Taiwanese food
Posts
Kumamoto Oshiro Matsuri - Moon Viewing, Tea, and Music
Kirk here with an iguana update. This happened in Asagiri, in the Hitoyoshi area. (Note to headline editor: I think "captured" or "found" would have been better than "on the loose captured.")
William Our friend Patrick Ijima-Washburn has provided this wonderful photo of Mt Unzen, on the Shimabara peninsula across from Kumamoto, taken from Aso. Unzen is a dormant (for the moment) volcano, part of the arc which stretches from Okinawa up through Hokkaido and then around the Aleutian Islands down through the Americas - what is known as "the ring of fire."
Kirk here with some Yamaga school lunch news.
Atsuko here.
Ezuko 2023 Trick or Trash Halloween Party
Kirk here. This post is not specific to Kumamoto. It's about the difficulty of unsubscribing from mailing lists in Japan vs. the U.S.
Yesterday was the SL Aso Boy's last hurrah, after 18 years. -- Kirk
William There are few choices for international schools in Kumamoto, but as a Lutheran school (which is about as undogmatic as Christian sects go - their main dogma is "'Sup?," ) Kyushu Gakuin is about as good as it gets. It is a very old school, one of the first in Japan to be based on English. It also has a pretty good baseball team that, most years, get your hopes up by qualifying for Koshien and then quickly dashing them.
William Addiction - whether to alcohol, drugs, or even sex! - can happen to anyone. Kumamoto is fortunate to host Kikuyo Byoin, which focuses on treating these issues. Its spacious grounds are located in a secluded, wooded area - more like a resort than a hospital. The staff are kind and professional, and the food is very good. Days are spent with meetings on experiencing addiction and how to manage it. The hospital accepts national health insurance, which means it is probably cheaper to stay there than at home. PM me if you have any questions. https://www.kikuyouhp.jp/?fbclid=IwAR0Gscy96HzsQnKvzOH8_rkO7ThXZA32ZOdi2413-ZsnuiK49nvpgwWKs-I
Red spider lilies from Kuma Visit there. These flowers have two Japanese names: manjushage (曼珠沙華) and higanbana (彼岸花). One theory about the etymology of manjushage is that it's part of a Buddhist sutra with origins in Sanskrit. According to the theory, in the sutra, the sound of the Sanskrit word for "red" was translated into Chinese characters and that was then brought into Japanese. No wonder Japanese can seem pretty darn difficult at times!
Kirk here reporting that Hiromi Chida, founder of Kuma Visit, got written up in Kumanichi Spice. Congratulations Hiromi! The article mentions her Facebook page, which I hope most of you already know about:
Kirk here. More air service between Taiwan in Kumamoto.
William China Airlines will launch flights to Taipei. This jumping off point might be of use to other places of the world, much as Seoul is now. (And - wow! - Ive never seen such an empty flight!)
Quoth the newspaper: "The commercial land price increased by 32.4% in the adjacent town of Ozu, the highest in the country."
語学に興味のある方へ、ぜひ最後まで読んでください
Kirk here. This isn't an endorsement; just some information I came across and thought some people might be interested in. I was reading a Japanese news article about preparing for the influx of foreigners to Kumamoto with the arrival of TSMC:
Hello Everyone 😃
William Death happens. It is inevitable, but without death, there would be an overwhelmingly lot of animals.
