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Kirk with news for runners: Kumamoto City has decided to hold the Kumamoto Marathon on 19 February, 2023. The last marathon was held in 2020; the event was not held in 2021 and 2022 due to concerns about COVID-19. I have no information at this point about when runners will be able to apply to participate. If I get such information I hope to be able to post it on this page in a timely manner but I can't make any promises in that regard.
熊本城マラソン 来年2月19日に開催へ | 熊本のニュース｜RKK熊本放送
新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大の影響で、2年連続で中止となった熊本城マラソンが、来年2月19日に開催されることになりました。実行委員会が決めた3年ぶりとなる熊本城マラソンの開催。コロナ禍で実施する理由を、…

Kirk here with more about the Syugakukan violence scandal. It started with a coach who was working under head coach DANBARA Kazushi (段原一詞), but recently it seems that the attention of the media has shifted primarily to Danbara himself. In the first article I'm linking to here he says that he knew nothing of his assistant coach's violence and then, when asked if he in his 20 years of teaching and coaching has ever been violent with his students he says "never." To that, graduates are saying he's lying.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6426344
The second article is about him threatening to sue the school if he is fired:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/9b5513dc72c865a722e9adcc7974b7d074a4a5fc
I don't want to dwell on negative stories like this but this particular issue has gone way beyond being a local story and is continuing to get press.　A daytime TV show called "スッキリ" seems to be devoting time to it, though I haven't seen any of the actual coverage. So, I thought I'd let you know that new revelations in the Syugakkan scandal are continuing to provide fodder for daytime TV and social media.
秀岳館OBが新証言 監督も暴行か - Yahoo!ニュース
サッカー部のコーチによる「暴行問題」が浮上していた熊本県の秀岳館高校。今月上旬の謝罪会見で自らは「暴力行為をしたことがない」と発言していた監督について、卒業生のOBらが「何人も監督に暴行を受けていた」と....

Happy Friday the 13th everyone.
Carlton here and since I was born on the 13th I tend not to fear or worry about an increased incidence of bad luck befalling me during this 24 hour period.
But for those with problems, here is a way to ward off the evil you think might be associated with this day/date:
<https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/13/250699441/for-friday-the-13th-say-it-with-us-paraskevidekatriaphobia>
For Friday The 13th, Say It With Us: Paraskevidekatriaphobia
If you can pronounce that long word, you'll be cured of any Friday the 13th fears, according to some. NPR's Korva Coleman offers an audio pronunciation guide.

Kirk here with another article on the same press conference held by Dr. Hasuda of Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto. The quality of the English in this article is quite good and it is a longer and more detailed.
The article says that the mother "left a comment to be read at the news conference stating, 'If it were not for Jikei Hospital, I would have died together with the baby before giving birth.'" As saving lives has always been the raison d'être of the "baby hatch," I think this statement is particularly important.
Hospital in Kumamoto confirms its 2nd confidential birth | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
KUMAMOTO--Jikei Hospital here announced on May 11 that it had overseen Japan’s second confidential birth, which allows a baby to be registered without disclosing the mother's name.

Kirk here with more news about Jikei Hospital and an observation about how English can be a rather difficult language.
As many of you know, Jikei Hospital has a long history of going out of its way to try to improve the chances that babies will be properly cared for, even when their mothers don't feel they can take on the responsibility themselves. This article is the latest chapter in that story.
Now, for a linguistic observation:
One thing I like about the article is that it links to the original Japanese. As a student of the Japanese language, I often find myself agreeing when Japanese people say that "Japanese is difficult." But, English can be pretty difficult too. For example, English has "will" and the subjunctive "would," a distinction that the Japanese language doesn't have a direct equivalent for, at least at the vocabulary level. This seems to be difficult for Japanese people, even those with otherwise outstanding skills. The following sentence is a case in point:
"'It might be a harsh thing to say, but she will unlikely be able to raise the baby by herself,' hospital chief Takeshi Hasuda told a press conference."
I think it woud be better to say something like "she would not be able to" (not "will") because it's not yet clear what the mother will decide. Here's the original Japanese:
「厳しいようだがご自身では育てられないと思う」
Or, perhaps "she is unlikely to be able to . . ." would be OK but the "she will unlikely be able to . . ." construction seems odd to me.
Conclusion: "英語は難しい！" (English is hard!)
Hospital Reveals 2nd Confidential Birth in Japan
Kumamoto, May 11 (Jiji Press)--A woman has given birth to a baby anonymously in the second case of so-called c…

