Mega essay

Good information about Kumamoto

Introduction

Kumamoto is a very good prefecture. There are some famous or popular things here. Well, I will talk about 5 main topics, famous places for sightseeing, entertainers, historical people, food and drink and universities. Each main topic includes 3 sub-topics. In other words, I will introduce 15 things about Kumamoto to you.

Famous places for sightseeing

Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Castle was built by Kiyomasa Kato. Then, surprisingly, it has been done for 400 years! The most famous feature of it is a stone wall. The stone wall is called 'Kiyomasa's style' because of its elegance and solidness. By the way, some events such as a display of fireworks are held around Kumamoto Castle every year. Therefore, a lot of people come around Kumamoto Castle to watch them regularly.

http://hinokunimatsuri.jp/castle/

Mt. Aso

Mt. Aso is one of active volcanoes in Japan. It is famous for one of the largest calderas in the world. You can watch it only when its volcanic activity is calm. Its scene is very good! Incidentally, the formal name of Mt. Aso is Aso gogaku.

http://www.geocities.jp/sub_ori/aso/aso06.html

Kurokawa Hot Spring

Kurokawa Hot Spring is in Oguni Town. There is a souvenir street near here. Therefore, you can buy some kinds of souvenirs such as sundry goods, sweets and alcoholic beverages there. Now, spring quality of it is the sulfur spring. It has effect to muscle aches, sensitivity to cold temperatures and so on.

http://www.kurokawaonsen.or.jp/nosiyu/onsen.html

Entertainers

Yumi Ogata

Yumi Ogata is a reporter. She is 26 years old now. She appears on Wakattoland which is broadcasted on TKU (Television Kumamoto) every Saturday. It is popular among young people. Yumi Ogata is good at doing kendo. In a project of Wakattoland, she has taken the level 2 Kanji Proficiency test 8 times. However, she hasn't passed it yet. Although she hasn't passed it yet, she has made efforts very hard! Yumi Ogata is a great hard worker!!

http://www.tku.co.jp/webland/programs/wakatto/mc.html

Hiroshi

Hiroshi is a comedian. His real name is Kenichi Saito. His materials are self-condemnation. Before he says his materials, he always says 'I'm Hiroshi' every time. Then, BGM whose title is Glass Rooms is played while he says them. Hiroshi is a funny comedian.

http://www.sunmusic.org/get/profile/profile_hiroshi.html

Suzannu

Suzannu is 21 years old. Although her name is like a foreign one, she is native-born Japanese. Her real name is Sae Yamamoto. She got popular by appearing on QUIZ HEXAGON Ⅱ. The reason why she got popular on appearing it is that she often struck wrong notes when she answered questions. In other words, Suzannu established a fool character on TV!

http://tv.goo.ne.jp/contents/cast/4c52033ab216a9bed5bce259facab5e1/index.html

Historical people

Shiro Amakusa

Shiro Amakusa was born in Amakusa in 1621. He was a Christian lord. At that time, the shogunate prohibited Christianty, so he was tried to kill by the shogunate. Then, he broke out The Battle of Shimabara with a lot of Christians. However, Shiro Amakusa was killed by a warrior.

http://www.kumamotokokufu-h.ed.jp/kumamoto/shoukai/rekisi/sirou.html

Kiyomasa Kato

Kiyomasa Kato is known to everyone as a builder of Kumamoto Castle. He was a excellent warrior. He was good at using spears, so he was counted among Seven Spears of Shizugatake. Then, he served Hideyoshi Toyotomi. There are some theories about his cause of death, and it hasn't clear yet. He died when he was 49 years old.

http://burari2161.fc2web.com/katoukiyomasa.htm

Soseki Natsume

There are some famous novels which Soseki Natsume wrote such as 'wagahaiha nekode aru', 'bocchan' and 'kokoro'. His real name is Kinnosuke Natsume. He could understand English thanks to going to United Kingdom to study. He was very clever. He died from excessive bleeding in 1916. In this connection, it is Soseki Natsume that called Kumamoto 'The Forest City' for the first time.

http://www.library.tohoku.ac.jp/collect/soseki/soseki.html

Food and drink

horse sashimi

As home of horse sashimi, Kumamoto is known to everyone. It is said that Kiyomasa Kato had no choice to have war-horses because there were no food while he participated in a war. This was a beginning of getting had horse sashimi. The price is a little expensive compared to sashimi. Horse sashimi is tasty, but if you don't like a fishy taste or smell of it, I recommend you to have grilled one.

http://basasi.jp/

dago soup

Dago soup is one of local dishes in Kumamoto. Ingredients such as carrots, burdocks and dumplings are in it. It tastes like the taste of home cooking. If you have it when it is cold, the taste may be especially delicious. Incidentally, 'dago' means 'dumplings' in English.

http://www.rkk.co.jp/gamadase/ryouri/5s.html

groundwater

In Kumamoto, there is much groundwater. Moreover, groundwater in Kumamoto is very clean and clear! Amazingly, almost all of people who live in Kumamoto area supply the daily life water by groundwater!! It may be an unbelievable thing for people who live in other prefecture. Groundwater is a limited resource, so we mustn't waste it!

http://homepage3.nifty.com/jagh_torikichi/visit/visit_001.htm

Universities

Kumamoto University

Kumamoto University (KU) has 7 departments. Its department of education, pharmacy and medicine are more famous and popular than its other department. Then, school expense of KU is cheaper than that of private schools. Therefore, a lot of high school students want to enter KU. However, its entrance examination is very difficult.

http://www.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/

Kumamoto Prefectural University

Kumamoto Prefectural University (KPU) has 3 departments. Its department of combined management is popular among high school students who want to enter KPU because employment rates of students who have a degree in the department of combined management are almost 100 percent!! By the way, KPU is famous for a school cafeteria. Particularly, fresh-baked bread is cheap and delicious. Therefore, people also sometimes buy fresh-baked bread besides KPU's students and professors.

http://www.pu-kumamoto.ac.jp/index.php

Kyusyu Tokai University

Kyusyu Tokai University (KTU) has 3 departments. There is a station near KTU, so it is easy for us to go to KTU. We can learn agricultural industry, business management, architectonics and so on at KTU. Every year, competition rates are not so high. Therefore, it is easy for us to enter KTU compared to other university.

http://www.ktokai-u.ac.jp/index.html

Conclusion

Now, I have introduced many things about Kumamoto to you. Perhaps, there may be things which you don't know in my introduction of Kumamoto. Kumamoto is really a very good prefecture. If you are interested in Kumamoto by reading my introduction of Kumamoto, that is wonderful for me. Then, if you know things about Kumamoto which I didn't talk, please do let me know!! [999 words]