I think some people are a little bemused by how upset I am about this loss to the city. Everyone agrees that it is a great pity how the Kumamoto Castle has been so badly damaged - it is the famous icon of the city. But for me personally, the loss of Teacher Janes Mansion is just as worthy of your sorrow.
The building was beautiful - it was light and airy and roomy and thoroughly un-Japanese. Janes himself was utterly un-Japanese too, and quite a trailblazer. The first foreigner to live in the city, it is amazing how much of the way we live our daily life here in Kumamoto is owed to Teacher Janes. Aside from being a revolutionary teacher (not least of all because he allowed girls to learn in his classroom as well as boys) he was also a pioneer of the Christian faith in this city, and with his roots in agricultural farming he revolutionized agriculture in this city, improving the lives of countless people.
Click Here to Discover More About Janes Amazing Life
Enjoy these photos of Teacher Janes Mansion (also the birthplace of the Japanese Red Cross Society) before and after the earthquake.
Photos from May 2015.
Original sketches of Kumamoto people going about their daily lives, circa 1890.
A straw basket used as a makeshift stretcher by the Japanese Red Cross.
Comic detail on an artistic tray, displayed in the upper room of the house.
Books about Leroy Janes.
Statue in the garden (which survived the quake) belonging to the Red Cross.
Photos from October 2015.
Wonderful autumnal colours.
The picture above the fireplace depicts when the Hakuaisha became the Japanese Red Cross - in that very room.
Pictures taken on 23/05/16. Pleased to see the blue tarp on it now - perhaps that means that they will be able to salvage some of the artefacts and relics buried beneath.
Photos of the Wreckage (Before the Tarp) can be Viewed Here - Japanese Website
How sad, nothing left but a pile of rubble
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