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liz here , with an update for Kirk's post about the festivities underway in Yamato yesterday and today. The fireworks (which were lovely to watch with a cool breeze after dark) are over, but if you have the time and access to a car (about a hour drive from downtown Kumamoto) I highly recommend going today. The creations (floats? ) are absolutely amazing. Today they will be paraded through the main street, and I expect there will be lots of spectators but worth braving the crowds. You can park at the elementary school and the beautiful Tsuujunkyou bridge will be releasing water several times in the afternoon. It's within walking distance from the school parking lot. I will leave further glowing comments to Jane in the comments .

Classic Persian rugs, anyone? On display at the Kumamoto Prefectural Traditional Crafts Center (Dento Kogei Kan).
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/4a22b552c3661bab00d9454a0f111635e11ec6b1
Here's a link to an English introduction to the facility:
https://kumamoto-guide.jp/en/spots/detail/127
And here's what can be found in English on the official website of the facility:
https://kumamoto-kougeikan.jp/visiting/
ペルシャ絨毯の世界展　熊本県伝統工芸館で開催中【熊本】（TKUテレビ熊本） - Yahoo!ニュース
ペルシャ絨毯の展示会『華麗なるペルシャ絨毯の世界展』が熊本市中央区の熊本県伝統工芸館で開かれています。 熊本市中央区上通町にある『ミーリーコレクション熊本』が毎年開催し、イランの『ミーリー工房』と

Sorry for the last-minute notice but, if you like fireworks and can get to Yame (Fukuoka, very close to the border with Kumamoto), you can see a show tonight (9/2). -- Kirk
福岡県八女市の祈祷院五霊宮の八女八朔祭花火大会2023について、日程・時間や場所、屋台・露店の出店、アクセスや駐車場等気になりますよね。ここでは、八女八朔祭花火大会2023の日程・時間や場所、屋台・露店の出店、....

A 6th grader at the Kumamoto International School has passed the highest level of Japan's Eiken test. The "ikkyu" level is quite difficult of adults and, according to the Kumanichi article, it's very rare for an elementary school student to pass. -- Kirk
Kumanichi article:
https://kumanichi.com/articles/1156789
Kumamoto International School
https://kumamotointer.jp/

Kirk here with a heads-up about a fireworks event to be held in Shiranui-machi, over the Ariake Sea on Thursday, the 14th. I've never been to it but the poster is making want to go.
https://festival.eplus.jp/events/555

Let's dance! 踊りましょう!!

日本語は下記・Japanese follows below!
Calling all wannabe dancers!!! 新しいダンサーの参加も歓迎します!
Conas atá sibh? How are you all? ☘️ 'The Shamrockers', a small dance troupe, made up of various Kumamoto residents, will take to the, err, street to perform two Irish dances around noon on Saturday, 30th September, at the 28th Kumamoto International Exchange Festival・第28回熊本国際交流祭典, held downtown at Shinshigai.
We welcome new dancers to join us, so, if you'd like to take part on the 30th September, there will be a practice dance session on Sunday, 24th September, from 3-4pm on Hakuzan-dori. Please see the attached image for details🎼👣🎻 Currently our members are from 12 to 72-years-young!! Comment below or DM Ruth Maruki Kai (That's me!) if you've any queries!
☘️ 「ザ・シャムロッカーズ」は、熊本県民と外国人で構成される小さなダンス団で、9月30日（土）正午頃、熊本市サンロード新市街で開催される「第28回熊本国際交流祭典」で、2つのアイリッシュダンスを披露します✨ 新しいダンサーの参加も歓迎しますので、9月30日に参加したい方は、9月24日（日）午後3時から4時まで、白山通りで練習を行います。現在、メンバーは12歳から72歳までいる！詳しくは添付の画像をご覧ください🎼👣🎻 お問い合わせは下記コメントか、Ruth（私です！）にDMをください！

