The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘In Japan there are some refreshing silver linings’
Tokyo resident Danielle Demetriou is making the most of the crowd-free spaces in the city and beyond
It’s Saturday afternoon and my children are running along a forested path in rural Japan, small baskets looped on their arms, picking up an assortment of leaves, twigs and pine cones as they take part in a nature treasure hunt.
The surrounding landscape, on the grounds of a new family-friendly hotel, is deeply peaceful. But perhaps best of all: as we traipse through the trees, not only are we alone – there isn’t a face mask in sight.
Japan is one of a growing number of countries playing a starring role in the ongoing Covid-19 drama, as the virus makes its invariable journey across the globe, leaving a trail of shops emptied of hand sanitiser, face masks and, more strangely, toilet paper, in its wake.
Yet Japan’s status as a leading coronavirus protagonist is perhaps a little misleading: more than 700 of the 1,000 cases reported so far in Japan relate to the cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, which caused a huge spike in cases with its controversial quarantine procedures in Yokohama.
Admittedly, keeping an accurate tally of coronavirus infections in any country is perhaps as tricky as finding toilet paper in a Tokyo supermarket: the actual figures may well be higher, bearing in mind how low testing rates are or the fact that many people show few symptoms.
But Japan is, no doubt, still open for business. Olympic organisers are ploughing ahead with plans to hold the games this summer, kicking off with the launch of the torch relay from Fukushima Prefecture later this month.
New openings are also still taking place: the Ace Hotel Kyoto seems on track to open its doors next month while a new Harajuku station will shortly be unveiled in Tokyo.
Living with my family in central Tokyo, there is a sense of a new normal settling across daily life, as in many other countries. Schools have temporarily closed (a move regarded by many as more of a gesture than a necessity), and major attractions such as Tokyo Disneyland and national museums are also closed. Festivals have been cancelled, domestic flights cut back and white face masks have become the status quo in streets, offices, shops and public transport.
Yet there are also some refreshing silver linings, particularly for visitors: namely, fewer crowds. A drop in inbound tourism, fuelled by the cancellation of group tours from China, has left many tourism destinations unusually quiet. Buses are no longer dropping off hordes of tourists for shopping sprees at Ginza and reservations at tricky-to-book restaurants are easier to nab. The nation’s much-loved cherry blossoms will still stubbornly bloom for all (or perhaps none) to see, regardless of the Covid-19 situation. Those who make it to Kyoto will, no doubt, delight at the absence of the usual throngs of tourists as they explore its ancient shrines, temples and gardens.
Perhaps the best spots to explore in Japan at the moment are the far-flung rural regions that are often overlooked – the tiny fishing islands scattered across inland seas, the remote farming villages and the atmospheric hot spring onsen towns in the mountains.
We discovered this first-hand last weekend when my husband and I took our children, aged five and seven, to Risonare Nasu, a new agriturismo hotel surrounded by forests and farmland in Tochigi Prefecture. We headed to Tokyo Station – which is often insanely busy but instead buzzed quietly with a civilised throng of travellers – and unusually, bought our bullet train tickets without having to queue. En route, we gave up trying to make our children wear face masks (they preferred flicking them across the train or drawing on them) but instead, simply washed their hands.
An hour or so later, we arrived in the serene green heart of Nasu – and enjoyed the perfect nature recharge, with lots of fresh air and tasty food, the children running riot in the woods.
A trip to Japan might not be perfect for everyone at the moment – especially for high-risk travellers with preexisting conditions, or those travelling on to other countries with the possibility of quarantine a lingering threat. Yet for us, it was the perfect escape from city life and a rare chance to silence the endless stream of global coronavirus news.
For UK visitors, further reassurances can be found in the nation’s highquality healthcare system and its clean streets and trains. For those who are concerned, useful information is available from hotlines and on websites run by government bodies, tourism organisations and tour operators.
“We are continuing to encourage our customers to travel to Japan and thankfully, the majority are choosing to do so,” says James Mundy of InsideJapan Tours, which is releasing daily online coronavirus updates (insidejapantours. com/coronavirus -2020). “There is a lot of media coverage creating fear and uncertainty. As a tour operator, we aim to present a balanced view from the ground in terms of how coronavirus is affecting our destinations.”
“It’s the experience of being in Japan,” he adds, highlighting the unexpected perks of travelling here at such a time. “It’s the people you meet and the general ‘otherness’ of the country that makes it such a special country to visit. This has not changed.
“In fact, some sights such as Kyoto, Gion, famed for geisha, and the
Fushimi Inari shrine, are rather empty – a rare opportunity to experience Japan as it was before the tourism boom of the 2010s.”
It’s also a good time to travel off
‘The nation’s muchloved cherry blossoms will still stubbornly bloom, regardless’
the beaten track. “Places such as the Tohoku region, north of Tokyo, are perfect for traditional Japanese hospitality,” says Mundy. “We’d also recommend heading into the Japanese Alps and Shikoku and Kyushu.”
And me? I’m already secretly plotting our next adventure from Tokyo: a trip to a remote fishing island in southern Japan, where the children can run free and breathe in the fresh sea air – minus face masks.
Japan National Tourism Organisation’s 24-hour hotline (0081 50 3816 2787; japan.travel/en/ news/coronavirus).
Japan National Tourism Organisation’s medical guide ( jnto.go.jp/ emergency/eng/mi_guide.html). JNTO official twitter: @JapanSafeTravel