Tottori governor says 'We're open for business' after quake

Following the Tottori Chubu earthquake on Oct 21, Tottori Prefecture on Thursday launched a “ganbaro revival project” in Tokyo in order to offset any negative impact the quake may have on the region's food and tourism.

Tottori Prefecture Gov Shinji Hirai first expressed his gratitude to Kumamoto, Miyagi and Tokyo for their different forms of assistance. He also explained that they are on their way to recovery step by step, which was exemplified by their starting to provide lunches from Monday to school kids as their parents have difficulty in preparing a lunch box at shelters.

However, Tottori needs help to bring tourists back. Hirai said: “Even though inns and hotels in Tottori cleaned up after the quake so they could re-open and welcome guests as quickly as possible, they are having a difficult time due to a flood of cancellations.”

Attending the press conference with Hirai, Mamoru Nakashima, president of Tottori Prefecture Tourism Association, announced that their “Welkani (Welcome and Kani - crabs) Campaign” will increase the number of people who can win Tottori crabs from 100 to 200 per month in November and December. Those who stay at any Tottori inn listed in the campaign will have a chance to win a crab by sending in a postcard with a stamp you get from the inn.

Iwao Fukuyama, a Tottori Chubu Agriculture Co-op representative, also asked for help. Due to the earthquake, more than half of the pears in the region's orchards, which were ripe enough to be picked and delivered to shops, dropped from the trees. While Fukuyama expressed his thanks for the number of voluntary requests from all over Japan to purchase the fallen pears, he said the quality of those pears are guaranteed, and those that didn’t drop are also "good-luck pears" as they are “Wazawai Nashi," (pears which have no misfortune).

© Japan Today