Tohoku's Tourism Rebound 80% Below Pre-Earthquake Levels

Above, a Matsushima Bay islet that helped shield the town from
catastrophic damage.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While Japan as a whole has recovered almost to pre-earthquake levels, but the same cannot be said for the Tohoku region where the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011.

The Japan Times reported:

Tourism levels at hotels and inns in the Tohoku region, which was clobbered by the March 2011 megaquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, remained below 80 percent of their prequake levels in the first half of fiscal 2012, the Japan Tourism Agency said Monday. 

Lingering concerns over the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as a lack of sufficient accommodations in disaster-affected areas, are slowing the recovery of tourism in the region, observers said, noting the trend could drag down its recovery from the disasters.

 The Tohoku region doesn't have much in kaiju-related sites or attractions to draw kaiju fans, except Sendai Station (featured in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Gamera 2) and the Fukushima Airport (where a statue of Ultraman has been placed in the airport's terminal building).  But the coastal town of Matsushima is worth a visit (Matsushima is often compared to California's Carmel coastline in scenic beauty).  Businesses at Matsushima Bay were shielded from catastrophic damage from the tsunami by the 200 islets that dot the bay.

Remedies for the situation aren't going to come anytime soon, but as the article states:

Yuji Oashi, an official of the Development Bank of Japan’s branch covering the Tohoku region, said, “The entire northeastern region needs to deepen cooperation to lure tourists through such measures as developing attractive tourist routes.”

To read the full article, go here.