Japan offers 10,000 free trips to revive tourism

After the sharp drop in tourist arrivals in Japan months after the March 11, 2011 tsunami and earthquake, the Japanese government is offering 10,000 free trips to foreigners. According to a report of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, the Japan Tourism Agency intends to ask interested individuals to submit online applications for the free flights, detailing the areas they want to visit. The report said the program, subject to government budget approval, could start by April next year. According to a report of Gulf News, "the number of foreign tourists to Japan fell more than 50 per cent year-on-year during the three months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant." "The government has said Japan is safe except for the immediate vicinity of the crippled plant, where work crews are still trying to bring the facility to a cold shutdown," Gulf News added. A Reuters report in June said the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11 this year left more than 23,000 dead or presumed dead and caused the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Reuters said more than 8,000 people are still missing in northern Japan and the nuclear crisis still unresolved. - VVP, GMA News