The Japanese Tourism Industry needs you!

A great credit to all Assistant Language Teachers I know, we ‘man’ed up. Many of us found avenues to donate toiletries, stationary, second-hand clothes and the like. Now, there is another way we can all help, and it’s all in the name of fun.

Self restraint is underway in a big way. That pesky old law that requires dancing establishments to have licensing for events after 1am (a costly and difficult process) that was largely ignored by officials in the past, has now become strictly enforced.  Highways that were notoriously congested during Golden Weeks of the past were comparatively easy to pass. Sunday afternoon at Osaka Aquarium has become a stroll in the park, rather than the normal chaotic fight for a good vantage point.

This is what has prompted me to write this article. As a tourism advocate, I feel that it is my duty to spread the word. If you were needing an incentive to travel, well, here it is. GET TRAVELLING, THE JAPANESE TOURISM INDUSTRY NEEDS YOU!!

Akasaka district has become eerily deserted. The visitors information centre normally sees 3000 people per day, but numbers have dropped dramatically to 500-600 people daily. An employee at the visitors centre said that in all her 20 years of working there, they had never before had so few visitors.

Just so you can get idea of what kind of numbers we are looking at, between March 11 and the end of March, accommodation in the Beppu Hot Springs area alone received 33,000 cancellations. Touhoku and Kanto regions suffered 390,000 cancellations, while another 170,000 were reported in other areas of Japan.

Misinformation in the media has damaged people’s confidence in tourism in greater Japan, when it is only a small percentage of the country that has been shut down to tourism. All major power outages in the Kantou region stopped well back at the end of March, and the beginning of Golden Week also saw the restoration of the Tohoku Shinkansen Line. On the international front, JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organisation) branches around the globe are scrambling to repair the damage done to Japan’s reputation as a tourism destination.

For those working in Japan, summer holidays are just around the corner, and exam week is even closer. It is not only our duty, but our job to enjoy all our paid leave and inject some money into the tourism industry, and thus Japan. People back home, get on board. International visitors spend more money and stay longer, injecting further funds into the now flailing industry.

So when you travel around Japan in the coming months, spoil yourself, you’ll only be helping Japan too. 

More information

Self restraint: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/world/asia/28tokyo.html

Australian Tourists and Japan: http://www.perthnow.com.au/travel/world/in-the-wake-of-disaster/story-e6frg3wu-1226053103483