Guided tours now

Minami-Soma planning reconstruction aid tours

The Yomiuri Shimbun

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120417004838.htm

MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima--The Minami-Soma municipal government plans to offer people a firsthand look at a city affected by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant by hosting tours to stay in and walk around the city.

The no-entry and expanded evacuation zone designations affecting the city--established following the outbreak of the crisis at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant--were lifted Monday.

The city government plans to start the tours, dubbed "disaster area reconstruction support tours," as early as June.

The city is aiming to bring back tourists and is even planning to let people experience nuclear hazards by providing them with dosimeters, according to a city official.

Tour participants will walk along the coastal area in the Haramachi district, which is mostly vacant following the March 11 tsunami.

They will also visit rice fields that have been neglected because of high radiation counts in the air and soil after the crisis.

The tours will be carried out by volunteers, and dosimeters can be rented if they are requested, according to the official.

Even with the no-entry zone status lifted in the city, spending the night in the former no-entry zone is not permitted.

As basic services such as tap water and washrooms are not yet available in the area, the city has not decided yet whether this area will be open for tourists, according to the city.

The city previously boasted about 1.6 million people visiting every year for sunbathing and swimming and the Soma Nomaoi festival in July, which is designated by the government as an important intangible folk cultural asset. However, "we had almost no tourists last year," a city tourism and exchange official said.

The city government plans to provide travel agencies with a 2,000 yen subsidy for each person, in groups of 10 or more, who stays and eats in the city. There have been inquires by several companies, according to the city.

"In a normal year, our rice fields would be covered with rice seedlings in June," said Yuki Inamura, a 31-year-old volunteer tour guide. "I hope people will learn that we shouldn't allow such a disaster to happen again by seeing firsthand the actual state of our city."

(Apr. 18, 2012)

______________________