Tourism
Tourism involves movement of people for leisure, business or recreational facilities within or outside their country but away from the areas they usually reside. Tourism is a recognized leisure activity in the whole world. It is important as it boosts the economy of a country (Alison 2005, p.9). Visitors pay for goods and services provided to them during their stay.
International tourism earns a country foreign income as tourists travel inside the country from other countries. Tourism creates job opportunities for people who work in tourist industries. For instance, there are people who work in service industries such as cruise ships and airlines in provision of transportation services.
Others work in hotels where they provide tourists with food and accommodation. Finally, people working in casinos, music venues and theatres provide entertainment and recreational facilities to tourists. The tourism sector is very important in the growth and development of a country (Elliot 1997, p. 20).
Tourism in Japan
According to Berger (2010, p. 3), tourism plays a major role in the economy of Japan as a country and the society in general. Japan benefits from both domestic and international tourists.
For instance, schoolchildren like paying visits to Tokyo tower while those in high schools like visiting Hokkaido or Okinawa. Japan has modified flights that carry passengers within the country in order to be efficient and faster in covering short distances. In addition to domestic tourism, Japan attracts tourists from all over the world (Guichard-Anguis 2009, p.103).
Tourist attractions in Japan
Many things attract tourists in Japan. The attractions range from cultural and historical treasures, beautiful mountains, forests, and the seacoast. Japans’ famous castles, shrines, temples and hot springs are tourist attraction centers. Visitors get comfortable accommodation in Japan.
The unique style of Japanese accommodation in addition to their hotels and mansions designed in the western style attract visitors. An example is Ryokan used to refer to Japan’s restaurants and Minshuku, which refers to bed and breakfast (Nishiyama 1996, p.52).
According to Hunsman and Jackson (2003, p. 430), the transportation system in Japan is well developed with the Japanese bullet train (Shinkansen) joining the major cities. Air transport provides a means of travelling to and from the country. The means of transport within the country are planes, trains and buses.
Crossing from one island to another is through the use of water transport modes such as ferries. Rental cars and taxis are available for visitors to travel from one place to another. Finally, one of the greatest attractions in Japan is their cuisine. Japan has a variety of dishes. They also offer foodstuffs from all over the world. These and other factors attract tourists to Japan.
Tsunami
Tsunami is a Japanese term that means “harbor wave”. A tsunami is caused by earthquakes occurring in water bodies, sub-marine rockslides, volcanic eruptions or even meteorites and asteroids falling into water bodies from the atmosphere. The main cause of a tsunami is underwater earthquake.
However, not all earthquakes are strong enough to cause a tsunami. In order to cause a tsunami, the earthquake should have a magnitude above 6.75. Most tsunamis take place in the Pacific Ocean. Tsunamis occur after displacement of large volumes of water. According to Bryant (2008, p.15), when earthquakes occur in water bodies, the floor of the sea moves up quickly.
Displaced water has to find its way out, which results in long waves that run across the sea in all directions. The water can flow over long distances causing floods in such areas. Tsunamis cause great damage to properties as well as loss of human life. It is advisable to run towards high ground levels or inland places whenever people see signs or suspect that a tsunami is about to occur (Pinedo 2004, p.27).
Tsunami in Japan
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan on 11 March 2011. The tsunami covered a distance of about 23 feet from the coast of the country in the northern part of the country causing thousands of deaths and destruction of properties. Large waves destroyed buildings in large cities, washed away homes, vehicles and people while causing huge damages.
This was the largest earthquake in the history of Japan covering around 230 miles on the north side of Tokyo, Japan’s capital city. Other countries like Australia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan and other areas were given a warning by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to be careful (Nanto 2011, p. 11).
Johnson (2011, p.10) argues that statistics showed that the 2011 tsunami left 15,839 people dead, 5893 injured while 3,647 people went missing. Extensive and severe structural damages occurred as a result of the tsunami. Roads and railways were destroyed, dams collapsed and many places were burned. Naoto Kan, the current prime minister in Japan reported that the incident was the toughest and most challenging in the country after the Second World War, which took place sixty five years ago.
The areas on the north eastern side suffered from shortage of water and electricity after the tsunami. It is estimated that the effects of the earthquake alone resulted in a total loss of over $30 billion. According to the World Bank, the tsunami was the most expensive natural disaster ever in the world whose estimated economic cost was $235 billion.
How Tsunami affected Tourism demand in Japan
The tsunami greatly affected the tourism industry in Japan and other countries in the world. The number of people travelling in and outside the country went down. The economy of Japan went down because its main source of income is from the tourism sector. The incidence affected tourism, trade and other financial activities in Japan.
