National Aug 18, 2018
Foreign interns face specter of abuse at labor-hungry Kumamoto quake sites
Kumamoto has seen so many foreign laborers lately that it is raising suspicions Japan’s internship recruits are again being exploited as cheap labor.
NEWSWORTHY
National Jul 24, 2018
Kumamoto, remembering quake aid, returns favor by helping flood areas
Kumamoto Prefectural Government officials are supporting disaster relief activities in downpour-hit western prefectures to return the favor they received following powerful earthquakes in 2016. Kumamoto Prefecture and nine local governments have sent more than 160 personnel to help out in Hiroshima Prefecture and elsewhere, capitalizing ...
National / Crime & Legal Jun 28, 2018
Seven plaintiffs have now filed sterilization lawsuits against the government since January.
National Jun 22, 2018
'Drum tower' collapses at earthquake-hit Kumamoto Castle after heavy downpours
A tower at the historic, quake-damaged Kumamoto Castle in southern Japan — one of the country's three premier castles and once a major tourist attraction — has collapsed, an official said Thursday. Heavy rain at the castle — originally built in 1607 during Japan's feudal ...
Business / Corporate Jun 20, 2018
Kumamoto company turns to brown rice paste in bid to revive Japan's abandoned farmland
by Maya Kaneko
Alarmed by an increase in abandoned rice paddies amid the Westernization of the Japanese diet and a graying population, a Kyushu dealer of major agricultural machinery-maker Kubota Corp. began producing rice flour in 2010 as an ingredient for bread and pasta to make up ...
National / Crime & Legal May 29, 2018
Man shot dead by police after knife attack in southwestern Japan
A man wielding a knife was shot by police and pronounced dead in a hospital Monday after he attacked a man and a police officer in the city of Kumamoto, the police said. Two officers responded to an emergency call from a 65-year-old man, who ...
National May 25, 2018
Ministry declares 'serious incident' after police say parts fell from Japan Airlines plane
A day after engine parts from an airliner reportedly damaged a car and a clinic in Kumamoto, the transport ministry is calling the mishap a “serious incident.”
National / Crime & Legal May 24, 2018
Japanese government ordered to pay damages over inmate's solitary confinement
A district court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay ¥400,000 in damages to an inmate who was unjustifiably held for months in solitary confinement in a cell equipped with a surveillance camera. The Kumamoto District Court ruled it was unlawful to continue holding the ...
National May 15, 2018
Documentary to chronicle Kumamoto village's travails recovering from 2016 quakes
A filmmaker is working on a documentary about people fighting to rebuild their community following the powerful earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture two years ago. "I want to pass on to future generations the efforts by the local people who are struggling to move forward," says ...
National Apr 19, 2018
U.S. military helicopter makes emergency landing at Kumamoto Airport
A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing at Kumamoto Prefecture's main airport on Wednesday afternoon with no casualties or air traffic disruption reported, the Defense Ministry said. An oil cooling system apparently malfunctioned on the UH-1 multipurpose helicopter, forcing it to land to avoid ...
National Apr 16, 2018
Kin of last confirmed victim of Kumamoto quakes mark second anniversary of disaster
The family of the last confirmed victim of the powerful earthquakes that rocked Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016 marked the second anniversary of the main quake on Monday. Takuya Yamato, 59, his wife, Shinobu, 50, arrived with their eldest son Shogo, 25, near the spot in ...
National Apr 14, 2018
Residents renewed their commitment to increase reconstruction efforts two years after a string of earthquakes killed more than 250 people in the prefecture.