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William This blog regarding hiking in Kumamoto is three years old, but it is doubtful the info is out of date. Also included are some wonderful photos. Perhaps an autumn hike could be squeezed in, or you can start planning for next spring.
Kyushu hikes – The Tozan Tales
Posts about Kyushu hikes written by wes

Kirk here with a ChatGPT translation of part of this Japanese article (the rest is behind a paywall):
--- start translation ---
Growing Number of Foreigners in an Aging Town: Challenges of Coexistence Between the Elderly and Young Foreigners
Society
Breaking News
Mainichi Shimbun, October 25, 2023, 08:00 (Last updated 10/25 08:00) Paid article 2134 words.
Caption: Mr. Matsushita Susumu (left) greets foreigners on their way to work = Taken at Nagasu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture on July 20, 2023, at 8:18 a.m. by Miyagawa Sachiko.
On a single road leading to the industrial zone, foreigners ride bicycles. They line up neatly in a row, and cars pass them by. In Nagasu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, this is a familiar morning commute scene. The number of foreigners living in this town has increased 20-fold compared to 20 years ago. In this "aging town" where one in three people is over 65 years old, elderly Japanese and young foreigners live side by side. Our reporter walked the scene, which hints at Japan's future as it pushes for more acceptance of foreigners.
"Good morning." One morning in mid-July, a foreign woman commuting by bicycle bowed her head and greeted Mr. Matsushita Susumu (84), a local community association officer living nearby.
Nagasu Town, close to the Fukuoka Prefecture border, faces the Ariake Sea and is home to many shipyards and window frame factories. While there is little foot traffic during the day, in the early mornings and evenings, the sight of foreigners traveling between the industrial zone and residential areas on bicycles is conspicuous. Bicycles with plates reading "Vietnamese Trainees" were also spotted.
The town's population peaked at 18,627 in 1998 and has since decreased to 15,504. The aging rate, which indicates the percentage of those aged 65 and over, is 36.6%, surpassing the national average of 29%.
On the other hand, the number of foreigners living in the town was 36 twenty years ago. As of September this year, it has risen to 749, meaning about one in every 20 residents is a foreigner.
By country of origin, Vietnamese make up half, followed by Filipinos. They work in shipyards and window frame factories, supporting the town's industries and compensating for the declining Japanese population. In local supermarkets, imported food and seasonings are available, and there were signs written in Vietnamese.
--- end translation ---
この国が縮む前に：老いる町で急増する外国人　高齢者と若い外国人が共生する課題とは | 毎日新聞
　工業地帯につながる一本道の路側帯を自転車で走る外国人たち。一列に整然と並び、その脇を車が走り抜ける。熊本県長洲町では見慣れた朝の通勤風景だ。この町に住む外国人は20年前に比べ20倍に増えた。3人に1人が65歳....

Kirk with more about TSMC:
--- start quote ---
The Japanese facility in Kumamoto is progressing the fastest. According to TSMC, process technologies for this semiconductor production facility will be 22/28 and 12/16 nanometers. This plant has already employed some 800 locals, and this month saw the start of the business's equipment relocation. It is anticipated that production will start by the end of 2024.
--- end quote ---
TSMC’s global expansion is on track
During its 3Q23 earning call, semiconductor behemoth TSMC provided some updates on its global expansion. The company's new fab in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, is on track to commence production in the first half of 2025

Kirk here. $10 in subsidies? Nice work if you can get.
Japan Aims for $10 Billion in Subsidies for TSMC Plant, Rapidus
(Bloomberg) -- Japan is aiming to secure an additional 1.49 trillion yen ($10 billion) in subsidies for two key semiconductor projects, according to a key ruling party lawmaker for chips. Most Read from BloombergControversial Chip in Huawei Phone Produced on ASML MachineApple Plans AirPods Overhaul....

