Sightseeing in Kumamoto

Kumamoto Prefecture has many places worth visiting. The prefecture can be divided into several regions: Kumamoto City and environs, Amakusa, Aso, Hitoyoshi, Minamata, Yatsushiro, Kikuchi, and Yabe. I would like to focus on Amakusa, Aso, and Kumamoto City.

Amakusa is an archipelago of about 100 islands off the west coast of Kumamoto, joined to the mainland by a series of five bridges. It is also very close to Nagasaki to the north, and there are several ferries to various points in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Amakusa as a whole is picturesque, with the coast never too far away. Probably the most notable places are Oe Catholic Church and Sakitsu Catholic Church, both quite close to each other on the west coast of the lower island in the Kawaura area; Juusanbutsu Park, a little further up the west coast; and Ryuugatake, a mountain on the upper island.


 There are no trains to Amakusa, so travel by car or bus is necessary, although there is a train to Misumi, the town on the mainland nearest to Amakusa.

Before moving away from Amakusa, let's take a look at Gosoku no Kutsu, a nice walking course (with an expensive ryokan nearby) also on the west coast.

197 words

Notes on Greece

Greek islands

retsina (wine flavored with pine resin)

• Lesvos: 
• castles of Kefalonia
• Heraklion (capital of Crete)

Literature

pine resin

• Iliad
• The Odyssey

Food and Drink

• fasolada: bean soup
• retsina: wine flavored with pine resin

Notes on Greece

The islands

1. Symi
2. Mykonos
3. Santorini
4. Tilos
5. Nas
6. Skyros
7. Corfu

olives and olive oil
goats and goat cheese
meat

1. lamb
2. poultry
3. rabbit
4. pork

drinks

1. fasolada: white wine flavored with pine resin
2. ouzo: anise liqueur

France: keywords

• mustard (moutarde de Dijon)
• Paris
• Bordeaux (wine)
• L'Arc de Triomphe
• La Tour Eiffel
• Champs Elysees
• Bretagne (cider/cidre, crepes)
• Champagne (champagne)
• cognac
• jam 
• liqueurs and vermouths
• Peugeot: Peugeot is a famous car company, originally from Sochaux in France.
• Citroen
• very fast trains: France's TGV is the world's fastest train. It often travels at about 320 km/h.
• fashion
• Chanel
• Louis Vuitton
• Buoux: 
• South of France: 
• French bread: baguette, couronne, batard, pain de campagne, boule, brioche,  (34 words)

batard

pain de campagne

couronne

Key facts

• Chartreuse liqueur: a liqueur made since 1605. There are two kinds: yellow (jaune) and green (vert). The green one is too bitter, but the yellow one tastes great. It used to be drunk by monks for their health.
• Cointreau: The Cointreau distillery was made in 1849. The orange liqueur began in 1875, invented by Edouard Cointreau. It is bottled in a square-sided bottle. It contains both sweet and bitter orange peel.
• Grand Marnier: Grand Marnier has been made since 1880, from a secret recipe. The main ingredients are cognac and a kind of orange from the Caribbean
• 51 and Ricard
• Chambord: Chambord is a French liqueur made of black raspberries, made in the Loire valley, starting in the 17th century.
• Benedictine
• Suze
• Lillet: a wine-based aperitif containing wormwood
• Crème de framboise, mure, cassis

125 words

France

• Dijon mustard (moutarde de Dijon)
• Bordeaux (wine)
• Sagan
• Camus
• Sartre
• Guy de Maupassant
• Zinedine Zidane
• Thierry Henry
• L'Arc de Triomphe
• Palace of Versailles
• La Bastille
• The Louvre
• Notre Dame de Paris
• foie gras
• steak frites
• Peugeot
• Citroën
• Paris St Germain
• Chartreuse liqueur: a liqueur made since 1605. There are two kinds: yellow (jaune) and green (vert). The green one is too bitter, but the yellow one tastes great. It used to be drunk by monks for their health.
• Cointreau
• Grand Marnier
• 51 and Ricard
• Chambord: Chambord is a French liqueur made of black raspberries, made in the Loire valley, starting in the 17th century.
• Benedictine
• Suze
• Lillet: a wine-based aperitif containing wormwood
• Crème de framboise, mure, cassis
• Café crème
• fashion

92 words

The two main characters in Amadeus

The two main characters in Amadeus are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. They were both composers in the Classical period. He was born in 1756 and died in 1791. He composed more than 600 works, including ______________, _____________, and _________________. He was active as a composer in Vienna for much of his life. It is said that he may have died of infection by a parasite in pork or rheumatic fever.

