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The Aso Caldera Symposium 2014 will be held in Aso on November 6 (a Thursday). Chris Woodley-Stewart from Great Britain's National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be the keynote speaker.
This image is taken from a pdf at the following address. For details, including an application form, please refer to the pdf.
http://www.aso-geopark.jp/news/data/282.pdf

I need to make up some stamps (the ones that you press on a stamp pad, about the size of silver dollar) anyone know where that is possible?

Aiding more Minamata victims
The central government has restarted work to officially recognize sufferers of Minamata disease — this time under a new guideline that the Environment Agency in March adopted ostensibly with the ...

"A Ressha de Iko (Take the A train), operated by Kyushu Railway Co., runs in Kumamoto Prefecture. Passengers are served highballs using locally grown dekopon citrus fruit to the sounds of jazz music."
http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Riding+dining+style+Japan+gourmet+sighteeing+trains/10185024/story.html?__federated=1
Riding and dining in style on Japan's 'gourmet sighteeing trains'
"Gourmet sightseeing trains" that run on local lines across Japan are a hot trend, allowing passengers to go sightseeing while dining on authentic dishes using locally produced ingredients.

" . . . furikake was invented in the early Taisho era (1912-1926). A pharmacist in Kumamoto Prefecture is said to have come up with the idea of making a powder from small bony fish, adding flavor and then eating it with rice to boost Japanese people’s intake of calcium."
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001633280
Kumamoto to host natl furikake event - The Japan News
KUMAMOTO — The first national furikake grand prix will be held in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, this month to highlight the fact that Kumamoto is the birthplace of this seasoning usually sprinkled on rice.

Here's a job announcement I received from Dr. Qiang Chen at Kumamoto University:
As you may know, Kumamoto University was selected as one of 37 "super global universities" by Japan’s Ministry of Education last September. Here are some web sites that provide information about this selection in Japanese:
スーパーグローバル大学等事業　
http://www.jsps.go.jp/j-sgu/
審査結果
http://www.jsps.go.jp/j-sgu/kekka.html
熊本大学構想調書　　　　　　　
http://www.jsps.go.jp/j-sgu/data/shinsa/h26/sgu_chousho_b10.pdf
The project will run 10 years beginning this year (2014). We are going to recruit several native English speakers either part time or full time.
The initial openings include 2-3 full-time faculty positions that must be filled by the end of fiscal year 2014. A detailed recruiting plan is being prepared but we would like to know immediately if there are any candidates who are living in Kumamoto or will be able to settle down in Kumamoto or commute to and from Kumamoto University.
Candidates in all areas related to liberal arts, science and engineering will be considered. Interested individuals are encouraged to send an email to Dr. Qiang Chen with a brief CV indicating his/her education, teaching interests and experience. The e-mail address is [email protected].
■審査・評価に関する問合せ先 独立行政法人 日本学術振興会 人材育成事業部　大学連携課 スーパーグローバル大学創成支援プログラム委員会事務局 〒102-0083 東京都千代田区麹町5-3-1 麹町ビジネスセンター6階[email protected]■事業内容全般に関する問合せ先 文部科学省 高等教育局高等教育企画課 国際企画室 調整係 〒100-8959 東京都千代田区霞が関3-2-2TEL03-5253-4111（内線3352）[email protected]

The app sounds interesting but, unfortunately, I suspect it is only available in Japanese.
=== end quote ===
Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto city and NTT West Corp. began trial distribution in August last year of a free smartphone app called Kuma Roke that provides information about the area.
Kumamon, the prefecture’s “yurukyara” mascot, serves as the users’ guide in the app, providing information on six areas in the prefecture, including the cities of Kumamoto and Aso. “Kuma” means bear and “Roke” means location.
=== end quote ===
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001620147
Govts, businesses join hands to boost regional economies - The Japan News
A growing number of local authorities and private-sector businesses are forming comprehensive partnership agreements in a bid to revitalize their regions. The two sides are strengthening their cooperation in such areas as services for residents and promotion of tourism, with local governments hoping…