Sean here -
3 days left to make a difference -
English to follow Japanese.
Teen Driven（ティーン・ドリヴン＝ティーネイジャーボランティアチーム）にご協力を！
彼らは、今年で4回目となる恒例のキッズ向けハロウィンチャリティイベントを江津湖で開催します。
参加者枠はほぼ埋まりましたが、まだ若干の空きがあります。
当日はTV取材も入りますので、可愛い仮装でぜひご参加ください！
お家に、まだ綺麗だけどもう使わない子ども服やおもちゃ、絵本が眠っていませんか？
ぜひ Teen Drivenに寄付してください。バザーで売ったり交換したり寄付したりします。
当日ボランティアで手伝ってくれる人も募集します。
ティーンに限りません。英語が話せなくてもOKです。
このイベントは以下の点で、一般的なハロウィンイベントとは違います。
1. 全てをティーンが運営している
ボランティアにただ参加するだけなく、自ら組織をオーガナイズすることは彼らにとって大きな意味を持ちます。このイベントを通して企画や運営、そして自分たちのコミュニティに貢献することの大切さを学んでいます。この経験は自信に繋がるだけでなく、実績として大学受験に使用することができます。
2. キッズが環境問題について学ぶ
ゴミ問題が環境に与える影響を自分のこととして捉えることは、とても大切なことです。若い世代にとって環境問題はより切実です。教わる・教える関係の中で、キッズ・ティーン双方が学びを深めます。キッズに正しい振る舞いを教えることは、大人になって悪い行いを正すことより簡単です。
3. キッズの日頃の頑張りを称える
褒められることは、子どもの自尊心を育む上でとても重要です。キッズは日々いろいろなことを頑張っています。成し遂げたことの大小は関係ありません。当日みんなの前で、大きなファンファーレと共にひとりひとりを祝福します。
4. ティーンの能力を改めて評価する
彼らは日々勉強や部活で本当に忙しいですが、時間を作って一所懸命取り組んできました。「携帯見すぎ」「ゲームやりすぎ」と何かと批判される彼らですが、私は自信を持って宣言します。彼らは大丈夫。未来は明るいです。
このイベントの収益の全ては、「熊本市母子寡婦福祉連合会」に寄付します。
Teen Driven, the driving force behind the 4th annual Trick or Trash Ezuko Halloween Party Fundraiser, is asking for your help.
Do have good quality children’s clothes, toys and or books that are no longer in use? If so, please consider donating them to Teen Driven. They will be sold, traded, or donated to anyone who can use them.
All sales will be donated by Teen Driven ([email protected]) to the Kumamoto City Federation of Maternal and Child Widows Welfare Association.
集めたお金は「熊本市母子寡婦福祉連合会」に寄付します
We nearly reached the limit of participants – We have room for two or three more families.
One note about the event – This is not a typical Halloween event. We encourage costumes, but the connection stops there.
1st - This event is focused on empowering teens the opportunity to plan, organize and support their community. The teen participants will be able to use this experience as part of their life resume, particularly when applying for university. What you have done in your community is as important as GPAs when applying for university.
2nd - This is an opportunity for children to learn from the teens the impact trash has on the environment. It is well established that kids respond better to kids. In addition, it is better to teach new habits than to unlearn bad habits.
3rd – We celebrate children – Small accomplishment in a child’s life, if celebrated have a huge impact on a child’s self-worth and esteem. Whether it is getting dressed by themselves for school or being a good brother or sister, no accomplishment is too small, and all are celebrated individually in front of the group with great fanfare.
4th – Teens, helping kids, helping the environment, helping each other.
Kids face a lot of challenges today. Mostly negative commentary about spending too much time on their phone’s blah, blah, blah. I am proud to say, and I hope you all will join me in saying, kids today are okay.

Kirk here with news about the earthquake museum in Aso.
https://www.kuam.com/story/49876625/museum-chronicles-2016-earthquakes-examines-lessons-learned-in-japan
The museum's site is here:
https://kumamotojishin-museum.com/
It has an automatic translation function for English but it's pretty lame. I would look at the Japanese site and then copy and paste into DeepL or ChatGPT as needed for help.
By the way, it doesn't work with all web sites but ひらがなめがね works quite well with this site. Have a look:
https://trans.hiragana.jp/ruby/https://kumamotojishin-museum.com/
Museum chronicles 2016 earthquakes, examines lessons learned in Japan
Time is frozen on this clock at the Kumamoto Earthquake Disaster Museum KIOKU. 1:25 a.m. on April 16, 2016 -- that was when the main 7.5 magnitude earthquake shook Japan as residents were recovering f

Kirk here with another NEW WEB EASY article about Kumamoto. As I've written before, I think this is a good site for folks interested in studying Japanese.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10014223751000/k10014223751000.html

William Here is a short summary of Kumamoto Castle restoration with several good photographs. https://kumamoto-guide.jp/en/article/detail/254?fbclid=IwAR1NG76_rGWBxKxk0QJx2ON5gq8NNOl9vWSAaxIpJ08KKGyWB_72U_950mk
Kumamoto Castle Nowadays, Vol. 3
It is Kumamoto City Official Tourism Website. We will introduce the charm of Kumamoto City including tourist spots such as Kumamoto Castle and Suizenji Park and also cooking, events and special products.

This article is behind a paywall so I can't read the whole thing but I can see from the headline and picture that it's about master sword smith Genrokuro Matsunaga and that the point is that foreign visitors have finally returned after the COVID-19 lull. -- Kirk
https://kumanichi.com/articles/1208509
Here are some links to information about Mr. Matsunaga in English:
https://mountain-swell.com/info/2015/10/27/matsunaga-genrokuro-a-traditional-japanese-swordsmith
https://www.visit-kyushu.com/en/discover/blogs/world-katana-sword-making-kumamoto/
https://www.guidoor.jp/en/places/4128
荒尾市の刀鍛冶工房、訪日客の見学復調　刀匠の松永さん「コロナ前に戻った」｜熊本日日新聞社
　新型コロナウイルス禍を経て、荒尾市の「松永日本刀剣鍛錬所」を訪れる外国人旅行客が増えている。ようやく暑さが収まった10月に入り、ヨーロッパからの見学者が相次いでおり、刀匠の松永源六郎さん（75）は「コロ.....

