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Liz here, fall is on its way (I think) and if you are a fan of spider lilies, also apparently known as cluster amaryllis, now is the time to head to the rice fields in Mashiki. Just follow densha dori and keep going past Kengun. After passing through a road construction area, keep on the same road headed towards Nishihara . Rice fields will appear, mainly on the right side, and there is a small area where you can park if your timing is right.Link is to a google map showing the main viewing spots: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=ALiCzsaeKrAqPAQ9XmAZclxWkE34C_gW-A:1664370380389&q=%E7%86%8A%E6%9C%AC%E7%9C%8C%E7%9B%8A%E5%9F%8E%E7%94%BA%E5%BD%BC%E5%B2%B8%E8%8A%B1&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rldoc=1&rllag=32941668,130822043,16161&tbm=lcl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmxbDqxrf6AhWIGqYKHamSBkUQtgN6BAgIEAE&biw=1161&bih=700&dpr=2#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[33.3583995,130.8829136],[32.765639799999995,130.15474709999998]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:1

Fujisakigu Reitaisai

Carlton. Consumer price inflation in Kumamoto was brought home to me yesterday when I passed one of the “百円寿司 / ¥100 Sushi” places, Kura Sushi to be exact, that is near me. For decades they and their numerous competitors have advertised a serving of sushi on their computerized conveyer belt delivery system, regardless of most ingredients, to be ¥100. 2 pieces of sushi for a shiny reliable 100 Yen coin. ‘Hyakuensushi‘ became a word in its own right.

William Again, apologies for posting items tangent to Kumamoto (except that we have a large crow population), but this point caught my attention: "Cognition, says McCoy, can be fun. It opens a door to behaviour that isn’t necessarily essential for survival."

William The C. m. japonensis is a type of crow. (Oyaji gag: why are they called crow? - it's their color!) They are extremely intelligent. I had a lil' guy (girl?) who visited my Kumadai office perch to get snacks. He (she?) would never enter the office but was pleased with the snacks I provided him (her?) on the ledge. She (he?) later had a chick and taught it how to get free food from me.

Kirk with some news about the state funeral of Abe Shinzo, the former prime minister who was murdered this year. The image you see reports the results of an online survey conducted by the Kumanichi, Kumamoto's local newspaper. It compares results from July and September.

Kirk here with some "trash talk." A long time ago, one of my partners in crime here posted a link to a pdf about disposing of trash in Kumamoto. Trash disposal is often cited as a source of friction so the information was very welcome but there were two problems: (1) The translation wasn't very good and (2) there was no link to the original Japanese so I figuring out what was actually meant was difficult. This was one factor that led me to write a formal letter to Mayor Onishi requesting that links to the original Japanese content be included in collections of links to materials that have been translated into foreign languages.

Kirk here. Here's something for those of you who can read French and who are interested in manga, education, and/or Takamori. It's about the 'manga studies' department described in English in this article from last year:

William Tussles abut over which route to connect the JR Hohi (isn't it fun to say "Hohi"?) line to Kumamoto Airport, particularly whether an Ozu line or a Sanrigi line. Issues are distance and potential usage.

Hello all 🙂

William A reminder that the Japanese Health System, as wonderful as it is, can be difficult to navigate. If any need advice, please do not hesitate to contact us.

William An interesting kanji exists - 轟, representing three vehicles and meaning a whole lotta noise, pronounced "todoro." There are several waterfalls named such; Google them. One is in Yatsushiro.

Kirk here with what I think is a cool use of technology that is being applied to the restoration of Kumamoto Castle:

William Our friend https://www.facebook.com/hiromitsu.yagi posted a photo of the castle illuminated in red, a salute to World Alzheimer's Month. https://www.alzint.org/get-involved/world-alzheimers-month/

Kirk here introducing an article that has lot of pictures of Kusabe Yoshimi Shrine (草部吉見神社), which is located in Takamori. If the article makes you want to visit, you'll find an address you can plug into Google maps and a link to the shrine's Japanese website at the end of it.

Kirk here with a little footnote regarding an issue that really bothered me as the recent typhoon approached: giving people (especially foreigners) the impression that EVERYONE was required to evacuate (go to a shelter) when, if fact, that wasn't the official policy. I was mainly concerned about how such messages might waste people's time (cause them to spend unproductive time in a shelter unnecessarily) or lead to a "boy crying wolf" effect (it's just a** covering on the part of the officials -- ignore them). This newspaper article (Asahi) from the Monday the 19th made me realize that another issue was involved. In Miyazaki City (which was under greater threat and sustained more damage than Kumamoto City) many shelters filled up completely. The article says that some people who would have preferred to be in a shelter had to remain at home. So, giving people who don't need to evacuate the impression that they are required to do so may lead to centers filling up and preventing people who really need a place to shelter from doing so. This is just one more reason why NHK WORLD-Japan's clear but factually incorrect "Lever 4 means every must evacuate" explanation needs to be corrected. Actually, I have an acquaintance at NHK WORLD-Japan and am planning to put my argument together in a tight package eventually and present it to him. I'm not sure but perhaps I can get them to make some adjustments in how they explain this stuff.

(Douglas) After posting a few screen captured videos in conjunction with typhoon 14 posts, I was not pleased to see how Facebook treated them. Instead of giving up, I decided to try a completely different approach. The video I will now attempt to post has been created by a different workflow and I have chosen to answer a question that was asked by Paul Arenson about the typhoon as it passed Fukuoka. Here goes . . . . . .

Kirk here with a share from Kuma Visit. I know that many readers of Kumamoto International also read Kuma Visit but for those of you who don't, I highly recommend it. We may post about similar topics but the specific information is often quite different. For example, I posted a lot about how to figure out whether or not evacuation orders actually apply to you but I didn't introduce anything for people with pets who might need to move to a safer location. If there's anyone out there who may actually need to evacuate with a pet in the future, you might want to save this bit of information for future reference. And, be sure to "like" Kuma Visit!

Kirk here with land price news (an unusual topic on this page):

The Sinfonietta 34th Annual Concert