Posts

"Lance Cpl. Jonas G. Dewald, right, instructs a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force member during sniper stalk lane training Dec. 2, 2014, in the Oyanohara Training Area in Yamato, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan."
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan-s-ruling-coalition-reaches-deal-on-expanding-operations-of-self-defense-forces-1.335472
Japan's ruling coalition reaches deal on expanding operations of Self-Defense Forces
The deal would cover five key areas, including how to respond to so-called gray zone incidents, which cannot easily or immediately be deemed an armed attack, and support activities for military forces of other nations conducting operations that contribute to the peace and security of Japan.

Aside from the Kumamon connection, I think the potential for 3-D printing to facilitate creativity among ceramic artists is interesting.
"CEO Takayuki Higashigawa, 63, has used the printer to create figures of Kumamon, the mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture, among others. The 3-D design was based on multiple images and scans of the character."
Posted by Kirk
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/20/national/pottery-makers-may-embrace-3-d-printing-hone-designs/#.VQvrjxCUdSs
Pottery-makers may embrace 3-D printing to hone their designs | The Japan Times
In a field renowned for its handcrafted artistry, 3-D printers are gaining a foothold in the pottery industry. Artists can now create original models using

"The birds are found mostly in East Asia and the local rise in wintering spoonbills is in line with a 23 per cent overall increase in numbers across the region spanning Deep Bay to Taiwan, Korea and Japan's Kumamoto prefecture."
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1741280/return-black-faced-spoonbill-hong-kong
Return of the black-faced spoonbill to Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a favourite wintering spot for the endangered birds who suffered a drop in numbers last year; this year is a different story

According to this article, Japan's Self-Defense Forces are operating surveillance drones in the Aso area.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201503160028
SDF failed to disclose crash of unmanned drone in Oita in November - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
An unmanned Ground Self-Defense Force surveillance aircraft crashed on a training range in Oita Prefecture late last year in an accident that was never disclosed publicly, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

The article "Kumamoto: It's waiting for you" is a general introduction to the sister state relationship between Kumamoto and Montana. It does not mention Minamata but I'd like to add that the article's author, Ian Marquand, has produced a very interesting documentary outlining the similarities between the Minamata mercury-poisoning disaster and asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana. See, for example, the following pdf:
http://www.umt.edu/mansfield/internationalprograms/files/minamata-libby-brochure.pdf
--- start quote ---
Documentary film entitled “From Environmental Tragedy to Hope: the Libby and Minamata Stories,” created and produced by Ian Marquand, Special Projects Coordinator for Montana.
--- end quote ---
http://helenair.com/news/opinion/kumamoto-it-s-waiting-for-you/article_75027315-deed-58dc-8eef-bb3410f89956.html
Kumamoto: It's waiting for you
March. The calendar page turns and my thoughts turn to the arrival of daylight savings time, the coming of spring and, as the president of the Japan Friendship Club of

Kami-Kumamoto Station has undergone some major renovations. I haven't seen anything in English but here's a news article in Japanese:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/kumamoto/news/20150314-OYTNT50286.html

This story put out by the Asahi Shimbun focuses on the plight of a technical trainee who came to Kumamoto:
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Shinichiro Nakashima, who heads Kumustaka (Association for Living Together with Migrants) in Kumamoto city, said, "She should have been given protection as a victim of human trafficking."
--- end quote ---
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201503140062
Hordes of foreign technical trainees go into hiding to escape debt, other problems - AJW by The...
Like many young Chinese women, the 24-year-old from northeastern China viewed Japan as a land of promise. After paying a broker, she got accepted as a foreign technical trainee and arrived in Kumamoto Prefecture in August 2012 to work on a chicken farm.

I hope yesterday's celebrations went well. The weather was certainly good. Ambassador Barrington is hoping such celebrations will lead more Japanese to visit Ireland:
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St. Patrick’s Day will probably be one big solution to her question.
. . .
Last year, about 1,500 people took part in the parade in Tokyo, according to the parade organizer Irish Network Japan. This year, a record 13 parades are scheduled to be held in various locations including Chiba and Kumamoto.
--- end quote ---
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002001990
Ambassador Barrington: Japanese invited to get to know Emerald Isle
Wishing “every day” that there was a direct flight between Tokyo and Dublin, Irish Ambassador Anne Barrington said one of her biggest objectives during her tenure is to attract more Japanese to visit Ireland.

