{"id":46994,"date":"2026-04-24T10:23:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=46994"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:23:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:23:40","slug":"japan-injects-new-life-into-fukushima-with-nuclear-plant-hope-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=46994","title":{"rendered":"Japan injects new life into Fukushima with nuclear plant \u2018hope tourism\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/24\/397962d1-a4db-4e65-b2b6-c4899dea8032_2f353feb.jpg?itok=pLf6OK57&amp;v=1776997291\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Fifteen years after one of the world\u2019s worst nuclear disasters, this part of the Fukushima coast feels stuck in the aftermath. Empty lots where homes once stood. Signs warning of restricted access. Convoys of construction trucks carrying radioactive dirt and materials.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">And then, improbably, a tour bus.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Visitors are flowing into barely inhabited towns, attracted for the most part by the very catastrophe that drove their residents away. The wrecked <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant<\/span> has become a destination for \u201cdark tourism\u201d \u2013 travel to sites associated with tragedy, violence, or disaster, like Auschwitz, the killing fields of Cambodia, or Japan\u2019s own Hiroshima.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In Fukushima, officials prefer to call it \u201chope tourism\u201d, as the lifting of evacuation orders in surrounding municipalities has opened the way for package tours.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThere\u2019s a very strong meaning in seeing a place where something tragic happened with your own eyes, and then forming your own thoughts,\u201d said Kotaro Toriumi, an aviation and travel analyst and part-time lecturer at Teikyo University. \u201cIt\u2019s less about enjoyment and more about learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">For Tepco, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, reviving the local economy is inseparable from the long process of clean-up \u2013 and from repairing its own reputation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3351231\/japan-injects-new-life-fukushima-nuclear-plant-hope-tourism?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifteen years after one of the world\u2019s worst nuclear disasters, this part of the Fukushima coast feels stuck in the aftermath. Empty lots where homes&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[21239,169,21238,2251,402,6854,1511,5058],"class_list":["post-46994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-fukushima","tag-hope","tag-injects","tag-japan","tag-life","tag-nuclear","tag-plant","tag-tourism","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}