Kirk here. The day has come and the Janes Residence is open to the public.
https://www.facebook.com/KumamotoCity/posts/pfbid0B6MrS41tqhkU4jcaT7iQXUnRHPpgPA6QZobvynPAQJboJBjPguCZcny94Mb5qwTsl
Check out this previous post for more information:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid02qe7Fjr3tzLzLdV16MZpZGtRgbW3rvxYXFHGvaFin8W9DZ8SNvdE1kTbo3AvsAbBjl

Kirk here with a pair of events that are already underway at Grandmesse. First, here's a link to an English page about the venue:
https://www.grandmesse.jp/kiji00376/index.html
One event is a craft fair. The image you see (light orange?) is a coupon that will reduce your entry fee from 500 yen to 400 yen. Here's a page will information about the many booths:
https://spice-country.jp/#%E5%87%BA%E5%B1%95%E8%80%85%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7
Another event being held simultaneously is a ceramics (and pottery) fair. Here's a URL for that:
https://www.grandmesse.jp/kiji003432/index.html

Kirk here with an update about the following post I made a couple days ago:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/pfbid0jL33k2AD1KqCgazRJcrWtrT2R5WgSdMdrAFSonBW33T4iFTJBAzk8QHoB1DzwbCrl
The good people at the prefecture fixed the text on the web page soon after a sent an e-mail: rafting --> river boat ride. :)
https://kumamoto.guide/en/spots/detail/2773

Kirk with a link to an article about Japan's only baked sweet potato (karaimo, yakiimo) vending machine. It can be found at the Michi no Eki in Ozu.
Japanese vending machine is the only one of its kind in Japan, dubbed the “phantom machine”
A neat example of marketing to help a rural community.

This cute lesser panda (also known as a "red panda") was born June 1st and is named Ako. She's getting ready to met visitors to the zoo (but I'm not sure just when that will be).
https://www.facebook.com/kumamototourism/posts/pfbid09oDqKgCYmHnj8BUtpSjoPyzo4hThrD9sCdZb4Pt8aBtAgyjcJBjQC5b1FBerR877l

Kirk here. The mayor of Kumamoto City and the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture have announce that KumaHaku 2023 will be held from October 7 through November 5. The Amu Hiroba (the open area in front of the Amu Plaza [the shopping mall near Kumamoto Station) and Hanabata Hiroba downtown will be the two main venues.
"KumaHaku" seems to be a portmanteau of the words "Kumamoto" and "hakurankai" (博覧会), meaning, "exhibition," but I don't think the events planned would normally warrant the word "hakurankai."
Here's the address of the official website:
https://kumahaku.kumamoto-guide.jp/
By the way, preparing this post has led me to realize that the folks who have prepared the official "Amu Plaza Kumamoto" website never got around to deciding how to distinguish the "plaza" (the entire facility) from the "square," the open space in front of it, in English. In Japanese, the facility is the "plaza" and the square is the "hiroba" but in English the ひろば is just the ひろば:
https://www.jrkumamotocity.com/en/amu
Note that no one has even bothered to make an English version of the map at the bottom of this page. If this ひろば is to be the venue for major event, I would hope that its name in English, etc. could be decided upon and placed on a proper map. :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbWGvyjdWRI

Kirk here reporting that there will be a big (10,000 rockets) fireworks in Arao Saturday, starting at 8:30.
タマホームスペシャル2023　第22回花火物語 - グリーンランド公式ホームページ(九州)
＼タマホームスペシャル2023　第22回花火物語／ 今年はなんと「10,000発」の花火を30分間ノンストップで打ち上げます！！ ※花火の打上に際し、一部のエリアが立入禁止となります。

Kirk here with a note about a festival that occurred in Misato-mach over the weekend.
https://kumanichi.com/articles/1153657
The mikoshi (religious palanquin or portable Shinto shrine) you see is called "yuusou hadaka mikoshi" (勇壮裸みこし) .
Unfortunately, I just learned about this event, which occurred over the weekend. Apologies to matsuri fans who would have liked to know about it in advance. I often find it difficult to find out about festivals before they occur.

