4 months after the quake, tourists coming back to Japan

TOKYO – Four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake, tourists are coming back to Japan and the country is recovering rapidly.

In a briefing for visiting ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) journalists at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Tourism Agency Deputy Director Atsuya Kawada said the government’s monitoring of radiation levels played a big part in winning back tourists.

Kawada said the modified travel information on Japan released by foreign governments since March 11 when the earthquake struck Japan also yielded positive results on tourism.

Tourist arrivals fell from 3.5 million to 2.4 million in the first five months of 2011 after the March 11 earthquake/tsunami and nuclear crisis in the Tohoku region.

Some 40,800 Americans arrived in Japan last May, down from 65,559 in May 2010.

Deputy Cabinet Public Relations Secretary Noriyuki Shikata said in an interview with ASEAN journalists that people should not fear Japan because of radiation and food safety issues.

“Nuclear radiation is something we can’t see. Some people have reason to be concerned about that. But we are conducting detailed monitoring level across Japan. I don’t think Tokyo has higher radiation level than other cities,” Shikata said.

He said tourists and the people in Tokyo are enough indication that radiation level is not out of normal range.

“Seeing is believing. And Japanese people are more sensitive in showing food safety. No real risk associated with export and import of goods,” he said.

Japan, he said, also installed an effective system for entering distribution channel of exported and imported goods.

Shikata said Japan confronted many issues because of the March 11 disaster combining an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

“Japan society has been more prepared to deal with possible earthquakes but the tsunami that hit was much bigger in magnitude than expected,” he said.

The deployment of Japan Self-Defense Forces went up to 100,000 for immediate rescue activities.

“The biggest mobilization of Self-Defense Forces since its creation. Police and firefighters were also mobilized. All our efforts were to rescue,” he said.

“We received so much offer of assistance globally. This was encouraging for those people who live in Tohoku and those kind of acts by leaders and people gave a lot of encouragement,” Shikata said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Maritime Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and World Health Organization confirmed no restrictions on travel to Japan.

The Joint Statement from the five organizations said international flight and maritime operations can continue normally into and out of Japan’s major airports and sea ports, excluding those damaged by the tsunami.

The five organizations also cited that screening for radiation of international passengers from Japan is not considered necessary.

On March 19, the organizations said available information indicated that increased levels of radiation were detected at some airports but these do not represent any health risk.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization said radiation monitoring around airports and seaports in Japan continues to confirm that levels remain well within safe limits from a health perspective.

He explained that the Japanese government is checking radiation levels of fish and other live seafood every week on a sampling basis. Characteristics depending on the types of fishery products are duly taken into account.

The local fishing industries at the affected areas are subject to voluntary restraint of fishing activities when any fish or fishery products are found to have radiation level higher than the upper limit of allowable level as a result of the regular check.

If the radiation level is below the upper limit three times in a row, fishing can be resumed.