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William Tatsudayama was created by tectonic uplift, apparent when hiking: its clay composition is so slippery gravel must be poured on paths. Mt Kimpo, conversely, is a dormant volcano (yes! it could erupt again! imagine that!) composed of granite; the stone used to create the castle walls was quarried there, leaving a large pit called Ishigamiyama kōen (石神山公園, photo below) which is filled with water but completely fenced. Even I wouldn't swim there: too dangerous, but the views of the city are nice. It's a scenic, short hike from the street car.

Kirk here with something for sword fans and/or history buffs and/or gamers. First here are my sources:

William An uh-oh moment. Most are probably familiar with the lovely springs and banana trees behind the City Library in Suizenji-Ezuko.

William There's a council in Kumamoto made up of representatives of labor and management whose recommendations almost inevitably turn into law. The council has recommended a ¥32 rise in the minimum wage to ¥853 which, if applied by the Labor Bureau, would be the largest raise ever, a full ¥2 higher than is standard. There is no national minimum wage in Japan; all are set by prefecture. By comparison, the minimum wage in California is $14, almost twice as high, though individual cities can (and often do) set higher rates; that in Los Angeles is $16.04, or about ¥2,123. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25, unchanged since 2009 and currently worth about ¥984.
熊本県の最低賃金３２円引き上げで答申 ８５３円に｜NHK 熊本県のニュース
熊本県の最低賃金について、県内の労使の代表者などでつくる審議会は時給を３２円引き上げて８５３円とする答申をまとめ、熊本労働局に提出しました…

Kirk here sharing something that is related to Japan's "foreign trainee" issue. It's not about something that happened in Kumamoto but the basic issue of problems with the trainee (jisshuusei; 実習生) program is a topic we've discussed on this page. The article includes a link to a shocking video of highly abusive treatment of a "trainee" from Vietnam that occurred in Okayama.
Visible Minorities: Reforming Japan's Dickensian Foreign Trainee Program - SNA Japan
News Item: video footage surfaced in 2020 of a Vietnamese “trainee” being physically abused by Japanese co-workers at a construction company in Okayama Prefecture, resulting in injuries including broken ribs and a broken tooth.

William Kyuden (Kyushu Denryoku, our electricity utility) runs two nuclear power plants (genshiryokuhatsudensho, 原子力発電所) in Kyushu: Genkai (玄海原子力発電所), west of Fukuoka City and closer to Tsushima than to Kumamoto; and Sendai ( 川内原子力発電所), south of Akune in Kagoshima. Their website gives current reactor status: https://www.kyuden.co.jp/nuclear_index.html

Kirk here following William's lead by writing about Kumamoto's own yokai, Amabie:
Return of the Yokai - 99% Invisible
One of the cool parts about moving to a new city or a new state or a new country is that you notice all the fascinating things about a place that is just normal for people who have been there for a long time.  When Chris Carlier moved from England to Japan in 2002, there

Kirk here with some Kumamon news. I looked but couldn't find the complete list of the new images.
New official images show beloved Japanese mascot Kumamon making the most of the summer - The Mainichi
KUMAMOTO -- The Kumamoto Prefectural Government has unveiled 29 new illustrations and logos featuring the prefecture's rotund bear mascot Kumamon.

William Shirakawa is quite diverse despite its short length, from its silent birth in the springs of Aso to its broad flow into Ariake Sea. A delightful area many overlook is its passage through Nishihara Mura, where a beautiful waterfall, Shiroito ("White Thread"), cascades 20 meters down volcanic rock hundreds of thousands of years old.

Japan urges its young people to drink more to boost economy
The government's tax agency is encouraging a new generation of alcohol drinkers.

William The crayfish might hold a record for record number of names (crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mudbugs, baybugs, yabbies). I was fortunate to have an elementary school friend whose mother was Cajun - straight from Louisiana! - and the crawdads we caught in the creek she put into a tank for a few days, feeding them with cornstarch to clean out their inners, and then: Oh, my!

Kirk here with a question about the future of this page. Recently, I've enjoyed posts on the "Engrish in Japan" group. Anyone can publish posts to this group but they are all moderated. I recently tried to publish a photo I had taken of some rather strange English I saw in the Asahi Shimbun but it wasn't accepted. That's OK because my post would have been a bit different from typical posts in that group and I think the editots just want to keep a tight focus. But, thinking about "Engrish in Japan" made me consider whether this page should be more like that group.

Kirk here with some information about free COVID-19 antigen test kits available in Kumamoto.
How to self-test for COVID in Japan, and which antigen kits to use
Two kinds of antigen test kits are available, but most municipalities only accept those identified as being for medical use. Here's a guide on where and how to get them.

Kirk with an inquiry about an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist (otorhinolaryngologist or 耳鼻科 [jibika] in Japanese). There seems to be an ENT specialist in Kumamoto who studied at the University of Michigan and speaks English quite well. Does anyone know who that might be?

(Douglas) It is interesting to see the latest headlines from Japan being shown on the BBC news.
Japan urges its young people to drink more to boost economy
The government's tax agency is encouraging a new generation of alcohol drinkers.

Kirk here. Sorry for the alarmist headline but we have a new record. I saw something on RKK that indicates that hospital beds in Kumamoto are filling up but I couldn't find good verification in a text article. Nonetheless, I'd recommend taking even more care than normal to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary hospitalization until this settles down.
【速報】過去最多感染者数更新　新型コロナ　熊本県新たに 5684人感染確認　死者 1人 　8月18日発表 | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
熊本県は8月18日 木曜日、過去最多 5684人の新型コロナウイルス感染を確認したと発表。（先週の木曜日は3745人）熊本市　　　3061人熊本市以外　2623人死者　1人

Kirk here suggesting that those who are able consider donating blood. The Japanese-language news report I'm appending to this post says that August and February are normally slow months for blood donation and that the most recent wave of infections we are experiencing is causing an additional reduction in donations. The image has some suggestions about where to donate in Kumamoto City but I'm sure that hospitals in other parts of the prefecture must be accepting donations too. If you need help finding an appropriate place to donate, let me know.

Kirk here, following up on William's post about the castle. William mentioned that, with the dark sky as background, the castle keeps in the photo he shared reminded him of Darth Vadar:

William Yagi-sensei with an interesting perspective of our castle. Looks a bit like Darth Vader & Son.

Kirk here with some COVID-19 stats. Today, the prefecture set a new record for new cases in a single day: 5,157 (Wednesday, August 17th). Though the current variant tends to be less lethal than previous ones, the high infection rate is leading to a spike in deaths. Today there were 11 deaths in Kumamoto and 286 nationally. To put that in perspective please look at the attached image. Japan has surpassed the current death rate per million in the U.S. and the current wave may be close to outstripping the number of deaths from the previous wave.