This is a screenshot from the Japan Meteorological Agency's website. It shows "storm warnings" for all of Kumamoto. The Japanese side of the site presents these as 暴風警報 (bofu keiho; strong wind warnings). Kumamoto University cancels classes when such warnings are issued for Kumamoto City. However, if warnings are rescinded, Kumadai may hold classes later in the day. The details are explained in the following pdf:
http://www.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/daigakuseikatsu/kyoumu/kisyoyoho/kisyoyoho.pdf
Unfortunately, Kumadai doesn't provide any information on any of its home pages (regardless of the language) about today's classes.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/warn/349_table.html
http://www.jma.go.jp/jp/warn/349_table.html

This shows when the storm is expected to arrive. The "13" is the date (the 13th of October) and the next number is the hour. So, the center of the storm is estimated to be closest to Kumamoto at about noon tomorrow. It's moving quite slowly. That means that the winds have had time to weaken somewhat. On the other hand, slow moving storms tend to dump more water on an area, increasing the possibility of landslides and floods.
http://www.jma.go.jp/jp/typh/141924.html
気象庁 | 台風情報

I just posted about the recommendation to evacuate the Hitoyoshi area. In my post, I wrote that the Hitoyoshi area has a history of flooding. This picture is a screenshot from a pdf document put out by the prefecture:
http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/sec_img/0141/200815172946025.pdf
Even though the pdf is in Japanese, it's mostly pictures and relatively easy to make sense of, particularly if you know how to turn Showa (昭和) dates into Western dates by adding 1925 and to turn Heisei (平成; the current period in Japan) dates into Western dates by adding 1998.
At any rate, if you look at the pictures, you'll see that the area has a history of flooding that continues into recent times and that warnings probably should be heeded.

The typhoon has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Still, it may dump a lot of water on our area so it would be wise to stay away from (or consider that possibility of needing evacuate) areas that are prone to flooding or landslides.
Speaking of evacuating, 15,737 households in the Hitoyoshi area (34,450 people) have been advised to evacuate:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20141012/k10015340691000.html
This includes all of the Hitoyoshi City area, a city that floods relatively easily.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/11/world/asia/typhoon-vongfong/index.html
Vongfong pelts Okinawa with rain, waves
Typhoon Vongfong weakened Saturday but still tossed intense rain and waves at the Japanese island of Okinawa, including the major U.S. military base there.

I've used the "school closed" image to indicate that Kumamoto Gakuen University has cancelled classes scheduled for Monday (which is a holiday but, because the government requires universities to make sure that classes scheduled for each day of the week meet at least 15 times per semester, classes had been scheduled for tomorrow).
http://www.kumagaku.ac.jp/news/archives/746
Kumamoto University also has classes scheduled for tomorrow but their web site still does not indicate whether or not classes will actually be held. Kumadai seems to have different cancellation criteria so it's possible that they will hold classes even if other universities in town do not.
Kumamoto City has cancelled various events scheduled for today and tomorrow:
http://www.city.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&type=top&id=5789

According to the "Tropical Storm Risk" website, there is a high probability that Kumamoto will experiences tropical storm winds (39-73 mph, 63-118 kph, 17.5-32.7 meters per second) in the next 48 hours.
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/

I recently learned about "Kumamoto ShakeOut" earthquake drill. It is part of a national campaign, which seems to be based on a program from the United States that has gone international (http://www.shakeout.org). It sounds like a good idea but a had a hard time explaining what "shakeout" means we I got a couple of questions from colleagues at my university. The relevance of the word "shake" is easy enough to explain but the relevance of the term "shakeout" is pretty hard. Here's one dictionary definition:
"a period or process in which the relatively weak or unessential are eliminated"
I think the idea is that the "shakeout" will "separate the men from the boys," that is, show who's prepared for an earthquake and who's not. Or, to put it differently, the use of the term "shakeout" implies that if you don't participate you may be left behind in some sense. This is clever in English but I think there must be a lot of Japanese people who are puzzled by the meaning and relevance of "shakeout" in this case.
One characteristic of communication in Japan might be described as a heavy burden on the receiving end. It often seems to me that senders of messages here feel little obligation to make things clear and that people assume that the receiver of the message should figure things out. The use of "shakeout" in this case strikes me as one such example. The website explains that "ShakeOut" is an "invented" term (which is not exactly true) that means "simultaneous disaster prevention drill" but anyone who looks the term up in an English dictionary is bound to be confused by the disparity between that explanation and the definitions dictionaries offer:
シェイクアウト訓練とは、世界中で行われている新たな訓練で、「ShakeOut」は、造語で「いっせい防災訓練」と訳されています。
Instead of just converting English into katakana, I think it would be better to come up with a clever Japanese phrase that is meaningful to Japanese speakers.
http://sonobakunren.com

