Tourism to Japan down 50% in May

TOKYO—Foreign arrivals to Japan in May plunged by half from a year earlier, a third straight monthly drop following the quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters of March, a report said Thursday.

The number of visitors was estimated at 358,000, down 50.4 percent from May 2010, said the state-affiliated Japan National Tourism Organization.

In April the total plunged by a record 62.5 percent from a year ago to 295,800 after taking a 50.3-percent dip in March.

The massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami left more than 23,000 people dead or missing on Japan’s northeast coast and crippled a nuclear power plant that has been leaking radiation into the environment since.

Officials stress that there is no danger from radiation in Tokyo and other popular tourist destinations such as Osaka and the ancient capital of Kyoto.

“Due to the great earthquake, people continued to avoid trips to Japan in May,” the organization said in a press release.

“The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has not been settled and its details have been continually reported by the world’s media.

“Worries about safety and security, which are essential to travel, still remained large around the world.”

The report noted, however, that group tours to Japan had been resumed since April “in a limited manner” due partly to discount sales by travel agencies.