○About an insurance premiumThe insurance premium of the later-stage elderly healthcare system in Heisei 27 will be mailed in the middle of July.※Relief measures to the low-income earner ( the head of household and the insured ) were expanded.○About an insurance certificate ( an individual certificat…

I'm sharing this in that hope that doing so will allow more people to see it.

This information is from the June issue of Kumamoto City's Shisei Dayori and is about screenings at various locations for lung cancer and tuberculosis. (The English doesn't mention that they can also screen for stomach cancer but the Japanese does.) Unfortunately, however, most of the screening dates have already passed. I'll check with my friends at the International Foundation to see if there's any way to make this kind of information available at an earlier date.
-- Kirk
http://www.kumamoto-if.or.jp/topics/topics_detail.asp?PageID=5&ID=7861&pg=1&sort=0&LC=e
Kumamoto International Foundation

I should have posted about this sooner. Sorry -- but perhaps it's still in time to be of use to someone.
http://kurokawa-onsen.com/summer-event-firefly-viewing-tour-for-guests-staying-at-ryokan-in-kurokawa/
Summer Event: Firefly- viewing tour (for guests staying at Ryokan in Kurokawa)
If you are staying at a ryokan in Kurokawa between now and the end of July,it`s the perfect chance to join an evening firefly- viewing tour. Just make a reserva

This is old news now but, for some reason, it reappeared in my RSS reader. As I understand it, the documentary is now in production -- the Kickstarter campaign was concluded last year.
--- start quote ---
Charlie Nagatani, one of the film’s main characters, is the founder of the Country Gold International Country Music Festival in Kumamoto, Japan. He has performed country music for over 60 years and has taken on the mantle of Japan’s ambassador of country music. His lifelong passion has taken him to the Clinton White House, made him an honorary Colonel in Kentucky, and found him playing the country music mainstay The Grand Ole Opry over 20 years in a row. “Country Music is most of my body inside. Without this I can’t live on,” Nagatani said.
--- end quote ---
Posted by Kirk
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/09/prweb12151708.htm
Documentary Film Far Western Enters Final Week of Kickstarter Campaign
Tulsa, OK (PRWEB) September 08, 2014 -- Far Western, a music-fueled, character-driven documentary film about Japan’s history and obsession with American country music, heads into its final week of a Kickstarter campaign.