Salieri was important in the development of Italian opera. He was the director of the Italian opera in Vienna. Some of his famous students were Beethoven, Liszt, and Franz Schubert.

Salieri is played by F. Murray Abraham and Mozart is played by Tom Hulce.

Amadeus links

• Amadeus on Wikipedia (Japanese)
• Amadeus on IMDB
• Amadeus on YouTube 
• Amadeus on allcinema
• Amadeus on Kinema Junpou
• Amadeus on AllRovi

Actors (and other personnel) in Midnight Run

The two stars of Midnight Run are Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin.

Robert De Niro is considered to be one of the greatest movie actors. He was born in 1943 and has had a long career. He became famous with the movie Mean Streets. Midnight Run is considered to be one of his best performances because of his good chemistry with Charles Grodin.

Charles Grodin was born in 1935. He is probably best known for the Beethoven dog movies. In Midnight Run, he is credited with making it easy for Robert De Niro to give a great comic performance.

Links for Midnight Run

• Midnight Run best scenes on YouTube
• MR on Rotten Tomatoes
• MR on IMDB
• MR on Wikipedia

SiL on Wikipedia

I just read the Wikipedia page on Shakespeare in Love.

Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 film written by Tom Stoppard. It was hugely popular and won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. It contains many references to Shakespeare plays, featuring several paraphrases from Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, as well as references to Twelfth Night.

The movie includes several real people, including William Shakespeare himself, Christopher Marlowe, and Queen Elizabeth I.

The cast is very good, and includes Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, and Judi Dench.

Links for SiL

• SiL on IMDB
• SiL on Wikipedia
• SiL on Wikipedia (Japanese)
• SiL on allcinema
• SiL on Rotten Tomatoes
• SiL trailer
• SiL review in Japanese

Much Ado on Wikipedia

I just read the Japanese Wikipedia page on Much Ado About Nothing (the Shakespeare play) and part of the English page on the same topic. I don't remember all the details, but there was good information on the characters who appear in the play.

• Leonato is the governor of Messina, part of Sicily
• Don Pedro is the Duke of Aragon
• Claudio is a Count and a companion of Don Pedro, and he falls in love with…
• Hero, who is Leonato's only daughter

Some of the themes of the play are love, infidelity, and deception.

It is thought that the play was written in about 1598.

Much Ado Trailer

I watched the trailer for Much Ado About Nothing just now. It's a 1993 movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on the famous Shakespeare comedy. Actors starring in the movie include Kenneth Branagh (also the director), Emma Thompson (Branagh's wife at that time), Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, and Robert Sean Leonard (of The Dead Poets' Society fame). The movie begins with a poem:

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more

Men were deceivers ever

One foot in sea

And one on shore

To one thing constant never

Then sigh not so

But let them go

And be you blithe and bonny

Converting all your tales of woe

Into hey nonny nonny

My impression after watching the trailer is that it's a joyous movie. I'm looking forward to watching it (again).

Mashiki Culture Center

Mashiki Culture Center, although it's outside the main city of Kumamoto, may well be the best place for musical performances, and it often hosts major international artists.

Prefectural Theater

Kumamoto Prefectural Theater is probably the best-known concert venue in Kumamoto.

Onnojo Park

Onnojo Park is in Itsuwa, near Amakusa Airport, and very near the border with Hondo.

Nishinokubo Park

Nishinokubo Park is in Hondo in Amakusa, near the border with Itsuwa.