Updated May 20, 13:00

One of the strongest earthquakes on records hit the Tohoku Region in the afternoon of March 11, 2011, triggering up to 40 meter high tsunami waves that caused massive destruction and loss of human lives in areas along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan, especially in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures. In addition, the tsunami led to a nuclear accident that forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the region around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

Transportation and tourism in Eastern Japan were affected for several weeks following the earthquake due to power shortages and damage to infrastructure, but all major airports, train lines and expressways were reopened within two months of the disaster. Sendai, Matsushima and Iwaki were the only destinations in our nationwide sightseeing guide that suffered considerable damage from the earthquake. However, even there most tourist attractions reopened within a few weeks or months.

Nuclear Accident

The nuclear accident resulted in massive radioactive fallout and an increase in radiation across Eastern Japan in the weeks following the disaster. In the meantime, however, radiation levels have returned to normal or close to normal levels in all of Japan except around eastern Fukushima Prefecture and some other "hot spots", where they remain heightened but do not pose a health risk to short term visitors outside of the evacuation area.

Agricultural products and seafood are being monitored for heightened radiation levels, and contaminated products are kept from distribution. Nevertheless there have been a few cases of contaminated products that were not detected and made it into the markets. Note, however, that contaminated food products would have to be consumed repeatedly in large amounts over long time periods in order to pose any risk to human health. Therefore, they should pose little concern to short term visitors.

Power Situation

The damage to power plants and the opposition against restarting undamaged nuclear plants continues to cause concerns about power supply. The situation was particularly severe in March 2011 when the power company's capacity was at its lowest, and during summer 2011 when power consumption sharply rose due to the use of air conditioners and caused minor inconveniences to travelers.

Most nuclear plants remain shut down across Japan today, but many old coal and gas plants have been restarted to compensate the shortfall of nuclear power. Nevertheless, if all nuclear plants remain shut down, minor power saving efforts may again become necessary in some or all regions of the country during this summer. Fortunately, it is rather unlikely that these power saving efforts would have any considerable effect on tourists.