Kirk here with news about more investment in Kumamoto's high-tech sector:
Posts
Iris Festival in Tamana
Kirk here. "Gunma and Kumamoto were among the top 10 for four years in a row, while Kyoto has been out of the top 10 since 2020." Not particularly surprising but good to hear nonetheless. (Good for Kumamoto and Gunma, that is; not so much so for Kyoto.) ;)
Kirk here. I have a young student (1st year in university) who is interested in learning about Syria, Syrian refugees in Turkey, and the Middle East in general. He says he would like to make friends with people from that part of the world if anyone would be interested in such a friendship. He would be happy to help with Japanese (being a conversation partner, etc.) in exchange for learning about the culture of whomever would be willing to be a partner with him. Unfortunately, his English skills are not good. But he's a serious (majime) student and is also interested in improving his English skills. If you or someone you know might be interested in meeting him please let me know, either in a comment or e-mail (masden at kumagaku.ac.jp). Thanks!
Kirk here. I posted about this the other day but here's the first English-language news item I've come across about Kumamon's unmasking.
Kirk here. Today I posted about a wrestler named Kinbouzan. I didn't plan it this way but my wife and I happened to go to Ezuko this evening for a walk and came across this view of the mountain. The boat (a yakatabune; 屋形船) is operated by Eto Boat House. Earlier in the afternoon there were lots of people out on smaller boats that the boat house rents out.
Kirk here. Any sumo fans out there? If you've been following news about the current tournament you may have noticed a name that has a familiar ring: Kinbouzan. Yesterday, I heard that Kinbouzan had lost to Yokozuna Terunofuji and thought "Could that be the Kinbouzan (Kinbozan, sometimes rendered "Kinpozan") near Kumamoto City?" Turns out that, yup, that's the reference. It seems that Kinbouzan's shishou (teacher) is Kimura Seihei who is from Kumamoto and used to wrestle as Higonoumi ("Sea of Kumamoto [Higo]"). The wrestler, however, is from Kazakhstan. Here's wishing Kinbouzan continued success in the world of sumo wrestling!
( Fiona) Firefly season is approaching and I've already started to see a few at my local viewing spot in Tatsuda-yama. Post your photos and favourite locations here, and if there's enough interest I'd be happy to organise a hotaru viewing night walk for Kumamoto-i members.
Douglas here.
Kirk here. Facebook has instituted a major change to their page editing and management interface. It may not be so noticeable to most users but it's a big change -- for the worse -- for me as someone managing and looking after the page.
Atsuko, with information about the cute baby dolphins of Amakusa.ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧
Sean here -Reporting on an amazing discovery.
U.S. Consulate Passport, Birth Registration, and Notarial Services in Kumamoto City
Kirk again. I just posted about the heat. It's supposed to get up to about 29 Celsius (about 84 Fahrenheit) today. I thought I'd check to see how that compares with historical temperatures and this is what I found. The blue is average daily highs for the month of May and red is for June. You can see that 29 is hot, even for June, much less May. You can also see that the trend is up -- presumably the result of global warming.
Kirk here with a little about the heat. I was just watching a news show I recorded last night and I saw that they are already using misting fans to cool folks waiting in line outside of the castle. This video was posted four days ago but I have no double that the fans are being run today too.
Presentation on Machine Translation and Information Access at International Center
I will be speaking with staff at Kumamoto's International Center soon about how best to respond to the linguistic needs of foreign residents of Kumamoto. I don't feel qualified to speak on behalf of the diverse community so I'd like to ask that you take a few minutes to respond to the questions in a Google form that I put on the web:
Kirk here sharing a post from Kumamoto Japan Tourism. I think this series is a great idea. I love to see high school students using their hard-won English skills so meaningfully. In regard to KATO Kiyomasa, I've been impressed with just how many aspects of contemporary life in Kumamoto can be traced back to him. His civil engineering projects changed the course of the Shirakawa and created irrigation channels that are still in use today. Moreover, the following foods all have connections to KATO Kiyomasa (some more direct than others): basashi, karashi renkon, Chosen ame. Then, there's Kumamon. If KATO hadn't changed the character used to write Kumamoto from 隈 to 熊 we wouldn't have a cute bear as a mascot. Since 隈 can refer to dark circles under your eyes, maybe KATO saved us from having an extremely tired looking character! ;)
Kirk here. Shaken (JCI car inspection) anyone? If the deadline for your vehicle is coming up, be sure NOT to take it to the BIG MOTOR on the Hamasen Bypass:
Kirk here reporting on a very important person whom I'm sorry to say I didn't know about until I heard of his passing.
