Reminder of Hiroshima : Japanese Tourists Shun Europe After Chernobyl

Fewer Japanese tourists than expected are going to Europe this summer, but not because of any threat of terrorism, which has frightened off many Americans. Travel experts say the decrease is due mostly to the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Soviet Union.

“We had atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said Takashi Kitamura of the Japan Travel Bureau, the country’s largest travel agency. “Japanese people have more fear about Chernobyl than terrorism.”

U.S., Australia Popular

Before the Chernobyl accident in April, forecasts called for a healthy growth in travel by Japanese, especially to Europe. Japanese who are going abroad are going mostly to the United States and Australia.

Another factor in the decline in travel is the increase in the value of the Japanese yen. While a strong yen gives Japanese tourists more buying power, it has slowed Japan’s export-oriented economy and raised fears of a recession, prompting more people to stay home, according to travel industry spokesmen.

Eleven airlines and 14 European countries, already suffering from a drop in U.S. tourists, recently announced a promotion campaign in Japan to keep their small but growing share of the Japanese travel market.

‘Concerned About Image’

“We are concerned about the image of Europe,” said Peter Liver, marketing development manager of British Airways in Japan.

The United States has been popular with the Japanese tourist, and it expects a 10% increase in Japanese visitors this year. Australia had an huge increase in Japanese visitors in April, chiefly because of the passage of Halley’s Comet.

Few of Japan’s 120 million people normally travel abroad, and those who do usually take short trips--holidays averaging just over one week--according to Ministry of Justice statistics.

But the number going abroad has doubled in the last decade--to nearly 5 million in 1985--and they had been spending more in Europe than Americans, according to the European Travel Commission’s Tokyo office.

Disappointing Year

This year, however, tourism officials have been disappointed, according to the Japan Assn. of Travel Agents.

“Business dropped down a bit in spite of expectations that we would have a better year,” a spokesman said.

“We see no significant signs of an increase, and we were hoping for it,” said Geoffrey Tudor, spokesman for Japan Air Lines.

Popular Asian destinations have had varied business from the Japanese, tourism officials said.

Taiwan, normally the second most popular travel spot for Japanese, had only 0.5% growth in the first four months of the year. The Philippines, which has had a government turnover, fell more than 30% in the same period. But South Korea showed a 15% increase through June.

Initial Rise

The Europeans, who expected growth, were disappointed. Eleven major airlines, including Japan Air Lines, increased seat capacity 24% on flights to Europe in January. They initially were pleased when Japanese visitors rose 7% from January to April, the European Travel Commission reported.

Then came Chernobyl and fears of radiation rose in Japan, although there is no evidence of any danger now in Europe.

Chernobyl was “60% of the problem,” said Ivan Polunin, Japan manager for the British Tourist Authority.

Tourists interviewed at the New Tokyo International Airport at Narita said that in contrast to radiation, the threat of terrorism did not bother them.

Terrorism Not a Worry

“I don’t fear terrorism--I have more worries about Chernobyl,” said Masaiyoshi Nakagawa, a businessman waiting to board a flight to Italy for a vacation. He and other tourists said they think terrorism is too rare to cause them concern.

Soviet authorities, who had predicted a good year after a 1985 thaw in relations with Japan, had 5,000 cancellations from Japanese tourists after Chernobyl, according to Oleg Melik-Azaryan, deputy director of the Soviet government’s Tourist Information Bureau in Japan.