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It's been a while since I posted about Biggi, my favorite Bakery, so I decided to introducing. If you live anywhere near Obiyama (in Kumamoto City), check it out! In addition to being delicious, all of the breads are free of transfats -- something that is quite unusual in Japan.

Kumamon (and the idea that "'Too cute' exists, even in Japan") makes the Guardian's "10 things we learned this week" list.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/09/10-things-we-learned-this-week
10 things we learned this week
From PM's thoughts on not quitting to Michelle Obama's TV ubiquity and cuteness overload in Osaka – a roundup of the week's news

Takachiho: Gods and gorges in divine Miyazaki | The Japan Times
The already cloudy sky darkens perceptibly as our car descends into Takachiho Gorge. This area of extreme scenic beauty — carved out of the earth by

Mandy Bartok has written several articles for the Japan Times about interesting places to visit in Kumamoto and other parts of Kyushu.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/int-mandy_bartok/
Mandy Bartok - The Japan Times
Mandy Bartok currently lives in Kyushu, and she has been a Japan Times contributor since 2009. When not chasing after her exuberant toddler, she blogs about Japan for travelers at ...

Kumamoto is "a lesser-known part of southern Japan"? No way! All my friends know about it!
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/cuddly-mascots-set-the-chop-japan-20140508
Cuddly mascots set for the chop in Japan
Kumamon, a clumsy bear mascot of Kumamoto prefecture attends a food products event to promote products from Kumamoto prefecture in Tokyo on Feb 23, 2014. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP

Kumamon rules! Lesser yurukyara get the ax . . .
"This month a Tokyo jeweller unveiled a gold figurine of the bear worth 100m yen (£580,000) Kumamon has 339,000 followers on Twitter, 159,000 "likes" on his official Facebook page and last year entertained the emperor and empress during their visit to Kumamoto prefecture."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/moppy-mascot-japan-cull-cuddly-ambassadors
Moppy the mascot survives Japan's cull of cuddly ambassadors
Bird-like promotional character to become Osaka's core representative but fellow mascots face mass extermination

Kumamoto ends chicken transportation ban
The Kumamoto prefectural government removed the last remaining measure to prevent the spread of avian influenza in the southwestern Japan prefecture Wednesday midnight.

Godzilla once attacked Kumamoto Castle. But don't worry. I don't think that's likely to happen again. If you are interested in Godzilla, though, you may enjoy this recent podcast from NPR (the U.S. public radio network).
http://www.npr.org/2014/05/02/308955584/the-making-of-godzilla-japans-favorite-mon-star
If you like the "Making of" interview, you may also want to hear this analysis about why Godzilla has remained fairly popular for so long:
http://www.npr.org/2014/05/02/308934760/movie-monsters-monster-movies-and-why-godzilla-endures
The Making Of 'Godzilla,' Japan's Favorite 'Mon-Star'
Steve Ryfle is the author of a book about the making of the film and its many sequels. He spoke to Fresh Air in 2004, on the film's 50th anniversary.

Not specific to Kumamoto to probably of interest to many readers of this page -- especially those of us that seem destined for more scrutiny:
"The system will be applied only for Japanese nationals. By cutting back time and the workforce necessary to check the departures and entries of Japanese, the ministry aims to use the extra resources to reinforce checks on foreign nationals."
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001246486
Airport testing for facial recognition slated - The Japan News
The Justice Ministry is aiming to experimentally introduce a facial recognition system to identify Japanese people starting in August to speed up the immigration control process at airports.

Wi-Fi expanded for travelers in Japan
Domestic transportation operators are broadening wireless Internet access at train stations and on airplanes, in response to widespread use of smartphones and strong demand from foreign tourists.

Here's the English explanation from Mr. Yagi of the Kumamoto International Foundation:
KIF holds the world issue awareness seminar on Sunday 25 May (14:00 - 16:00) at KCIC (Main hall).
Ghanian Musician Mr. Yao Ofei Amoabeng is going to be the special guests performer, and also make his rich presentation about a history for the farmer, actually his father, in Ghana to have been independent with the power to cultivate the land to fertile farm land.
Then, will be connected to talk with the people there in Ghana via skype.
Music - Mother Africa
Talk - Agriculture in Ghana (how they could be independent to cultivate their land.)
Live video conference via Skype
Yao's official site is as follows:
http://www.yaoyokohama.com/
The application will start from May 1 by phone to KIF 096-359-2121
Yao Ofei Amoabeng
Home page of Yao Ofei Amoabeng

