Japan's summer holiday season moved into full swing on Saturday as people heading to their hometowns, crowded railway stations and airports amid caution following the weather agency's advisory over a potential megaquake.
"It is my first visit to my hometown in five years after a hiatus due to the coronavirus. Now it is an earthquake," Tomohiro Ogawa, 49, a resident of Chiba Prefecture, said at a packed JR Tokyo Station, adding he has discussed preparing for a disaster following the alert with his family.
On Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever advisory on a potential megaquake in the Nankai Trough, which runs along the Pacific coast, just hours after a magnitude 7.1 quake struck southwestern Japan, with its epicenter in waters off Miyazaki Prefecture, near the western edge of the trough.
Although the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train ran at reduced speed in one section in central Japan, causing delays of around 20 minutes, reserved seats for services departing Tokyo were mostly sold out throughout Saturday.
At JR Nagoya Station, a 20-year-old resident from Yokohama near Tokyo said he fully charged his smartphone and brought more water than usual as a precautionary measure.
At Haneda airport in Tokyo, seats for domestic flights, including those bound for areas where the megaquake could potentially cause damage, have almost been full.
"We can finally go on a family trip after being forced to repeatedly cancel due to the coronavirus. I am worried about an earthquake, but we can't worry about it too much," Masatoshi Eguchi, 48, said at Haneda airport before leaving for Okinawa in southern Japan.
At Miyazaki airport, Rikuto Kawashima, 24, who arrived from Fukuoka Prefecture, said, "I was worried if my parents' home was damaged due to the (M7.1) quake. I am glad I could visit my hometown safely."
Konomi Matsuo, from Tokyo, was greeted with a hug by her family at the airport, and she said, "I am worried about aftershocks."
In Kochi Prefecture, one of the regions expected to be affected by a potential megaquake along the Nankai Trough, Ryuta Nakaoka, who arrived at Kochi Airport from Aichi Prefecture to visit his parents, said, "I will stay on alert until I leave Kochi."
A university student who arrived at JR Kochi Station from Kagawa Prefecture said, "I have concerns (about the megaquake), but I am also worried about my family."
Following the issuance of the advisory, accommodation facilities in tourist spots, especially those located along the Pacific coast in central and western Japan, were hit by cancellations, while some beaches in the regions have been closed and swimming prohibited.
Up to 64 people have taken refuge at evacuation centers in Aichi and Kochi prefectures in response to the advisory, according to local governments.
For the Bon holidays between Friday and Aug. 18, railway operators said reserved seats were up around 1.2 times from a year earlier on local and bullet trains as of July 25. Reservations for domestic flights were roughly unchanged from the year before.
Operators of expressways said traffic jams of 10 kilometers or more are 1.6 times more likely to occur.
Related coverage:
Japan braces for potential massive quake after M7.1 temblor
Domestic travel top Japan leisure pursuit but under pre-COVID level
