Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, one of the most popular tourist spots in Japan, has suffered "triple disasters" since last spring. After being on a higher alert level for volcanic eruptions in the Owakudani valley and repairing roads and hot spring supply chains after Typhoon No. 19 made landfall last October, Hakone is now faced with more hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic. Tourism officials are at a loss.
"This is not Hakone," a souvenir store manager, 64, sighed while looking at a street lined with shuttered stores in front of Hakone-Yumoto Station on April 18.
The number of guests staying overnight in Hakone in March is estimated to have halved from the previous year and is expected to plunge by 80% to 90% this month. During the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May, Hakone normally sees about 120,000 visitors every day, but this year, 127, or 60% of all the accommodation facilities in Hakone, have already decided to temporarily close.
The local government has announced that it would provide up to 300,000 yen in subsidies to operators whose sales fell more than 20% from the previous year, but a hotel manager said, "The monetary loss is way too big [for the subsidy] to cover."
The volcanic eruption alert level for the Owakudani valley was raised from 1 -- potential for increased activity -- to 2 -- do not approach the crater -- leading to the suspension of operations of the Hakone Ropeway last May.
Hakone was eager for tourism to return to normal on Oct. 7 when the alert was lowered back down to 1. However, Typhoon No. 19 struck five days later. The town worked to repair roads and hot springs that were damaged by landslides, and the mountain railway was expected to resume services this summer.
Hakone had overcome two disasters and was hopeful about recouping losses, but the coronavirus pandemic was not something they had prepared for.
About 36,800 people canceled their reservations in February and about 55,000 in March, according to a survey of 107 accommodation facilities, conducted by the Hakone Onsen Ryokan Hotel Cooperatives, which collected answers from 56 facilities in February and 45 in March.
Sightseeing boats on Ashinoko lake and the Hakone Ropeway have suspended operations after a state of emergency was declared for Tokyo and six other prefectures. About 20 tourist facilities in Hakone, including the Hakone Sekisho checkpoint and the Hakone Glass no Mori Venetian Glass Museum, could not avoid temporarily closing their doors.
"Please refrain from visiting Hakone for now," the local government stated Thursday, together with the local chamber of commerce and industry.
"The government's support is just a drop in the bucket and we are feeling hopeless now, but we just have to sit tight," an executive of the cooperatives said.
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A shopping street near Hakone-Yumoto Station is lined with shuttered stores and very few tourists are seen in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
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