Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Hotels and ryokan, Japanese-style inns, in coastal areas in central and western Japan, have been hit by hundreds of cancellations following the weather agency's advisory over a potential megaquake issued at the peak of the summer holiday season.

Sansuien, a ryokan in Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, reported that bookings for around 450 guests were canceled on Friday, just one day after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an advisory, the first of its kind, on an elevated risk of a powerful earthquake in the Nankai Trough, which runs along the Pacific coast

Most of those who canceled their reservations cited fears of traveling, according to Kazuhiro Kamata, an official of the inn. "While I understand their feelings, it is a tough situation (for us)," Kamata said.

In the Shizuoka Prefecture city of Shimoda, located at the tip of Izu Peninsula, reservations for a total of over 550 people have been canceled. It is estimated that up to a 33-meter tsunami would hit the area in the event of the Nankai Trough megaquake.

Toshihito Okumura, an official at a local ryokan cooperative association based around the famous Dogo hot spring area in Matsuyama in the western Japan prefecture of Ehime, said he expects at least 1,000 cancellations in the week through next Thursday.

"The fallout is expected to continue for a while," Okumura said.

In Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture, its famous white sand beach was closed, and a fireworks festival was also called off.

According to the prefectural government, one hotel was flooded with telephone calls asking whether it was safe to stay and was hit with 350 cancellations.

Shigeki Yamashita of the local tourism association said it was unfortunate that the advisory came "at a time with the most number of tourists in a year."

Beaches were also closed, and swimming was banned in other areas that could be impacted by a Nankai Trough megaquake, including in Shizuoka and Mie prefectures.

Meanwhile, the Kumano Kodo Center in Mie, which displays materials related to UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, decided to close through Thursday, even though it is located on higher ground.

An official of the center said they already had plans to close in the event of a Nankai Trough advisory, given that the facility is close to the sea and that surrounding roads connecting to the building are expected to be flooded.

Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert