Quake-Hit Kumamoto's Tourism Sector Suffers 6-B.-Yen Blow

Kumamoto, Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)--Amid the summer holiday season, the tourism industry in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is suffering a 6-billion-yen blow from the recent massive earthquake.

According to the prefectural government, the July 28 earthquake, which measured the maximum seismic intensity level of 7 on the Japanese scale, caused about 4.04 billion yen in damage to hotel buildings and equipment. Additionally, about 146,000 people canceled hotel bookings by Aug. 6, resulting in losses of about 2.06 billion yen.

About 60 pct of the cancellations were made in the Aso and Amakusa areas, despite relatively little damage from the quake there. Warning against ungrounded information, Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said, "There are unaffected areas even in the prefecture."

After the quake, a "ryokan" Japanese-style inn in the city of Kamiamakusa faced a flurry of cancellations of bookings until autumn. It had already been struggling with damage from last August's flooding, as well as soaring costs, while still recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

"There's no light at the end of the tunnel," said the inn's landlady, Kayomi Nakashima, 58. "We've tried to stay positive, but after seeing disasters continue like this, we're (at a loss)."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]