Kirk here with my rather infrequent series on weed removal. Pulling out weeds is hard enough on flat surfaces. To remove the weeds that grow on the sides of a stone bridge such as Tsujunkyo you need rock climbers. And, I would imagine that an appropriate insurance policy would also be good to have.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/beb5b64112839f1e0057ed5779d9ee8155022a5f

Kirk here with another reminder about how dangerous parking lots can be for kids. This sad incident occurred in the parking lot of the COSTCO in Fukuoka.
https://www.fukuoka-now.com/en/news/tragic-death-of-infant-in-kitakyushu-parking-lot/?fbclid=IwAR0yDgob1UZQEKPH-nEDuTpXUaAmgTtEQ_gXIHB_zSPNKDkBkMmnkf0oRc0
Tragic Death of Infant in Kitakyushu Parking Lot | Fukuoka Now
A tragic incident unfolded in the parking lot of a commercial facility in Yahatanishi Ward, Kitakyushu City, where a 10-month-old boy was discovered unresponsive in a car and later confirmed dead. Both parents are said to have assumed...

Kirk here with a share for Beatles fans and musicians looking for an opportunity to get that big break. On October 14, their will be a Beatles event in which "Eight Days A Week" and other Beatles movies will be played "at great volume（大音響）." In addition, there will be amateur bands. You can apply / audition until September 10. The price for the event will be modest: just 1,000 yen. If you pay 2,500 yen you can camp there too.
The announcement doesn't say that Paul McCartney will be a special guest but who knows?
https://www.facebook.com/bluesmantaka/posts/pfbid02M9YFQ8qqYM61dFtMFgGcehBrn5Uqpj24MExfKisM5WmZvCSPPAQT26oyo8TXuRK3l

Kirk here with some information about how to enjoy floating down the Kumagawa River (Kuma River) in the Hitoyoshi area. The picture you see on the top is of traditional "kawakudari" ("going down a river"). As you can see, these boats are controlled by two men, one at the back with a sculling oar and another man at the front. The tourists just sit in the middle of the boat to enjoy the ride. This type of kawakudari has a long history on the Kumagawa and in Japan in general. The image you see comes from the following site:
https://kumamoto.guide/en/spots/detail/2773
The other, more modern way to enjoy a trip down the river is rafting. The screenshot of rafters enjoying the Kumagawa come from this page:
https://www.kumagawa.co.jp/en/rafting/
Now, there's a small (?) problem about which I'd like to ask your advice. Kumamoto's official tourism website calls the traditional trips in wooden boats "rafting." I'd like to contact the people who manage the page to let them know that they need to fix the English but I'm not quite sure what the "correct" English would be. Perhaps something like "Traditional Kawakudari Whitewater Boating" or "Traditional Boat Trips Down the Kuma River's Rapids" or some such title would work. Any ideas?
By the way, the wooden boats are called "baika no watashi." "Baika" (梅花) means "plum" and "watashi" (渡し) means "to cross (the river)." It's a kind of boat that was traditionally used to take people or things from one side of a river to another but seems to have been repurposed for joy rides down the rapids. The generic word for such boats is 渡し船 (watashibune) and the third image is a portion of an Edo period print by Hiroshige depicting a watashibune scene:
https://www.adachi-hanga.com/ukiyo-e/items/hiroshige041/
I think you'll agree that "raft" isn't the right word for such a venerable boat.

Kirk here. Those of you who weren't able or (like me) were too tired to go see the fireworks Saturday night can get a sense of what the event at Ezuko was like from the following video news report:
４年ぶりの江津湖花火大会 | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
26日、熊本市で江津湖花火大会が4年ぶりに開催されました。会場は打ち上げの1時間前から多くの人で賑わっていました。花火が打ちあがると会場を訪れた人たちが、夜空を彩る約1万発の花火に見入っていました。