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I like this song and all of the dancers in Kumamoto!
http://youtu.be/JYWRIfU5zgM
HAPPY "MOKKOSU KUMAMOTO" Ver.
【HAPPY旋風、熊本初上陸！】 ※※※早く見せんね！の声にお応えして、予定よりちょっと早くリリース！！※※※ ＝＝＝＝＝ ファレル・ウィリアムス『HAPPY』 熊本の街なかを中心に、地元らしい映像満載！ マチの顔の方たちをはじめ、著名人、アナウンサーさん、テレビ局さん、キッズダンサー、車掌さん、武将隊、シティプ...

7-Elevens look to capitalize on Taiwanese women's love for Kumamoto mascot - AJW by The Asahi...
KUMAMOTO--As a goodwill ambassador, the prefecture’s popular bear-like mascot Kumamon is quite the charmer, even winning the hearts of Taiwanese women.

Kumamoto City "relies solely on groundwater, which comes from water deposits in aquifers consisting of volcanic rocks formed from Mount Aso’s eruption between 90,000 to 260,000 years ago."
http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/life-health/57549-clean-water-technology-japan-philippines
Fresh, clean water? Japan has technology that PH can use
If the Philippines has dense forests and properly maintained rice paddies, then it has the keys for groundwater recharge

You can rent a Beer Gar Den(sha) between July 1st and September 30th this year.
交通局からのお知らせ(一覧)　/　熊本市交通局ホームページ
　７月１日（火）から９月３０日（火）まで、熊本の夏の風物詩「貸切ビアガー電」を今年も運行いたします。ひと時の車窓からの風景をぜひお楽しみください。

Gakuendai will hold its annual Japanese-language speech contest for foreign students this Saturday.

Mayor Koyama will not run for re-election. He says he will continue his career as a politician but is being vague about his future plans.
http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/national/article/92230
熊本市の幸山政史市長は２日午後、市役所で記者会見を開き、１２月の任期満了に伴う市長選について「立候補しない決断をし...

I also have a page called "Kumamoto Links":
http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/links.html
KUMAMOTO LINKS
Comprehensive website with information including links and pamphlets on tourism, business, schools/studies within Kumamoto Prefecture for the rest of the Asia region.

The Kumamon craze continues . . .
(Thanks to Reno for notification.)
http://akihabaranews.com/2014/05/26/article-en/japan-airlines-air-kumamon-flight-meal-full-kumamoto-goodies-1475151130
Japan Airlines - Air Kumamon - In-flight meal full of Kumamoto goodies

Here's another article about Kumamon going international:
http://akihabaranews.com/2014/05/26/article-en/kumamons-burden-going-international-and-we-know-secret-1195785850
Kumamon's Burden: Going International (AND WE KNOW THE SECRET)

"After years of acting as a popular icon nationwide in Japan, the Kumamoto Prefecture's bear mascot Kumamon is finally making his international debut! Earlier this week, Kumamon's PR department announced that starting in June of 2014 they would be lifting the bad on international sales of Kumamon goods. "
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-05-24/kumamon-mascot-character-is-coming-to-america/.74775
Kumamon Mascot Character Is Coming To America
Japan's #1 prefectural mascot takes on the world!

"Japanese immigrants came to Hawaii from Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Okinawa and Yamaguchi prefectures after 1868. Hawaiian King David Kalakaua traveled to Japan in 1881 to visit the Meiji emperor and invited Japan to send settlers to work on Hawaii’s agricultural plantations. In 1885, Jiro Nakamura was the first Japanese consul in Hawaii, the first diplomatic representative from any nation other than the U.S., to be posted in the Kingdom of Hawaii."
http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-features/about-town-5-24-14
King Kalakaua was not merely interested in the labor of Japanese immigrants. Another motivation with offsetting American influence and avoiding a U.S. takeover:
"He sought a closer relationship with Japan, in part, to offset the growing influence of the U.S., when he proposed a marriage alliance between his niece, Princess Ka`iulani, and the Emperor’s nephew, Komatsu."
http://www.hawaii.edu/news/docs/japanese-in-hawaii.pdf
About Town | 5-24-14
Fairchild awarded FOLK scholarship

"The study covered some 850 swamp sites of about 110,000 hectares, including the Kushiro wetlands on Hokkaido and the Oze marshland, which stretches over Fukushima, Gunma and Niigata prefectures on Honshu.
It also covered around 1,300 sites classified as mud flats, totaling 50,000 hectares and including the Fujimae tidal flat in Aichi Prefecture on Honshu and the Ariake Sea, bordered by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures on Kyushu."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/23/national/japan-neglecting-wetlands-ministry/#.U4BcARZbmc8
Japan neglecting wetlands: ministry | The Japan Times
Japan's wetlands and mudlands produce an economic value of ¥1.4 trillion to ¥1.6 trillion a year in terms of water purification and food supply,

". . . looking for a qualified English teacher. Must be a native English speaker. The job is at an eikaiwa near Hikari no Mori Youme Town in Kusunoki."
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/12876

The Tour of Lotus Root with Mustard - with Mokkosu Fire

We had a discussion about this on the Kumamoto-i mailing list after this article came out:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/search/messages?query=microaggression
Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday 'microaggressions' that grind us down | The Japan Times
Have you ever noticed how many interpersonal interactions in Japan are like "speed dates" of set questions? For example, the taxi drivers who have the odd

"Cuteness overload" has been a topic of discussion on this page. Here's a fairly long CNN article on the topic.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/12/world/asia/osaka-mascot-cull/
Japanese cuteness overload could result in mascot cull
In the face of an army of cartoon characters, some Japanese officials are concerned the public is facing a cuteness overload.

Not a Kumamoto native, but she did it here!
http://news.asiaone.com/news/sports/15-year-old-katsu-rewrites-golf-history
15-year-old Katsu rewrites golf history
KIKUYO, Kumamoto - She noshed on rice balls and chatted casually with her caddie during breaks in the action. When she needed some motivation, she would sing "Rokko Oroshi," the fight song for the Hanshin Tigers, to herself.These were hardly the type of actions that would indicate a player was on he…

I know, I know. "Not another Kumamon photo!" But wait! This is different. Here Kumamon has charged (?) into the editorial offices Shueisha, which produces the manga Shonen Jump to complain about copyright infringement! Shueisha used images of Kumamon in the latest issue of Shonen Jump without getting approval and the prefecture lodged an official complaint.
For a Japanese news article see:
http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20140515002.xhtml

Song 'Kumamon-mon-mon' with English subtitles
Kumamon is a mascot created by the government of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.

Spanish speakers should enjoy this!
http://youtu.be/PDcYLNAIjvY
Vida | Detective Cultural - Akinee no nantoka!
Akinee no nantoka! Capítulo 06: Vida Segmento: Detective Cultural, por Hisae --- CRÉDITOS Conducción y Dirección: Hisae Suguimitzu Edición: Hisae Suguimitzu ...