Many people who were to travel from their own countries to Japan canceled their plans to visit the country. For instance, the U.S. government warned its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan unless it was unavoidable. The issue of cancelling and changing destinations reduced the number of tourists who would have traveled to the country. This in turn means that Japan is going to lose a lot of foreign exchange earnings and therefore the economy is pulled down (Prothero 2011, p.60).
According to Prothero (2011, p.62), the number of Japanese travelling outside their country also went down. This is because the effects of the tsunami were felt by the whole nation, an aspect that created a sense of responsibility towards their country. For practical and cultural reasons, most of them chose to remain within their country for some time.
This reduced tourism around the world temporarily. For instance, most of the tourists in the United States of America come from Japan. About 20% of the total number of tourists visiting Hawaii comes from Japan. Based on the fact that the tsunami greatly reduced the number of Japanese visiting Hawaii, it is estimated that Hawaii will lose in average two billion dollars in the year 2011. Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau (HVCB) argue that the number of Japanese visitors has increased at a high rate since 2010.
Being a developed country, Japan has many engineering and automobile industries. Many Indians travelled into the country for business purposes. Just before the incident, Japan had introduced multiple entry visas for those Indians who had visas from the United States of America.
These and other tourism promotions were mainly designed by Japan in order to gain from business activities with Indians who came in to buy goods in large quantities. Many Indians now feared visiting the country and business operations went down. New Zealand and other trading partners suffered from the tsunami (Hudman & Jackson 2003, p.29).
New Zealand’s Fourth largest trading partner is Japan. Transporting these products became a problem because the ports were damaged. The Japanese could not get those products while New Zealand lacked a market for their products (Prothero 2011, p. 64).
After the tsunami, people from other countries lost confidence in Japan and feared visiting the country. Bearing in mind that some of the victims of the incident were tourists in the country touring beaches and other recreational centers within the coast, others feared that the same would happen to them once they pay a visit to Japan.
Being a difficult task to predict when a tsunami is going to occur, many visitors could not risk visiting the country. Instead, many would choose to remain in their home areas rather than risk their life. Visitors were not secure anymore to visit Japan (Travis, 2001, p.76).
Travis (2001, p.78) argues that the damage that the tsunami left in Japan affected tourist industry. It became difficult to access some of the places because the roads were damaged.Crossing from one island to another was difficult because ports were also damaged and needed to be constructed again.
Tourists feared visiting the country because of transportation difficulties. In addition to the poor means of transportation, some of the tourist attraction centers were located in areas where the effects of the tsunami were felt most. The country therefore lost some of the things that attracted tourists. Many tourists enjoy touring the coasts because of the favorable climate around the sea. The feeling of insecurity around the seacoast discouraged many visitors.
The population of Japan reduced greatly because of the large numbers of people who died in the incident. The country lost people who worked in tourist industries and as tour guides. Because of this, they lacked enough manpower to run these industries. Japanese citizens also feared working in some tourist industries because they mainly operate within the coast. The above factors caused by the tsunami led to decline in the tourism industry in the country (Travis, 2001, p. 79).
Conclusion
A tsunami is a natural disaster which leads to the deaths of many people and destruction of properties. Since it is a natural disaster, it cannot be controlled. However, people should escape whenever its signs show by running away from the coast. A tsunami affects tourist industry because it creates fear among visitors. Trade between countries is also affected. The famous 2011 tsunami in Japan was a global issue, which affected trade and tourism in the whole world.
List of References
Alison, P 2005, Tourism and intercultural exchange: why tourism matters, Channel View Publications, New York.
Berger, A 2010, Tourism in Japan: an ethno-semiotic analysis, Channel View Publications, London.
Bryant, E 2008, Tsunami: the underrated hazard, Springer, New Jersey.
Elliot, J 1997, Tourism: politics and public sector management, Routledge, New York.
Guichard-Anguis, S 2009, Japanese tourism and travel culture, Taylor & Francis, New York.
Hudman, L & Jackson, R 2003, Geography of travel and tourism, Cengage Learning, London.
Johnson, R 2011, Japan’s 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami: Food and agriculture implications, DIANE Publishing, Washington.
Nanto, D 2011, Japanżs 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami: Economic effects and implications for the United States, DIANE Publishing, Washington.
Nishiyama, K 1996, Welcoming the Japanese visitor: insights, tips, tactics, University of Hawaii Press, New York.
Pinedo, V 2004, Tsunami: Building organizations capable of prospering in tidal waves, iUniverse, New York.
Prothero, D 2011, Catastrophes! Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, and other earth-shattering disasters, JHU Press, New York.
Travis, A 2001, Planning for tourism, leisure and sustainability: International case studies, CABI, New York.