Kirk here. This type of archery is called "yabusame" (流鏑馬). I think that, in combination, the first and third characters mean "running horse." The second character refers to something that is put on the tip of an arrow to make a cool sound when the arrow flies (or perhaps when it hits it's target). At any rate, the archery event will be conducted between 2 and 3:30 on November 3rd, Friday, which is "Culture Day" (文化の日). The venue is Ninomaru Hiroba (the castle).
https://kumamoto-guide.jp/oshiromatsuri/events/detail/72
By the way, here 's a video of a similar event held at Aso Shrine earlier this year:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/636501465238622
熊本城で開催される「くまもとお城まつり」の公式ホームページです。祭りの開催日・詳細・交通情報などをご案内しています。お城まつりは特別史跡熊本城跡で春と秋に継続して開催しているイベントで、市民はもとより...

William Kawashiri (川尻) is a small town in southern Kumamoto near the mouth of Midorikawa. Its location encouraged early manufacturing, with raw materials rafted down the river from the hinterlands and finished products shipped out to sea. It remains famous for sake and oke (bucket) manufacturing and metalwork such as knives and scissors. Wikipedia has more here: https://tinyurl.com/mrybf235
There will be a festival this Sunday, 10/29, during which you can visit some smitheries and sake breweries. Don't miss the wonderful handicraft museum and the steps built by Kato Kiyomasa to serve as a wharf.

William Kochia (Japanese, "kokiya," also "houkigusa" ほうき草, meaning a plant for making brooms) is an annual plant native to Eurasian and known for its unique round shape and fluffy texture. As they grow, their color changes from vibrant green in the summer to a greenish-red and finally to a bright scarlet in late October.
Some enterprising locals in Minamiaso Village have taken to planting cosmos and Kochia together, which are both blooming now, to draw the delight of visitors. Kumanichi has the scoop:
秋空に映える〝深紅の絨毯〟　コキア、満開のコスモスと「共演」　熊本・南阿蘇村の「あそ望の郷くぎの」｜熊本日日新聞社
　熊本県南阿蘇村の道の駅「あそ望の郷くぎの」で、コキア500株が真っ赤に色づき、満開のコスモスとともに南郷谷を秋色に染めている。見頃は今月末まで。

Here's an article about how Naoko Shirane brought Kumamoto and San Antonio together. -- Kirk
The baroness who paved the way for San Antonio's Toyota plant
Crafting the deal that would bring Toyota to San Antonio took years of work by many players. But none of it would have been possible without Naoko Shirane.

Kirk here with a note on dolphin's in Amakusa:
--- start quote ---
"Dolphins and traditional skin-diving fishermen that can be traced back to the (ancient) Jomon period have long lived in harmony here," Takasaki says. It's natural to have dolphins right next to us, and that's the value of Amakusa."
--- end quote ---
Japan Trivia: Kumamoto's 'dolphin sanctuary' highlights history of harmony with sea life - The Mainichi
As Japan's travel industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic and tourists flood back into the country, the Mainichi Shimbun has turned the spotli

US Marines train with Japan's Self-Defense Forces in Kumamoto from time to time. Here's a recent example. -- Kirk
https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2023-10-17/marines-littoral-regiment-okinawa-11732639.html

Kirk here with national news made by KIHARA Minoru, who is from Kumamoto.
--- start quote ---
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on Monday retracted comments he made over the weekend in which he appeared to imply that a vote for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a key by-election would be good for the Self-Defense Forces and their families — despite the SDF's strict policy of political neutrality.
--- end quote ---
Defense chief retracts comments implying LDP vote would be good for SDF
Article 61 of the Self-Defense Forces Law explicitly forbids SDF personnel from engaging in political activity, with the exception of voting.

William Lafcadio Hearn (also known by his Japanese name, Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲 - the surname taken from his Japanese wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafcadio_Hearn), was a peripatetic Anglo-Greek writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the West. Hearn longed for the "true Japan," which he found in Matsue - apparently, all else failed in comparison, particularly Kumamoto (where he spent three years, 1891-94), which he abhorred, finding it cultureless and blindly adoptive of anything Western. His Kumamoto house is directly behind Tsuruya; tours are free.
Hearn was particularly well-known for his ghost stories. One of the scariest stories I've ever read is "A Passional Karma," which can be read for free here: https://tinyurl.com/4wey3pmb. It's a relatively short, hair-raising tale suitable for English students looking to read their first English literature. Happy Halloween!

This extensive (about 1500-word) article is chock-full of interesting tidbits about the Aso area.
In volcanic Aso, the land gives much more than it takes
Locals in Aso have a saying: “The land takes away, but it gives us something, too.”

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