After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, some incorrect information spread around the world, including the misinformation that there is a nuclear plant in Tokyo, and that everyone in Tokyo has to wear their mask to avoid the effects of radiation. When I visited Thailand in April, I realized many people were under the illusion that Japan, the country itself, was under the threat of the nuclear plant crisis.

Indeed, pictures and videos of the tremendous tsunami were shocking. The Fukushima nuclear crisis remains serious, too. However, it is clear that Japan as a whole does not face the danger. The major highway running through the most affected Tohoku region was reopened

only two weeks after the earthquake and the news received paper coverage abroad. The Tohoku Shinkansen, or bullet train service, fully resumed its operations on April 29 between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori. Thus, a number of people were able to enjoy hanami in the Tohoku region, which is home to popular cherry blossom viewing spots.

On March 12th, just one day after the massive earthquake, the Kyushu Shinkansen line, which connects Hakata to Kagoshima, fully opened. Thanks to this connection, the 2,000 km Shinkansen network is now complete throughout Honshu and Kyushu, running from Shin-Aomori to Kagoshima-Chuo, passing through Tokyo and Shin-Osaka.

Since the Japanese islands were built by volcanoes and sit over an extremely unstable region of the earth’s crust, it lives with the violent forces of creation on an almost daily basis; the country is renowned for living with more earthquakes and natural disasters than any other country. However, these natural conditions also have beneficial sideeffects, such as the abundance of hot springs, food and the beauty of four seasons.

While the massive earthquake seriously damaged Tohoku’s Pacific coast, sightseeing sites all over Japan are still fine and welcome tourists from abroad. So please visit Japan and travel around the country; it will mean that you support Japan, whose people are waiting for foreign friends with smiles and the mind of omotenashi.

Matsumoto Castle

Visit Castle towns

There are a great number of castle towns in Japan, whose origins date back to the Sengoku period from the late 15th century to the late 16th century. Lords of castles governed the town, and with the increasing administrative role of castles, each castle town became the economic center of the province. The layout of the town consisted of government and business facilities, samurai houses, chonin (well-off ordinaries) houses, temples and shrines. Today, while there are few original castle town remaining due to war damage and land developments, you can still find attractive towns that retain an atmosphere of a bygone era and uphold their own cultures and sagas. Here, four castle town are introduced: