Japan Looks Ahead, Six Months After the Earthquake and Tsunami
By Gary Bowerman
Nobody in Japan will ever forget the 2011 Tohuku Great East Japan Earthquake. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, whose Pacific epicenter was located off the north-east coast, precipitated a devastating tsunami. Even worse followed, as significant damage was caused to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, creating the possibility of a nuclear meltdown.
As Japan came to terms with the death and destruction on the north-east coast, plus nuclear radiation alerts and frequent aftershocks, it also had to confront the economic fallout. Industrial output in the world’s third-largest economy slumped after 3/11, and exports were hit by the high value of the yen. Reconstruction costs will remain a financial burden for the foreseeable future. GDP growth for 2011 is projected to be just 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, political instability resulted in the August appointment of Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years.
The earthquake’s impact on the tourism industry has been dramatic. In March, inbound arrivals dropped 50.3 percent from the previous year, followed by falls of 62.5 percent and 50.4 percent in April and May. Overall, Japan received 2.83 million inbound arrivals from January to June, down 32.6 percent on the same 2010 period.
Major source markets showed deep declines, including the US, down 23.4 percent.
Japanese outbound also suffered, decreasing 9.1 percent year on year in March, followed by falls of 8.1 percent and 8.7 percent in April and May. June saw a slower 2.9 percent decline, while July witnessed a 4.53 percent upswing – the first monthly increase since the March earthquake and the second highest July outbound total figure ever posted.
Japan’s National Tourism Organization (JNTO) responded to the inbound slump by increasing tourism promotion activities worldwide, and hosting numerous media and travel agent trips. Simultaneously, it sought to allay fears about nuclear radiation and safety.
Video messages by famous visitors to Japan since March, including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Michelin-starred chefs Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Ducasse, and pop-opera stars Il Divo, were broadcast on YouTube. The JNTO also created dedicated sections on its official website (www.jnto.org) and the Visit Japan website (www.visitjapan.jp) for post-3/11 travel and radiation updates from across the country.
“Except for the proximate areas near the nuclear power plants, there is no dangerous level of radiation detected in Japan,” said a JNTO travel advisory issued at the end of August. “Tokyo is not within the radiation contamination concern area, located over 124 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The radiation level in Tokyo is similar to that of New York City.”
I travelled around southern Japan – from Osaka to Hiroshima, Kagoshima, Tokyo and Kyoto – for 10 days in August. Having purchased a seven-day Japan Rail Pass, I was able to jump on and off the shinkansen high-speed train network. Most trains were busy with domestic passengers, but only a small number – even though it was peak summer season – of international travelers. Of the cities I visited, Kyoto and Tokyo had by far the most foreign visitors.
A subdued national mood was palpable – even though Japan is accustomed to seismic activity, it remains deeply shocked by the force and destruction of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, and the damage to a nuclear power reactor. That said, in southern Japan, the physical effects were minimal and there is a daily sense of ‘business as usual’. Staying in mid-range hotels, I did notice that rates were lower than on previous trips, and I was able to book most rooms the day before arriving in a new city.
One unavoidable fact for international travelers in recent months has been the sustained high value of the Japanese yen, which makes it a more expensive destination to visit. The yen has risen 46 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of 2008, gaining 9.7 per cent since the start of April. The yen’s value during my August trip was around 76.6 to the dollar.
Japan did receive some good tourism news in June, however. The Ogasawara Islands – a chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo – and the Historic Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites of Hiraizumi were both inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Hiraizumi – which represents the Buddhist Pure Land of five sites – is situated in pristine forest 40km inland from the Pacific Coast that was struck by the March 11 tsunami. These new inscriptions boosted Japan’s total of UNESCO attractions to 16. In July 2011, the Japan Culture Bureau also approved Mount Fuji to apply for inscription by UNESCO in 2013. The ancient capital of Kamakura, in Kanagawa prefecture, will also seek World Heritage status.
For international visitors, there will be plenty more to look forward to in the coming years. In August, Qantas, Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi announced plans to jointly launch a domestic low-cost airline, called Jetstar Japan. Slated to begin operations in late 2012, it will fly between major Japanese cities and some short-haul Asian destinations. The move came one month after Air Asia and ANA announced a joint LCC venture for the domestic Japanese market and northeast Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan and China.
The capital, Tokyo, has announced it will bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. “We have to rebuild Japan and make it an even better country, and I think the Olympics can play a role in it," said Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo’s governor. The international Olympic Committee will choose the 2020 host city at a meeting in September 2013.
Good news, too, for rail travelers, as further expansion of the shinkansen high-speed rail network is under development. In western Japan, the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano via Toyama to Kanazawa is scheduled for 2014. In the south, a branch line to Nagasaki is being constructed. In the north, the Hokkaido Shinkansen route from Aomori through the Seikan Tunnel to Hakodate is scheduled for 2015.
Japan’s next-generation trains will provide even faster travel. Trains on the USD64 billion Chuo Shinkansen, using highly advanced super-conducting magnetic levitation (SCMaglev) technology, will travel at up to 500kph. This new super high-speed service is scheduled to connect Sagamihara with Kofu by 2020, Tokyo and Nagoya by 2027, and Osaka by 2040 – reducing journey times by more than 50 percent.
In early September, Typhoon Talas killed at least 20 people, and caused destruction and flooding in parts of the Kinki and Shikoku regions of western Japan.
This blog has been commissioned by AmEx.
About Gary Bowerman: Oxford-born Gary Bowerman has travelled the world in search of a good story. After cutting his teeth in legal and tax publishing in London, Gary moved on to edit international business and travel titles before relocating to China in 2004. Resident in Shanghai, he has recently been a contributor to CNN Traveller, Business Traveler,CNBC Europe Business, New York Times, Travel & Leisure and South China Morning Post. Editor of the Singapore Highlights and Beijing Highlights guides, Gary is also one of the founders of Hong Kong and Shanghai-based media and marketing communications agency Scribes of the Orient.
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