Kirk here with more about names for Kumamoto. This time I'd like to write a little about the name "Hi no Kuni" (火の国 or 火国).
First a little background. Yesterday, I posted about Kumamoto vs. Higo and, to my surprise, the post got over a thousand pairs of eyeballs (many more than the normal number):
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/7262781397128563
So this is a "if they liked THAT, maybe they'll like THIS" sort of post.
According to Wikipedia "Hi no Kuni" is the oldest name for this neck of Japan's woods, with references in Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) and other ancient texts.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/火国
But, as the map shows, the old conception of Hi no Kuni included what is now Nagasaki. (By the way, this map was stolen from the following page: https://artworks-inter.net/ebook/?p=63)
And, just as Kumamoto was changed from 隈本 (origin of the nook) to the homophone 熊本 (origin of the bear), 火 (fire), which is read "hi", was changed (or transmogrified?) into the homophone 肥 (fertility and/or fat). In my view, "land of fat" was not an improvement on "land of fire," but I wasn't consulted.
At any rate, if you look at the map, you see that the old "countries" of "Higo" (Kumamoto) and "Hizen" (Nagasaki) together comprised the even older region of "Hi no Kuni." The split into Higo and Hizen seems to have occurred in the 8th century.
Quite a few areas in Japan were divided into "front" (zen; 前) and "back" (go; 後) in this way. It seems that the area thought to be closer to Kyoto would get the "front" character (前) and the area deemed farther from Kyoto would get the "back" character. The map shows that Hi no Kuni was just one of three areas in Kyushu that got subdivided into "front" and "back" parts. The question is "Why is Kumamoto 'Higo' and not 'Hizen'?" In other words, Kumamoto would seem to be closer to Kyoto that Nagasaki so isn't "Higo" a sort of misnomer? As far as I can tell, the answer seems to be that back then, most people didn't know how to use Google maps to check distances. (Postscript: See the comments for better, more historically plausible explanations regarding why Kumamoto could reasonably be considered to be in "back" of Hizen. Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback!)
The old meaning of Hi no Kuni included Nagasaki but today it seems to refer primarily to Kumamoto and is written 火の国, because Kumamoto has a big volcano and because people didn't want Kumamoto to be known as "the land of fat."
P.S. My comment about "land of fat" is somewhat tongue-in-cheek but I think the thrust of this little post is accurate. In other words, there is a historical connection between 火国 (Hi no Kuni) and 肥後 (Higo) and 火国 is the oldest name for this part of Kyushu. And, to the best of my knowledge, what I wrote about the 前後 division of areas is accurate. :)

Kirk here with some thoughts about names for the place we currently call "Kumamoto." Kumamoto is on the island of "Kyushu" (九州), which literally means "nine states." However, the "states" (州) were actually called "countries" (国) and this place was called Higo no Kuni (written "肥後国"). So, what was "Kumamoto"? Well, in the Edo Period, different parts of Japan were governed by "han" (藩) or "domains" and "Kumamoto Han" was the name of the domain started by KATO Kiyomasa and later taken over by the Hosokawa family.
The Edo-period system is rather confusing because the domains (藩) are not synonomous with the countries (国). The following Wikipedia article says that the domains (e.g. "Kumamoto han") were the "de facto" (that is, the actual) administrative units, while the countries (e.g. "Higo no kuni") were the "de jure" (that is, nominal) adminstrative uints.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_system
So, administration of countries (that is, places like Higo) could be split between a number of domains (han) that did the actual governing. In fact, the entire area of what is now Kumamoto Prefecture was not governed by the Kumamoto Domain in the Edo period. Before the Shimabara Rebellion (about 1637) it was governed by the Tomioka Han. (Footnote: Modern Tomioka-machi gets its name from this domain.) However, after the rebellion the Bakufu (central government) ruled over it directly, as it did over Nagasaki. (If you want something done right, do it yourself!)
This confusing han vs. kuni system was abolished soon after the Meiji Restoration when the current prefecture system was established. Hence, Kyushu now has seven prefectures, not nine, but the number 9 remains in the region name for historical reasons.
I'm not sure what conventions regarding the naming of han (domains) influenced Kato Kiyomasa but, for whatever reason, he choose a pre-existing place name (Kumamoto) rather than his own family name (Kato). But, as William has already pointed out, he changed the Chinese characters from 隈本 (orgin of a nook) to 熊本 (origin of a bear):
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/5437695429637178
Name selection can be very important important in marketing. Thanks to Kato Kiyomasa we have a cute bear mascot named "Kumamon," not one called "Nooky." ;)

Kirk here with some news about the establishment of an association for Vietnamese residents:
"There are about 6,400 Vietnamese residents in the prefecture in southwest Japan, including students at Japanese educational institutions and technical trainees."
Assoc. of Vietnamese residents launches in Japan's Kumamoto Pref. - The Mainichi
KUMAMOTO -- An association of Vietnamese nationals living in Kumamoto Prefecture has been launched to facilitate interaction and information exchange