Here's the address of a pdf of an English pamphlet about the Amakusa area. The file is rather large (9 MB) so it might take a while to download, but if you're interested in the Amakusa area, I think it may be worth the effort.
http://www.kumamoto-links.com/files/Link_68_file_en.pdf

Here's a little something for those of you with experience teaching in a Japanese high school, whether in Kumamoto or elsewhere. It may also be of interest if your children have taken English classes in a Japanese school. I've uploaded it to Facebook but the file is one I found on YouTube and then edited a little to correct a sync problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugDIYqWmbX8
Posted by Kirk

Here's a post from the Kumamoto-i mailing list about items for sale or to be given away. I'm not always able to forward information like this here in a timely manner so if you're interested in this kind of information, I recommend that you follow the Kumamoto-i mailing list directly:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/13168

A marathon will be held in Ashikita on the 22nd. Sorry for the last-minute notice. I just learned about it myself. Unfortunately, it's too late to apply to run in the race.
http://www.ashikitautase-marathon.jp
2015年3月22日(日) 不知火海の潮風と一緒に春を先どり！「2015芦北うたせマラソン大会」の公式サイトです。当サイトではコースマップ、エントリー情報などご覧いただけます。

"Kumamon-related items will be sold at 330 Circle K outlets in Hong Kong, the second largest convenience store chain in the city, behind the 7-Eleven chain."
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201503040075
Kumamon goods to grace shelves of Circle K Hong Kong convenience stores - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
KUMAMOTO--Kumamoto Prefecture's popular bear-like mascot, Kumamon, will ply its charms at a major convenience store chain in Hong Kong from March 7 as part of an effort to promote the prefecture’s industry and tourism.

It's "White Day" tomorrow (March 14 -- a month from Valentine's Day).
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/24/what-do-japanese-women-want-for-white-day-and-how-much-do-they-hope-a-guy-spends/
What do Japanese women want for White Day and how much do they hope a guy spends?
With the exception of the girls at a few high schools with especially generous male student bodies, women don’t usually receive presents for Valentine’s Day in Japan. Instead, it’s the guys who get gifts, returning the favor one month later on March 14, White Day. But while guys’ Valentine’s Day asp…

Check this page out to find free WiFi spots in Kumamoto.
http://kumanago.jp/en/benris/wifi/t
Wi-Fi Spots Kumamoto Nagomi Tourism Site
Why not take it easy in the breathtaking nature of Kumamoto, the “Land of Fire”? Nagomi Travel Journal, the sightseeing website of Kumamoto Prefecture, features a wealth of information on Kumamoto, including diverse sightseeing areas, delicious local specialty products, traditional handicrafts, even…

Calling all Irish!
9th Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade Kumamoto 2015
Date/Time Saturday, 14th March 2015 14:30-
http://parade.kumamoto-ireland.org
第9回 熊本2015 セント・パトリックス・デイ・パレード 9th Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade Kumamoto 2015
西日本で初めて開催した熊本でのセント・パトリックス・デイ・パレード

Here's an update on something I posted earlier:
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Japanese Customs officials may have been especially suspicious because the 180 pills were not in their original prescription bottle. Inspectors found the unmarked container in a box of household supplies that Carrie Russell sent to herself in Nagoya in preparation for starting an English-teaching job there.
Jill Russell said she had repackaged the Adderall to protect against theft and to guard her daughter's privacy in Japan, where mental health conditions can be stigmatized.
--- end quote ---
To say the least, this "protection of privacy" strategy backfired.
Again, this is not an issue unique to Kumamoto but of general interest to people who travel internationally.
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/03/oregon_woman_released_in_japan.html
Oregon woman released in Japan after being jailed for prescribed Adderall
A Japanese prosecutor freed Carrie Russell, 26, who had mailed herself a bottle of Adderall, which is illegal in Japan as an amphetamine.

