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Updated February 22, 8:15
With the full reopening of the Tohoku Shinkansen on April 29, 2011, the situation for tourists has virtually normalized in all of Japan, including most of the Tohoku Region.
Earthquake and Tsunami
Strong earthquakes hit the Tohoku Region in the afternoon of March 11, 2011, triggering several 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.
The tremors caused major damage in areas close to the epicenter, as well as scattered fires and damage across the Tohoku and eastern Kanto area, although they did not cause widespread damage in any major city as seen in Kobe in 1995. The tsunami, however, caused extensive damage beyond imagination in coastal areas along the Pacific coast of northeastern Honshu.
Damaged nuclear plants
Two nuclear plants at the coast of Fukushima Prefecture suffered damage from the earthquake and tsunami. Authorities have issued evacuation orders to people living within 20 kilometers of the first plant, within 10 kilometers of the second plant and to a few other badly affected areas northwest of the 20 kilometer evacuation zone. It is forbidden to enter the evacuation zone.
Large amounts of radiation were released during the days following the earthquake, causing an increase in radiation in many parts of Eastern Japan. In the meantime, however, radiation levels have fallen 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.
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 shortage
The damage to power plants and the opposition against restarting undamaged nuclear plants caused power shortages in Eastern Japan. 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.
During this winter, minor power saving measures are required in the Kansai and Kyushu regions because most nuclear plants remain shut down across Japan, and these two regions are particularly reliant on nuclear power. However, these power saving measures have virtually no effect on tourism. No notable saving efforts are required in the rest of Japan.
Power shortages are unlikely to occur in summer 2012 in any region of Japan even if none of the idle nuclear power plants will be restarted.
Effects on transportation
All airports are open and operating. Sendai Airport, which was hit by the tsunami, resumed handling passenger flights on April 13, 2011.
All shinkansen lines are operating. Service along the Tohoku Shinkansen resumed along the entire line on April 29, 2011 and returned to the regular timetable on September 23, 2011. Service has also resumed along all other train lines except some coastal lines hit by the tsunami, which will remain out of service for a longer time period but are not essential to interregional travel.
Effects on sightseeing
Sendai and Matsushima were the two only destinations in our nationwide sightseeing guide that suffered considerable damage from the earthquake. However, even there most tourist attractions have reopened by late April. Please see the Sendai and Matsushima sections for more details.
Many other tourist sites across Eastern Japan were temporarily affected by the earthquake and resulting power shortages, but have reopened and resumed regular opening hours in the meantime.
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