Kumamoto essay

[ Famous People of Kumamoto]

1.Akemi Matsuno

Akemi Matsuno is a former marathon runner and now TV performer. She belongs to NikoNiko Do. Unfortunately, she is most famous because she did not qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She is now married to a man who is her manager and is also from Kumamoto. They have two children. She also has a talent of mimicry. She is very unique and funny, she often appears on lots of variety shows.

2.Cream stew

Cream shew is a famous entertainer. The group consists of two menbers, One is Shinya Ueda the other is Teppei Arita. Both of them graduated from Seisei high school.Originally, this name isn't cream shityu. At first, they was sold as "Kaijarisuigyo". Now, they work some programs such as All night Nippon, Zubari yuwayo, Cream nanntoka and so on. They also appeared in Kumamoto's CM. Now they appear the CM " Hakutake Shiro".

3.Hiroshi

Hiroshi is a famous entertainer. Actually, he had been worked at Host club for 3 years and then he became entertainer again.The stage name of Hiroshi comes from "Hiroshi Ikushima" who is the TV announcer. However, his real name is Kenichi Saito.When he performs, he always says "Hiroshi desu." For everyone, this word is very funny and interesting.

4.Korroke

Korroke is a famous mimic star. He was born in Kumamoto city. He graduated from Kaishin high school. When he appeared on a mimicTV show and won the grand prize, he became popular. In the 1980s he mimiced Kenichi Mikawa who was not popular then. Thanks for it, Mikawa became popular again. Korroke and Mikawa appeared in the NHK Year-end Grand Song Festival together. He mainly mimics Shinichi Mori, Hiroshi Itsuki, Saburo Kitajima and so on. His older sister is a mimic star,too and her screen name is Kerroke.

5.Shingo Suetsugu

Shingo Suetsugu is the fastest sprinter in Japan. He also got a bronze medal of World Championship in Paris 2003 as the first sprinter in Japan. Now, he belongs to Mizuno. He graduated from Kyushu gakuin high school and Tokai university. His parents wprk here as barber. In August 2007, he entered in the World Championship in Osaka as the menbers of team Japan and sat up a Asia new record. Today,he's practicing hard for the Olympic in Beijing.

[ Famous places of Kumamoto]

1.Kumamoto Castle

The first thing people think about when they think about Kumamoto is Kumamoto castle. With the 400th anniversary of the castle, visitors, many of them from foreign countries, have been coming to Kumamoto to see the castle.There are some parks in this area. Ninomaru-park, for example, is vast and you can see the castle well from it. In spring, the cherry blossoms are their best and you can see many people enjoy Hanami there. This year,2007, is the 400th anniversary of Kumamoto castle, that's why there are many events like the aerial acrobatics, Brass band musics and so on. Try to visit Kumamoto castle at least once!

2.Suizenji Park

Suizenji Park is near Kokufu High school and it is a famous place in Kumamoto. The most famaus garden in it is Suizenjijyoujyuen. Before about 360 years, Tadatoshi Hosokawa was made the garden.In the garden, there is a springwater and have been flown pure water, so many tourists visit for sightseeing. There are some events like Takigino and Yabusame in a year. admission to the park is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for children. It is good place to enjoy seeing Japanese classic garden!!

3.Mt. Aso

Mt.Aso is located in the east of Kumamoto and have the largest caldera in the world. It is a simbol of Kumamoto and is popular with many people. If you visit Aso, you should go to Cuddly Dominion. There you can see several bears and other animals, and touch some of them. You also can meet Tv star chimpanzee, Pan kun there.When the volcanic activity quit, we can see crater nearby. There is also Aso National Park. There are so many leisure spots and lots of people go there.

4.Kikuchikeikoku

Kikuchikeikoku is one of the famous place of Kumamoto. The vally is the source of Kukuma river in north of Kumamoto.This water is selected by the famous water in Japan. When it comes to Summer, people go to there becasue this place is cool.Every year in April, about 30～４０ ten thousands of people visit there.

5.Tsuruya

Tsuruya is the largest local department store in Kumamoto. This year, Tsuruya became 55 years and is loved by Kumamoto people. Basically, Tsuruya consists of the main building and east building. However, there are New-S, WING-Ⅱ, NEXTSTAGE and Brooks Brothers near it. Tsuruya has a original song and it can listen to this song from the RKK radio program. Tsuruya was also a sponsor of Rosso Kumamoto.When it comes to Chiristmas season, it is illuminated and brightened around the street.

[ Specialties of Kumamoto]

1. Basashi (Horse Sashimi)

Do you know "Basashi(Horse Sashimi)" ? It is one of the most famous specialties of Kumamoto. As you can see the word "Sashimi", we eat it with it uncooked. It is a horse meat, but, of course, we don't fly it at all.It is eaten in Kumamoto, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Tohoku section, but Kumamoto is known as the best place to eat it. The history of Basashi came from around 1592 to 1593. At that time, the army of Kiyomasa Kato started to eat Basashi because they were lacking of food. We recommend you to eat it once!

2. Tai-Pi-En

Tai-Pi-En is originally a Chinese food which is recreated in Japan. The original one came from Fujian, China at the age of Meji. It is like ramen and many ramen restaurants serve it commonly, so it is said that some Kumamoto people think it is served everywhere in Japan. There are several varieties of soup just like Ramen. It contains sping vermicelli, shrimp, cuttlefish, pork and something like that. By the way, it is called "Tai-Pin-En" differently and only some restaurants serve.

3. Corn Sponge Cake

In Aso city, you can buy a funny sponge cake named "Corn Sponge Cake" (Tomorokoshi Kasutera in Japanese). This sponge cake contains a lot of corn, which is made there. You can't find it anywhere else, it is sold only at the top of Mt. Aso. If you visit Aso, how about trying it?

4. Dekopon

"Dekopon" is a kind of citrus, which Kumamoto produces almost half of the quantity of output. It can be peeled easily and you can eat it with its peel. In addition, it has a high suger content and its tast is very good, which is why many people prefer it. "Dekopon" is kind of a brand of citrus and producers must clear some conditions to give their products the brand name. By the way, at first, Dekopon was originally Kumamoto-held.

5. Karashi Renkon

Karashi Renkon is a lotus root filled with a lot of mustard, which was formed in Kumamoto. This is very popular among Kumamoto people. However, unfortunately there was an incident which it has something to do with. In 1984 36 people was poisoned and 11 of them died because of Karashi Renkon.