Posts

This video of students playing karuta at the YMCA was aired on January 8th. The audio on this video is in Japanese. I'll post another one with English audio in a minute.

Here's an image from the Amazon page for Sean's book "The Book of Five Ring":

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Five-Rings-Graphic/dp/1611800129/

If you go to the Amazon page, you can see samples of pages inside the book as well.

Nice collection of photos taken in Kumamoto:
http://blog.mortalcoil.com/tag/kumamoto/
Posts about kumamoto on Mortal Coil
Posts about kumamoto written by lukerobinsonphoto

A French couple practiced aikido during a visit. Their practice of aikido was notable because both of them have handicaps: the woman has problems with one or both of her legs while the man is deaf. I'm glad to see they were able to have a good experience here. They knew the teacher, SAKABE Munetsugu before their visit.
http://youtu.be/74wNDsIaJHM
Aïkido & Handicap by Kumamoto TV
Lors de notre voyage au Japon, à l'occasion de notre séjour à Kumamoto auprès de Sakabe Sensei, une équipe de la télévision locale nous a suivis. During our ...

Read more about the achitecture, location, and other sites in the area here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumamoto-i/message/12301

If you're interested in Kumamoto dialect, you may enjoy this. A lot of expressions are introduced with subtitles showing the dialect and equivalent expressions in standard Japanese. There's no English so this video might be a bit difficult for beginners in Japanese but if you've been using Japanese for a while and can read the subtitles it may help you improve your facility in 熊本弁.
http://youtu.be/L4iYiNbnJLY
大好き！熊本弁 ～奥深き方言の魅力～
軽妙な会話のリズムに、ユニークな響き。どこか懐かしさを覚える「熊本弁」のルーツは、奈良時代や平安時代に使われていた古語にありました。くまモンによる"熊本弁劇場"を交えながら、「熊本弁」の魅力をご紹介します。

Here's a slideshow of beautiful photos taken at the Kyu Hosokawa Gyobutei (旧細川刑部邸) near Kumamoto Castle. I'll also include a link to a page with more information about the place:
http://www.att-japan.net/en/spot/ES000372
http://youtu.be/jtXvH2-UgkU
Hosokawa Gyobu (Kyu-Hosokawa Gyobutei) Kumamoto by Kari Gröhn karigrohn.com karigrohncom karigrohn
The former residence of Hosokawa Gyobu (Kyu-Hosokawa Gyōbutei) is the Bukeyashiki (武家屋敷 Samurai Mansion) built by Lord Gyobu soon after 1646. The Hosokawa cl...

Here's a "date course" idea: On a bright, sunny winter morning, head out to "Futamata Kyo" （二俣橋; Futamata Bridge) in Misato-cho. Be sure to get there by around 11:30 so you can find the right spot.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0127/SEB201201270005.html

By the way, the newspaper article (Asahi, in Japanese) alludes to the Japanese expression "futamata o kakeru" which means to two-time your lover. The character for "mata" is different, though, so no worries.

Here's a link to a map: http://goo.gl/maps/56KQC

Earlier this morning big flakes of snow were falling in Kumamoto. Just before that the skies were clear blue and about 10 minutes or so after I took this shot there was not a trace of snow. If you blinked you missed it.

Attention music lovers! I received this from Sean Whelan himself:

Snowfall in Kumamoto (Japan) - My instrumental thought of the day =)
I've been having some problems with my ear lately and I can't really sing so I decided to write an instrumental piece inspired by snowfall in the hometown of...

I wonder if any readers of this list worked or studied at Nova before the scandal:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121122b1.html?
Ex-Nova language school founder Sahashi's two-year prison term finalized | The Japan Times Online
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the founder and former president of the language school chain Nova Corp. against his conviction for embezzling ¥320 million from employee benefit funds, effectively finalizing his two-year prison term.

"Bizarre PR move"? I've seen so many Kumamon items that nothing surprises me now.
http://vr-zone.com/articles/unitcom-releases-special-kumamon-notebook/17944.html
Unitcom releases special 'Kumamon' notebook by VR-Zone.com
Unitcom Inc have collaborated with the district of Kumamoto to get more people interested in the area in a new bizarre PR move.

Kumamoto International Foundation
Hello! Everyone. It is time for the Kumamoto International Center’s Year-End-Party! We welcome all residents, both foreign and Japanese, to come join us for a night of eating, drinking and games! International food and drinks will be provided. We will have a lottery raffle and games so please bring ...

This 14-year-old snowboarder is said to be from Kumamoto:
http://youtu.be/7wX9X7fh1E8
How does a girl from Kumamoto get to be such a good snowboarder? It's a little like Jamaica having a gold medal winning bobsledding team. You can read an article in English (the one that took me to this video) about Miyabi Onizuka here:
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2012/11/12/meet-the-great-white-hope-of-japanese-snowboarding-14-year-old-miyabi-onizuka/
ビデオ選考　鬼塚雅
鬼塚　雅 MIYABI ONIZUKA NATION：日本 DATE OF BIRTH：- SPONSOR：- RESULTS：- VIDEO TITLE：- 意気込み：-

Attention ramen fans!
Here's a review of Tatsu no Ya:
http://strangersandnoodles.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/day-16-kumamoto-ramen/
And here's a page that shows the location of the shop:
http://www.tatsunoya.net/ワシントン通り店/
Day 16: Kumamoto Ramen
Of all the ramen I’ve eaten so far this trip, this bowl of Kumamoto-style ramen I had (in Kumamoto) may have been my favourite. Kumamoto prefecture is on the island of Kyushu which is famous ...

Though not specific to Kumamoto, I suspect that the "blood type" issue is of interest to many non-Japanese people who live here. This is a podcast that you can download and listen to at your leisure.
"In Japan people believe that your blood type - or ketsueki-gata - defines your temperament and personality. What implications does this have for life, work and love?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/docarchive
BBC - Podcasts - Documentaries
Throughout the week BBC World Service offers a wide range of documentaries and other factual programmes. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.

A new movie about Amakusa will come out soon. It will be shown in Kumamoto beginning on the 17th:
http://jaijai-movie.com/
映画「女たちの都～ワッゲンオッゲン～」 11月17日（土）より熊本県先行ロードショー！ 【出演】大竹しのぶ　松田美由紀　杉田かおる　西尾まり ブラザートム　遠藤憲一　中村有志　長山藍子 ＜熊本エリア：公開劇場＞ DENKIKAN 本渡第一映劇 ワーナー・マイカル・シネマズ熊本 ＜あらすじ＞ ウツボ屋の女房・弓枝、...

Get the details here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumamoto-i/message/12203

Here's a link to a page about Hitoyoshi Ryokan:
http://www.japanholidays.com.au/traditional-accommodation/japan-holidays-ryokan-collection/hitoyoshi-ryokan-hitoyoshi-kumamoto
This is the only hotel or ryokan in Kumamoto that I could find listed on the JapanHolidays website. It may be worth considering if your planning a holiday in the area.
Hitoyoshi Ryokan - Kumamoto | Japan Holidays
DescriptionHitoyoshi Ryokan was originally built in 1934 and since that time this ryokan has refined the Japanese art of service and hospitality. The rare Sukiya style of building design will make you feel most comfortable as soon as you set foot into the Ryokan. You will enjoy spacious Japanese st...