(Fiona) Thanks to all who came along for the first in-person Kumamoto-i meet-up in a very long time. We enjoyed walking and talking in the woods on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Kirk here with a view of a train crossing the bridge just south of the the Tatsutaguchi Station in Kumamoto City's East Ward. I was just upstream from the Ozeki Bridge. This part of the Shirakawa can be very pretty but it's often hard to get close enough to enjoy it. I was happy to find this spot on my way back from Saturday's "Walk and Talk," which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Hi Atsuko with bamboo lights information from tonight, May 7 (Sat.)
Hoping you enjoy Kumamoto early summer with beautiful bamboo lights and Kumamoto castle(๑˃ᴗ˂)و♡
The post and photos are shared by bamboo lights guest house, bamboo lights organizer.
ーーーーFrom the postーーーーーーーーーー
Kumamoto Flower Expo Bamboo Light"
Date and time: May 7 (Sat) - May 22 (Sun)
18:30-21:00
Place: Kumamoto Castle along the Tsuboi River (free admission)
🌟There will be a lighting ceremony tonight 🌟
Around 18:45-19:00
Place: Kumamoto Castle, along the Tsuboigawa River
The lighting up of the bamboo lights along the Tsuboigawa River will begin!
They used 500 bamboos from Mt Tatsuta.The bamboo lights were created with the participation of many citizens in a workshop in downtown.
It's also wonderful to have Ms. Naomi Seki, a floral artist, decorate decorate the bamboo light with flowers this time.There are about 140 bamboo clusters too.
We haven't been able to hold Mizuakari in Corona for a few years now, so it's probably been a while since we've seen Bamboo Akari here .
A pleasant night in this season.
Please enjoy the flower expo in the bamboo light.
https://www.facebook.com/109778117942811/posts/325269793060308/?sfnsn=mo

(Douglas) A short video taken of this year's, much reduced, display of Koi no Bori over the Tsuboi river at the bridge to the Takahashi Inari shrine.
Koi No Bori , Carp Streamers across the Tsuboi River
Megumi and I usually visit the Takahashi Inari Shrine bridge over the Tsuboi River in Kumamoto to see the Koi no Bori hanging in strings across the river eve...

(Fiona) This is the meeting point for the Tatsuda-yama Walk and Talk event this afternoon from 3pm. It's about a five minute walk from the car park and just outside the fenced off Matsuri Hiroba where the Hanahaku events are taking place. If you arrive earlier you can go inside and try out the bamboo maze, handicrafts and new playground.
立田山憩いの森 公衆トイレ
立田山憩いの森 公衆トイレ · Norikoshigaoka, Kita Ward, Kumamoto, 861-0000, Japan
★★★★★ · Public bathroom

Kirk with more about the violence perpetrated against students at Shugakukan. Violence is one serious problem; lies are another. At first the school said, "such violence doesn't happen here regularly." However, a survey of the students led them to admit publicly that there had been 25 such instances, includuing "stepping on a student's face"!
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/38759?display=1
Similarly, the head coach (the guy who called the student who up loaded the video the "kagaisha" [perpetrator / person who caused the harm]) said he didn't know about the students' "apology" video before it was uploaded but, in the press conference, it became clear that that statement was false. Now he says that he "went along with the students." Yah, right. I guess the students pressured him into "going along" with their idea to take responsibility -- after he berated them for victimizing the school.
So who is this guy? The name is DANBARA Kazushi (段原一詞) and he seems to have a record of success as a coach. The following site says that the soccer team has gotten to the "final four" stage of four national competitions under Danbara's direction.
https://digtopi.com/danbara-career/
The page also says that he is an assistant to the principal and the academic subject he teaches is English. (Maybe he reads this page ;) )
If you search for the Japanese Wikipedia page about Shugakukan, you'll find that many professional baseball players and soccer players hail from the school.

Kirk here with a restaurant recommendation. I'm a fan of Indian cuisine and, fortunately, we have several good choices here in Kumamoto. One is called Surya and has locations in Tatsuda (in Kumamoto City's North Ward) and Ozu. Here are the two addresses, which can be popped into Google maps to show you the location, regardless of whether or not you can read the Japanese text yourself:
Tatsuda:
熊本市北区龍田6-1-32
Ozu:
菊池郡大津町室176-4
Here's the website from which I took the image and where I found the addresses:
https://surya.storeinfo.jp
I'm prompted to write about Surya today because my wife and I noticed the Ozu restaurant on our way back from a drive to Aso the other day. I had resigned myself to a rather unremarkable meal at one of the fastfood chain restaurants on Highway 57 when my wife noticed Surya. By the time she realized that it might be the same restaurant that we knew from Tatsuda we had passed it so we had to double back -- but it was well worth the trouble. As you return to Kumamoto City from Aso on Highway 57, it's on the left side of the road.

