Posts

Students at a local university had some trouble answering questions about astronomy.
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/12/10/freshman-facepalms-college-students-struggle-to-answer-basic-astronomy-questions/
Freshman facepalms: Japanese college students struggle to answer basic astronomy questions
While the Japanese education system is often highly praised by people in the West, many Japanese folks aren't so keen on it these days. Yutori kyouiku, or "pressure-free education system," a phrase used to describe what many see as an education system whose standards are too lax, has skyrocketed in…

In Minamata, mercury poisoning was a regional issue. This article is about mercury poisoning on global scale. As the title indicates, it describes how global warming can exacerbate mercury contamination.
http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2013/12/04/global-climate-change-can-make-fish-consumption-more-dangerous/
Global climate change can make fish consumption more dangerous
Hundreds of thousands of babies are born in the U.S each year with enough mercury in their blood to impair healthy brain development. As they grow, these children’s capacity to see, hear, move, feel, learn and respond can be severely compromised. Why does this happen? Mostly because a portion of mer...

Here's a blog post with a very nicely edited video of Yabusame (horseback archery) in Kumamoto.
http://gdjapan.blogspot.jp/2013/12/yabusame-at-suizenji-park.html
Danielle and Graham in Japan: Yabusame at Suizenji Park

A news clip I saw on TV said that Japan is now the third country (after the U.S. and Germany) to have a bonobo research facility. The research is being done here in Kumamoto but, unfortunately, they are not open to visitors -- unless you happen to be a bonobo. : )
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201312060041
Researchers learning about ‘peace’ through bonobo study - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
UKI, Kumamoto Prefecture--An animal research facility is studying the peaceful nature of bonobos to find clues about how human societies survived.

Another reason to stay in Kumamoto . . .
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/105723.php
Tokyo costliest Asian city for expats
Tokyo is the most expensive city in Asia for expatriates, despite a sharply weaker yen, a survey showed Thursday. Beijing was second, jumping up the ranking from fifth place last year.

Just over 40 years ago, Taiyo Department store (the current Daiei site on Shimotori) went up in flames. The building is now scheduled to be torn down and a new building will be put up. Daiei will return as a tenant.
http://www.47news.jp/news/photonews/2008/11/post_2606.php
＜あのころ＞熊本「大洋デパート」火災　買い物客ら１０４人死亡 - 写真ニュース 47NEWS（よんななニュース）
　１９７３（昭和４８）年１１月２９日、熊本市の「大洋デパート」から出火し、買い物客や従業員ら１０４人が死亡。国内のビル火災として有数の惨事となった。　写真：猛煙を噴き上げる大洋デパート＝共同通信社ヘリから

This is a nice story that begins after WWII in Kumamoto "where, to prevent any renewed violence, the American command decided to confiscate all Japanese weapons of any kind."
http://www.thenation.com/article/177438/daughters-memory
A Daughter’s Memory | The Nation
Three decades after World War II, a veteran returns to Japan to return a stranger's family treasure.

Kumamoto-i (the mailing list) and Kumamoto International (the Facebook page) have diverged into separate venues. In the past, messages posted on the mailing list were automatically fed into this Facebook page. However, since YahooGroups has abandoned RSS, that function was lost. If you are looking for information about Kumamoto, be sure to check out both venues. By the way, I think Kumamoto-i is particularly good for buy-and-sell transactions between participants.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kumamoto-i/conversations/messages
Yahoo Groups

Hi! This is not specific to Kumamoto but I thought that readers of this page who are fairly advanced students of Japanese might be interested. In this short blog post, I introduce one web site that lets you hear and read Japanese news at the same time and another that makes it possible for you to look up Japanese words in an online article at lightning (practically instantaneous) speed.
http://bunkaseminar.blogspot.jp/2013/12/a-way-to-study-japanese-online.html
Seminar II: A way to study Japanese online

Even felt irritate by cyclists riding on the wrong side of the street? If so, the law is now on your side. If you are in the habit of riding on the right side (that is, against the traffic -- the wrong side), beware! That habit might get you in trouble.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/09/27/national/cyclists-warned-on-new-left-side-rule/
Cyclists warned on new left side rule
Many cyclists may be unaware that a ban on riding against the flow of traffic will take effect by the end of the year to curb an increasing number of ...

Gokanosho is a great place to visit in the fall -- but you need a car.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/11/30/travel/autumn-escape-in-the-home-of-the-heike-clan/
Autumn escape in the home of the Heike clan
The road has thankfully just widened — and by that I mean it's more than 2 meters across — when we meet our first oncoming car. I've ...

Last-minute notice: Tomorrow (Friday), mezzo-soprano Takahashi Yuko will hold her recital.

Here's a Japan Times article about the new movie, Hafu.
Around one in 49 babies born in Japan today are of mixed heritage. That's a surprising figure considering that the country was closed off to foreigners for close to three ...

Hafu (Special Screening in Fukuoka) Survey

I'm sure the folks preparing the 8th International Fair Trade Towns Conference in Kumamoto will need and appreciate any help they can get with the preparation and implementation of the conference. There's a form on their website that you can use to contact them if you would like to help (unfortunately, the interface is in Japanese).
第8回フェアトレード国際会議in熊本 オフィシャルサイト
第8回フェアトレード国際会議in熊本オフィシャルサイトへようこそ。2014年3月28日～3月29日国際交流会館にて開催いたします。

Attention bloggers! If you've written about something related to Kumamoto that you would like more people to see, please send me a link to your post. I'll be happy to share it here.

If you like cats but can't keep one with you here in Kumamoto, take a look at this:
http://jessicaandrobertg.blogspot.jp/2013/11/cat-cafe-in-kumamoto-city-japan.html
Jessica And Rob's Adventure : Cat Cafe in Kumamoto City, Japan
Cat Cafe's are especially good when you can't own your own cat. For example, my hubby and I can't have cats in our apartment, so its perfect. It is also a good setup for people who are moving frequently, traveling often, or have cat allergies in the family.

In this article, Kumamon is credited with an overall increase in the popularity of mascots (yurukyara) and generating ¥29 billion ($285 million) for Kumamoto Prefecture.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/11/26/soft-samurai-wins-hard-battle-of-mascots/
Soft Samurai Wins Hard Battle of Mascots
A samurai warrior with an upturned noodle bowl on his head is the latest winner of the hotly contested battle of the furry mascots.

This came out before the Minamata Conference but I'm posting it now because it has a surprising (and scary) statistic that is still relevant today. It says that, according to a recent study, 71% of women of child-bearing age in Japan have mercury levels that exceeded "the widely recognized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guideline of 1 micrograms per gram."
http://www.pollutiononline.com/doc/in-advance-treaty-adoption-hair-testing-worldwide-exposure-mercury-0001?atc~c=771+s=773+r=001+l=a
In Advance Of Treaty Adoption Hair Testing Shows Worldwide Exposure To Mercury
Just prior to the adoption of a global treaty on mercury[i], a new Zero Mercury Working Group[ii] report[iii] highlights the importance of the...

This article presents a pretty good summary of the issues covered and not covered by the Minamata Convention that was agreed upon here in October:
http://phys.org/news/2013-01-mercury-treaty-geneva-countries.html#inlRlv
Groundbreaking mercury treaty adopted by 140 countries (Update)
More than 140 countries agreed Saturday on a ground-breaking treaty to rein in the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury, the UN said, but environmental activists lamented it did not go far enough.