Wednesday’s earthquake off Fukushima Prefecture has dealt a blow to tourism businesses in northeastern Japan, where hopes had been running high ahead of the coronavirus pre-emergency measures ending.
The earthquake reached upper 6, the second-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, in some parts of the Tohoku region. Many buildings in the region have been damaged.
Among those hit by the quake are the Saryo Soen ryokan inn in the Akiu hot spring resort in Sendai.
“We were almost fully booked for this three-day weekend” through Monday, said Saryo Soen manager Toyoko Kaneko.
The quake caused the inn to temporarily close as it broke water pipes, flooding parts of the inn’s facilities.
Saryo Soen plans to reopen on March 28, but Kaneko is uneasy.
“We were warned that an aftershock may strike within a week to 10 days. We’re worried that our facilities may be damaged further,” Kaneko said.
An All Nippon Airways aircraft on a special flight to Sendai parked at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Friday. The company started providing special flights to Sendai from Haneda as the Tohoku Shinkensen line remains partially closed after last week’s quake. | KYODO
The quake happened less than a week before Japan fully exits the coronavirus pre-emergency measures, currently in place in 18 prefectures including Tokyo, at the end of Monday.
All expressway sections closed due to the quake have reopened.
But the JR East’s Tohoku Shinkansen train line remains closed between Nasushiobara Station in Tochigi Prefecture and Morioka Station in Iwate Prefecture. Sendai Station is in the closed section.
In the Akiu resort, few people were seen on the streets.
“It’s very quiet despite the higan period” for Buddhist memorial services, said Tsukasa Sato, 54, a senior official at a local ryokan association.
Reservations were canceled not only for this three-day weekend but also for the Golden Week holiday period from late April.
“We’ve taken an additional blow just as we’re recovering from the coronavirus crisis,” Sato said. “Some inns had just reopened after repairing damage from the powerful quake in February last year.”
“Last year, our sales recovered a little, and we expected customers to return if things go well,” said Chikafusa Mori, 53, president of Akiu Winery.
Seven years ago, Mori quit a company to establish the winery, hoping to support the reconstruction of Tohoku after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
He reopened the winery two days after Wednesday’s quake. But the number of visitors slumped.
“The halt to the shinkansen service hurts us. Nobody comes from Kanto,” Mori said. “We hope that the service will be restored before the Golden Week period.”
Passengers at Sendai Station board a special train bound for Nasushiobara Station in Tochigi Prefecture on Saturday as the Tohoku Shinkansen line remains partially closed due to a major quake. | KYODO
JR East expects to fully reopen the closed shinkansen section in April or even later. On Sunday, the company started work to remove a shinkansen train derailed in the section due to Wednesday’s quake.
Meanwhile in Fukushima Prefecture, the Hamanoeki Matsukawaura food store in the city of Soma partially reopened on Sunday after a three-day shutdown caused by the temblor.
“If we aren’t open, the whole of Soma will be seen as hopeless,” manager Takashi Tokoyoda, 62, said. “We must open as a symbol of reconstruction.”
The quake has created cracks on walls of the store. Running water remains unavailable, while the nearby fishing port and seafood processing factory have been damaged.
It is uncertain when the supply of local fish will resume, but the store sells seafood from other prefectures.
“It’s wrong to say ‘We can’t do this because such and such are unavailable,’” Tokoyoda said. “We must accept it and move ahead.”
“We’ll improve our lineups so we can help revitalize our region,” he stressed.