(Fiona) It looks like we will have good weather for the Tatsuda-yama walking event on Saturday. It's still possible to sign up via the event page (or in the comments below). We'll meet at 3pm in the small car park in front of the toilets next to Matsuri Hiroba and walk for approximately 90 minutes. It's well worth arriving earlier in the day if you want to enjoy the Hanahaku attractions inside Matsuri Hiroba. If you're arriving by car, there are lots of staff on hand to guide you to the correct car park. It's also possible to get a free shuttle service from downtown.

Hi friends, Atsuko here.
I would like to recommend a good spot just for GW.
It is くまもと水の迎賓館 お手水の森（旧柿原養鱒場） Kumamoto Mizu no Geihinkan, Ochouzu no Mori (former Kakibaru Trout Farm). It is full of families. You can enjoy rainbow trout fishing.
You can rent a pole and bait for 300 yen per person (you can get bait when it runs out) and fish freely. You can/should buy the fish you catch for 100g/280 yen (about 400 yen per fish).
My children enjoyed fishing so much that they caught many fish, as many as 20, which became expensive, but even children can easily catch fish and have fun.
The caught rainbow trout are weighed and bought up, and when you can take them home, they are gutted at the store.
If you are not a good cook, you can ask the store to 塩焼き grill them in salt, 天ぷらtempura, さしみsashimi, 田楽焼きdengaku-yaki, or 甘露煮Kanroni (all 600-700 yen each) and eat them there instead of taking them home.
Surrounded by greenery and beautiful water, it is cool and recommended not only for GW but also for the coming season.(ﾉ≧ڡ≦)☆
https://nijimasu.jp/
https://iko-yo.net/facilities/157774
MAP
https://iko-yo.net/facilities/157774/map

Kirk here with some news about and comments on the 66th anniversary of the official "discovery" Minamata disease (May 1, 1956).
I've included two screenshots from a news video published by MBC, a Kagoshima-based news service. The first is of the official commemorative ceremony and the second is of the unofficial one. The fact that there are two services results from and is an illustration of the divisions caused by the practice of only granting certification to the most extreme cases and leaving everyone else to more-or-less to fend for themselves. Angered by the government's stance, many patients have refuse to participate in the official, government-sponsored ceremony (first image) and participate instead in another ceremony held at exactly the same time (the second image shows congenital Minamata disease patient SAKAMOTO Shinobu commenting after the ceremony). Here's the URL of the MBC video report:
https://www.mbc.co.jp/news/article/2022050200056026.html
I'm a few days late but I was waiting to see if an English-language article would come out on the topic. Alas, it would appear that English-language media have better things to do -- like write articles about Johnny Depp's movie and the actor's various problems.
In Japanese, NHK featured a report on the commemorative services on their 7 PM national news report. But it would seem that such coverage was only for domestic consumption; though NHK has various English-language news services, they didn't choose to　write a report about the anniversay in English as far as I can see.
I was hoping that the Depp movie would help raise the profile of Minamata disease. It may have done so to some extent. However, when it comes to the ongoing media coverage of issues and events related to real-life Minamata disease, things are either unchanged or worse than before. Now, if one wants to learn something about actual events, one must wade through various movie-related articles to find what little has been written in English about what is actually going on.

Kirk here with a little bit of "what foreigners think" nonsense related to なんばしよっと ('What are you doing?' in Kyushu dialects) that I wrote about yesterday. This article came up when I was looking for information about the expression. It discusses the claim that 'nanba shiyotto' sounds like 'None but shot' to us and that, when addressed to us by a policeman, we would interpret "none but shot" to mean "The only thing to do is to shoot him."
To their credit, the editors of this publication (J Town Network; Jタウンネット) check with some actual foreigners who debunk the theory.
I have, however, heard of a REAL misinterpretation of "なんばしよっと" by a foreigner. The person thought it meant "What place?" as in "何の場所" and would frequently say 'なんばしょっと?' to people when trying ask directions. Unfortunately, she was shot after attempting to ask a policeman for directions in this way. :( Just kidding about the last part but her misconstrual of the expression is true and I heard that it really did surprise people. ;)
徹底検証！「なんばしよっと？」に外国人ビビる説　本当に「None but shot」と聞こえるのか｜Jタウンネット
全国に無数に存在する方言。同じ日本に関わらず、地域によってこんな言い方もあるのかと驚くものだ。日本人ですらそう思うのだから、海外から訪れた人にとってはより一層驚...

Kirk here with a photo I took in Aso today. My wife and I want late in the day so we didn't have to deal with traffic. The late afternoon light made Aso look even more beautiful that usual. We got out of the car and walked for a while to enjoy the scenery you see in this photo. You can see just a hint of the Shirakawa winding its way through the fields.
It was great to get away from the city for a while.
P.S. I used the "pano" feature on an iPhone to take this.