The Japan Times article has the basic information but I'll add a quote from an e-mail announcement put out by the Kumamoto City International Foundation (Kumamoto City International Center):
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■“Hifuri-shinji” (shrine ritual) at Aso Shrine
“Hifuri-shinji” is a traditional ceremony which celebrates the marriage of deities.
People twirl flaming torches to celebrate. You can see beautiful loops of light.
Day and Time: Sat.,21st. Mar.
18:00~20:00
Place: Aso Shrine
Cost: free
Access: JR Kumamoto Station (boarding) → JR Miyaji Station (kick off)
*about 15 minutes on foot from the station, or please take Sanko Bus and get off “Aso Jinjya-mae”
For more information: Aso Shrine (TEL: 0967-22-0064) *Japanese language only
---- end quote ----
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/events/2015/03/02/things-to-do/traditional-festivals-things-to-do/hifuri-shinji-aso-shrine/
Hifuri-shinji at Aso Shrine - The Japan Times
Extensive listings — film, music, art, restaurants, things to do — for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and other major cities in Japan.

It was recently announced that the Fukuoka's Kawaii-ku ("Cute Ward") project would come to a close:
http://fukuoka-now.com/news/fukuokas-kawaii-ku-cute-ward-to-be-discontinued/
I've followed this project from its inception so, when I first learned of its demise, I thought I would write an obituary of the project that built on what I had documented thus far. However, when I went back to check the record I found that part of it had been expunged. Here's the URL of the post from which commentary has been purged:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/10153927418840655
My original post remains in tact but Cute Ward Mayor Micaela Braithwaite's comments and my responses to those comments are gone. Fortunately for me (but, perhaps, unfortunately for Mayor Micaela) I saved the text and screen shots of our interaction. I'm sharing those screenshots in this post to reconstitute the public record of what transpired. I'm also adding a screen shot of a private (until now, at least) message I sent to Mayor Micaela, hoping to come to an amicable resolution. The mayor never responded to any of my comments or to my message. Perhaps she never noticed the private message I sent. Since she and I are not "friends" on Facebook, my message would have been put in a box that she might not look at. But it seems pretty clear that she revisited her own comments to my post at some point, because I think that she is the only person (besides me and another editor of this page) who would have been able to remove them.
At the time the mayor first wrote her comments, I felt that they reflected badly on her. She seemed to be rushing to go on the offensive without taking the time to reread what I had written and check to make sure that her criticisms were really warranted. Perhaps Mayor Micaela came to her senses later and recognized that her petulant comments did more harm to her own position than mine. Perhaps that's why she deleted her comments (and mine along with them). If she had approached me earlier as one human being to another (as I attempted to do with her), I would have let her off the hook and agreed to striking them from the record. At this point, though, I think I'll opt for an accurate record of what transpired.
I'll save my obituary of the Kawaii-ku project (that is, my discussion of the history of the project, including my interpretation of the switch from Mariko Shinoda to Micaela Braithwaite) for another post or two. I hope those of you who are interested in this issue will check it (or them) out.

First of all, the image just indicates that this post has to do with natural disasters; as far as I know, there isn't anything to worry about at the moment.
Here's a quote from the article that relates directly to Kumamoto:
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With this said, six prefectures, specifically Yamagata, Gunma, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto, and Okinawa, appear not to have any foreign-language materials at the prefectural level. This lack of foreign-language materials is not directly related to the lack of foreign residents in the prefectures. Of these seven prefectures, ranking-wise, as a reflection of percentage of foreign residents versus Japanese citizens as of 2010 data, Toyama is the highest at 20th (at 1.006 percent) and Kumamoto is the lowest at 0.419 percent.
--- end quote ---
This Facebook page is usually pretty quiet -- in most cases, just a few hundred pairs of eyeballs for each post. However, when a typhoon approaches or Aso is erupting, this page suddenly gets a lot more traffic. I think that's due in part to the lack of public sources in English that the article refers to.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/03/05/commentary/japan-commentary/disaster-information-vital-for-foreign-residents/
Disaster information vital for foreign residents | The Japan Times
The 20th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in January and the fourth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11 should prompt community leaders to ascertain their level of preparedness for future catastrophes including the need to get information out to in…