The UK Foreign Office has updated its Japan advice to acknowledge disruption to air and rail services and is telling travellers to follow the instructions of local authorities, but has not advised against travel to Japan as a whole.
Tokyo lies more than 900 kilometres northeast of Kumamoto, while Kyoto and Osaka are several hundred kilometres away on Honshu – but travellers heading to Kyushu need to take considerably more care.
Is it safe to travel to Kumamoto?
Non-essential travel to the worst-affected parts of Kumamoto should be postponed while rescue operations, structural inspections and emergency repairs continue. Even where buildings appear undamaged, power cuts, road closures and interruptions to public transport may make it difficult to move around.
Particular care is needed in the mountainous areas east of Kumamoto City. Popular destinations including Mount Aso, Kurokawa Onsen and the hot spring towns of central Kyushu are reached by roads that cross steep slopes, bridges and tunnels, leaving them vulnerable to landslides and rockfalls following strong earthquakes.
Are flights to Japan affected by the Kumamoto earthquake?
Flights to Tokyo, Osaka and Japan’s other main international gateways are operating normally, but services to and from Kumamoto were disrupted after the earthquake.
All domestic flights at Aso Kumamoto Airport were cancelled on Tuesday, 28 July, while engineers inspected the runway and terminal. No runway damage was found, allowing flights to begin returning on Wednesday, although several services between Kumamoto and Osaka Itami were still cancelled during the morning.
Japan Airlines said it expected to resume normal operations later on Wednesday, while All Nippon Airways also restarted services after cancelling one departure.
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Which trains have been affected by the Japan earthquake?
Rail travel across Kyushu remains severely disrupted, making journeys between Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima particularly difficult.
AloJapan.com