It will be significantly weaker when it arrives in our area, but this typhoon is currently Cat 5, a super typhoon (winds of more than 156 miles per hour, or 251 kilometers per hour, or about 70 meters per second).
http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com

Facebook is not allowing me to post a little screenshot about the upcoming typhoon. I wonder if it will let me post a screenshot of how it blocked me.

Sorry for the last-minute notice but this lunar eclipse will be visible here in Kumamoto at about 7:20 PM Wednesday, about one hour from now. The eclipse should last about an hour and should be interesting to look at before and after -- so stop reading this and get out there and see what you can see!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/06/lunar-eclipse-blood-moon-wednesday/16810903/
Wednesday's lunar eclipse will create a 'blood' moon
The second — and final — total lunar eclipse of 2014 will occur early Wednesday morning, just before sunrise in the Eastern Time Zone and in the middle of the night on the West Coast.

Successfully funded on Kickstarted. I think this means that the movie will be made.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1647613452/far-western
See also
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/09/prweb12151708.htm
Far Western

Whereas Kumamon is a "yuru kyara" ("laid back character") I saw one Japanese article that called this sign a "yuru kanban" ("laid back sign"). It mimics a phrase made popular by a couple of comedians to get its "No drunk driving" message across.
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/09/28/japanese-buzzwords-and-regional-dialects-keep-kumamoto-drivers-safe-【photos】/
Japanese buzzwords and regional dialects keep Kumamoto drivers safe 【Photos】
Japan loves its popular trends. They will grab a hold of something that is gathering steam and spread it all over the country. This is especially true in TV. Millions of viewers tune into variety programs to see the current comedy darlings and their catch phrase over and over again. Generally these…

Here's some information about a performance by Drum Tao, a well-know wadaiko (Japanese drumming) group.
When: Oct 10, 6:30 to 7:30 PM (preceded by other performances starting at 5:00 PM)
Where: Ninomaru Hiroba (on the castle grounds)
I don't see anything about having to pay so I assume it's free.
===start quote===
１０月１０日（金）
熊本市・福井市姉妹都市締結20周年記念イベントオープニングステージ
第１部　17：00～18：00　伝統芸能など
第２部　18：30～19：30（予定）「十七人のサムライ　野外特別ライブ」
「十七人のサムライ　野外特別ライブ」
【時間】18：30～19：30（予定）
【場所】二の丸広場特設ステージ
【出演】ＤＲＵＭ　ＴＡＯ
世界２０ヶ国、４００都市、観客動員数６００万人を超える驚異のドラム・アート・パフォーマンス「TAO」
和太鼓だけでなく、三味線、琴、笛など日本の伝統的な楽器を用いながら、
パフォーマンス、舞台美術など、今までの和太鼓の概念を覆すステージを繰り広げる。
昨年は、世界的ファッションデザイナー「コシノジュンコ氏」とのタッグで話題を呼び、
モードとエンターテイメントの融合という新たな舞台を繰り広げた。
昨年、結成２０周年を迎え、日本を代表する最新かつ最上の舞台芸術として新たな境地を開拓する。
今回は、その若手メンバーを中心に結成された特別編成のメンバーで出演。
===end quote===
http://www.manyou-kumamoto.jp/contents.cfm?id=702
http://www.drum-tao.com/main/?lang=en
世界600万人を動員！世界が認めた和太鼓を使ったエンターテイメントショー