Kirk here. I've been in Kumamoto for a while now but until reading this article, I didn't realize that poinsettias were a local product.
Posts
Kirk here. Good news! The restoration of Aso Shrine has been completed!
Kirk here with some recent news and some background.
Kirk here with an update regarding a national issue (not limited to Kumamoto) that we've discussed here in the recent years: getting stopped and questioned by police merely because one happens to look foreign. I'm glad to say that the issue of treating people as potential criminals merely because of how they look (that is, racial profiling) has gotten increased attention in recent years. I say "I'm glad" because I'm hoping that such attention will help to keep such abuses of power in check, at least to some extent. The image is of a book published this year but a lawyer who is particularly concerned about the rights of foreigners. I've just started reading it but it seems quite good. I'll put links in comments to this post.
Christmas Bazaar Fundraiser - Team Tonakai
William Dual nationality is a thing. If you're a foreign national in Japan, it's not such a big deal, but if you have children here, it is. I taught my kids to show their Japanese passport when exciting and their US passport when entering. They still do this.
Kirk here with something from the Fiji Times. Personally, I'm not a big fan of how they plaster "@ The Fiji Times" on all of their pictures, but, setting that aside, some readers of this page my find their account of Kumamoto's recovery from the earthquake and One Piece author Eiichiro Oda's role in that effort to be of interest.
Kirk here. I'm not sure if this is related to the murder I wrote about last night, but, regardless, this proposed "Public Contract Ordinance" strikes me as a good idea. (I'll link to the source in a comment.)
Kirk here. I learned recently that there was a murder earlier this year in which, according to reports, both the victim and the suspect are foreigners. I'll refrain from going into details but I can say that reports indicate that "equal work, unequal pay" may have triggered the incident.
Hidden Christians Documents Exhibition
William I first came to Japan by ship (!!) - from Taiwan via Okinawa to Osaka. Without a word of Japanese and no knowledge of the culture, I spent a lonely week in Naha. Yet shop after shop offered what I termed "banana fish" - see, they were shaped like bananas but smelled like fish.
バザー fundraiser
Kirk here with news about an Indian restaurant I've posted about in the past. On RKK last night, I learned that the restaurant is located in the the area near the new TSMC facilities that has increased in price the most in the last year. In fact, the rate of increase the highest of any place in Japan. This has led to additional publicity for the restaurant. I'll put some related links in comments to this post.
William A bit of private stuff but maybe of general interest
William I used to run along Shirakawa, passing a group of homeless living under a bridge. They seemed to be doing quite well - they had pallets for flooring and even furniture that they'd scavenged. They always offered me sake, which I declined.
Kirk here with something about what is called "kanten" in Japanese (寒天) and "agar" in English. Here's a quote from the article, which explains why it came up in a Google alert about new articles about "Kumamoto":
Flights between Kumamoto and Hong Kong have resumed after a
Kirk here with a post about a little place I found in Ezuko. The entrance is about halfway between the Shimo Ezuko parking lot and the part of the zoo where the giraffes and the elephants are. The sign says that there's a free gallery in the back. I'll add some notes to each picture.
Here's an article about the Kumamoto Earthquake Disaster Museum KIOKU in Minamiaso Village. -- Kirk
