Posts

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.

The link to the flier seems to be broken. Still, those of you who are interested can contact the center about this event.
http://www.kicjapan.com/islam-life-seminar
Islam & Life Seminar
Kumamoto City International center (KIF) and Kumamoto Islamic Center (KIC) are arranging a brief seminar about "Islam and Life" at February 12th, Sunday from 13.00 to 16.30 pm. We welcome all our f...

Of course, Kumamon was on hand, but not this winner this time.
"Yurukyara-cute and often cuddly mascots representing cities and prefectures from throughout Japan and abroad Saturday set a Guinness world record for the largest gathering of mascot characters when 376 of them gathered at a park in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture."
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000821920
http://youtu.be/yz-daXBGGB0
ゆるキャラグランプリ2013　1位は栃木・佐野市の「さのまる」(13/11/24)
4回目となる「ゆるキャラサミット」が、埼玉・羽生市で開かれた。今回のゆるキャラグランプリで1位となったのは、栃木・佐野市の「さのまる」だった。 http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00258433.html

This might be of interest to American readers:
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/24/247006322/expatriots-make-do-or-do-without-for-thanksgiving?ft=1&f=1008
Expatriates Make Do Or Do Without For Thanksgiving
Host Rachel Martin catches up with Americans who've spent the Thanksgiving holiday far from home.

Here's an article about Kumamon and Gov. Kabashima in Boston.