Stone fortifications on the Kumamoto Castle grounds that collapsed following the July 28, 2026, earthquake are seen in Kumamoto’s Chuo Ward, Aug. 4, 2026. (Mainichi/Yoshiya Goto)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan began accepting reservations Tuesday for discounted travel and hotel stays in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures under a campaign aimed at supporting the tourism industry across the southwestern main island of Kyushu following a major earthquake in July.
The five other prefectures in Kyushu are set to begin taking reservations later. The campaign offers discounts of 60 percent in Kumamoto and Kagoshima, both prefectures where many hotel bookings were canceled after the magnitude-7.1 earthquake, and 50 percent discounts elsewhere.
The maximum discount per person per trip is up to 20,000 yen ($130) for a one-night stay, 30,000 yen for stays of two nights or more, and 35,000 yen for trips involving overnight stays in at least two prefectures.
Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Oita prefectures have announced that the discounts will apply to travel from Oct. 1 through Dec. 25. Saga is set to begin accepting reservations from Sept. 24 and Oita and Miyazaki in late September.
Fukuoka aims to launch its campaign in October. Kagoshima, meanwhile, is considering starting in mid-October after its own tourism discount program ends on Oct. 13.
The impact of the July 28 earthquake on tourism has been severe. Canceled hotel bookings in Kumamoto Prefecture were worth about 2.7 billion yen as of Aug. 21, while those in Kagoshima Prefecture totaled about 2.3 billion yen by the end of last month.
At a morning press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the government hopes the campaign will help counter reputational damage to the region and “steadily advance the recovery of tourism” across Kyushu.
Following the 2016 Kumamoto and 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquakes, Japan introduced similar travel discount programs, in which the government subsidizes accommodation and tour costs up to a certain amount.
AloJapan.com