Posts

Fiona here, with a post for Kumamoto-i readers to share photos and locations of their favourite vending machines. I've spotted machines selling pig's trotters, gyoza and of course the edible insects sold outside the balloon store at the end of the Kokai shopping arcade. What other delicacies and delights are out there?

野菜採集ワークショップ（子ども・親向け）

Kirk here. A facility is being built in Yatsushiro to derive energy from woody biomass (not to be confused with facilities intending to produce energy from Woody's biomass ;) ).

Kirk here with some news that I don't understand very well:

Irish Dance Circle Practice

Kirk here reporting that a new hotel is coming to the Aso area:

Kirk here with some thoughts and questions about language. The topic is not specific to Kumamoto but, on the other hand, sharing information about Kumamoto usually involves going between Japanese and English and what I'd like to write about in this post certainly has to do with that general issue.

Kirk here with some news for archeology fans:

Noyaki 2023 - Kusasenri

William Kumanichi notes that there is a cat who wears samurai armor (甲冑, かっちゅう, katchyū - kinda sounds like a cat sneeze, doesn't it?) and hangs out at Sakuranobaba Josaien. Named Kotetsu, the 7-year-old male regularly takes walks with her owner, Seiji Nishioka - photo is at the link - wearing red armor with a little cat foot design (as Sandburg noted, "The ninja comes in on little cat feet.") Such a sight would be enough to give one ... paws. Bring your camera and maybe a piece of dried fish.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Kirk here with a follow-up to the case of Luc Loosveldt, a man who sued Nagasaki University for unfairly terminating his contract:

Kirk here with a Kumanichi article about tattoos and onsen. Main takeaways:

Kirk here. This forum got started as a mailing list to help get the word out about a labor movement involving non-Japanese teachers at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto:

Atsuko here with information about the new Kumamoto Airport.

Kirk here with sad news.

Kirk here with something I learned about via an RKK news segment today. Japan now has an organization called Nihon Fact Check Center. It's a non-profit organization that debunks unfounded rumors and disinformation that gets spread around on social media and other corners of the internet. Recently, rumors have spread all over Japan that Kumamoto will give voting rights to foreigners to satisfy folks coming here to work at TSMC. This is, of course, NOT the meaning or intent of the use of the word 市民 (shimin). RKK's segment includes a brief statement from Mayor Onishi, in which he seems to be recognizing that the way the city handled the proposal was confusing.

Kirk here. As Kuma Visit explains, In Kumamoto dialect "wasamon" means a person who likes the latest fashions, new things, gadgets, etc. Mr. Murakami's sign says "wasamons," combining Kumamoto dialect with the English "s" to designate plural (people in Kumamoto who like new stuff). In the video linked to in Kuma Visit's post lots of people talk, in Kumamoto dialect, about how they're taking a new (wasamon?) approach to promoting Kumamoto. It made me smile. :)

Kirk here introducing an RKK news video about students at my university (Kumamoto Gakuen) who experienced zen meditation (zazen). The name of the temple is Kenshoji. I'm not sure if they provide such experiences for visitors on a regular basis but I'll append some links to information about the temple in case you are interested.

Atsuko with photos of today's snow.