Japanese Hotels, 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, Kyodo News reported.

At least 1,000 cancellations in the Dogo hot spring area are expected in the week through next Thursday.

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.

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.

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 the Izu Peninsula, reservations for a total of over 550 people have been canceled. It is estimated that up to a 33-meter tsunami could hit the area in the event of the Nankai Trough megaquake, Mainichi Japan also reported.