This video about Tsuetate Onsen (in the Oguni area, north of Aso) is in Japanese but the YouTube page includes the following English explanation:
"Located in Oguni-machi Aso, the Tsuetate-Onsen Hot Springs have a 1800-year history.
Thanks to its exquisite spring quality, the area has flourished as a Hot-Spring resort since old times.
In recent years, it is winning popularity with modern twists on nostalgia- such as a retro back-alley tour guided by the local people, a revived regional sweets (puddings), and NEO TOJI, a new style hot spring therapy."
http://youtu.be/Wa1kZG36sDI
温故知新・杖立温泉の挑戦！　Taking Lessons From the Past　-The Challenge of the Tsuetate-Onsen Hot Springs-
阿蘇郡小国町の杖立温泉は、1800年もの歴史がある温泉地。泉質の良さで古くから湯治場として栄えてきました。近年は、地元住民が昔ながらの路地裏を案内したり、地域伝承のお菓子（プリン）を復活させたり、「Neo湯治」を始めたりして、昔からあるものを現代風にアレンジした楽しみ方で人気を呼んでいます。 Taking Les...

Ezuko Festa and picnic
Date: May 10th from 3 pm to 5:30 pm
Place: Kami-Ezuko Area “Minna no hiroba”
Cost: free
Maximum: 30 people
For details go to:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/kumamoto-jet/pr6uCx7LY78/6bOoDEI5dN4J

There have been quite a few monkey sightings in Kumamoto City recently. They are wild animals and can be dangerous so don't do any of the following:
* Approach
* Make eye contact
* Show or give food
* Threaten (yell at, make a threatening gesture, etc) or torment in any way
By the way, the image is from several years ago but there were sightings this morning.
http://www.news24.jp/articles/2010/02/22/07154010.html

Here are a few posts from Kumamoto-i (the mailing list):
SELLING
A car (different from the one advertised here recently)
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/12860
Various furnishings
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/12859
Piano, furniture, etc
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/12855
BUYING
Various household and electronic items
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages/12857

I forgot to include a link to the Google map in my post about the cycling road to Yamaga:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/628070333933069
Here's the link:
http://goo.gl/maps/xowYv
Cyclemeter-Cycle-20111010-1231.kml - Google マップ

According to the post on the Kumamoto JET mailing list:
"Car up for grabs! Urgent Sale.
Due to unforeseen circumstances I will be leaving Kumamoto at the end of April. This means my cool lil' car is up for sale! Please refer to attachments for some photos."
Click on the link for more information. Please address inquiries directly to the seller.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/kumamoto-jet/fRjkG1nfdj8/ZyW9czB0El4J

If you enjoying cycling, you might want to check out the Yuka Family Road some day when the weather is nice. This video is very long and probably not worth watching from beginning to end, but you can use it to get a sense of what the road is like at various points.
http://youtu.be/Hw8MyeAE0oA?t=50m14s
Here's a page with a Google map that shows the entire route:
http://new-avenue-matthieu.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2011-10-11-1
The page also feature some pictures, including pictures of the one place on the route where you need to push your bike up a steep incline. Otherwise, however, it's mostly flat, easy riding.
The following pdf is of a map with cartoon illustrations and English that I added.
http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/kumamoto-i/yuka_cycling_map.pdf
The Google map is more accurate, but the pdf may give you a better idea of the landmarks you will pass on the way.
You can find links to more information here:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/topics/10640
#25「ゆうかファミリーロードをみんなで走ろう!!」 お待たせしました!!10月19日に収録した、熊本～山鹿サイクリングロードを巡る企画。勤労感謝の日前夜にどーんと生放送しました!!山あり、谷あり、階段あり...そして●●止あり??? （今回のルート①：http://g.co/maps/tgrnj ②：http:...

Kumamoto Links is a page I began maintaining many years ago. I haven't been maintaining it recently but I still use it from time to time. I contains links to a lot of useful web pages about the Kumamoto. For example, today I wanted to check the weather forecast so I used it to find the weather page in the "Favorites" section near the top of the page. If you haven't taken a look at it, you might want to check it out to see if there's anything there that you would like. Just don't be too upset if some of the links are broken -- there's a fair amount of "link rot" there, which I hope to clean up eventually.
http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/links.html
Kumamoto Links
This page provides annotated links to English information about Kumamoto, Japan.

Youngest winner on Japan women's tour at age 15
TOKYO (AP) â€" Japanese 15-year-old Minami Katsu became the youngest winner in the history of the Japan LPGA tour by shooting a 4-under 68 on Sunday to take out the Vantelin Ladies Open. Katsu, a first-year student at Kagoshima High School, started the final round tied for second, one stroke behind…