Travel to Japan

22nd March 2011

North-Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Update

Updated: 22 March 2011

We have now taken the decision to cancel our tour, Ancient and Modern Japan, departing on 8th April. The decision has been made due to the ongoing travel restrictions placed on Tokyo by the FCO and also the many unknowns regarding the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. All clients booked on this trip have been emailed to advise of the cancellation and all clients will be called directly to discuss options. All clients are entitled to transfer to another Exodus holiday or take a full refund if there is nothing suitable. If you have not heard from us please contact us as below.

Previous update: 18 March 2011

The North of Japan was hit by a huge earthquake with an epicentre just under 400km North East of Tokyo on Friday 11th March, the coast close to the epicentre was subsequently hit by a devastating tsunami.

Damage outside of the this region is minimal and family and friends of office staff continue to report that life continues in Tokyo mostly as normal and that the reported food shortages are not apparent with restaurants and food shops running as normal. However, the damage caused to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is causing grave concern the world over and whilst there are so many unknowns about the risk and potential for the situation to escalate, we have taken the decision to cancel the 1st April departure of AOP, Ancient and Modern Japan.

This trip visits the centre and western regions of the country, which are wholly unaffected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, with the exception of minor damage in Tokyo. For the 8th April departure, we have prepared a slightly amended itinerary to offer clients if the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) continue to advise against travel to Tokyo. Instead of travelling to Tokyo at the end of the tour, it will head to Japan’s second city, Osaka, in the west. The rest of the itinerary is unchanged and full details of amended itinerary will be sent once finalised early next week. However, if the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has not been made safe and the risk to human health deemed normalised by the authorities and the FCO by Tuesday 22nd March, we will also cancel this departure as clients’ safety remains our top priority.

So, for clients booked onto the 8th April departure, we foresee three possible scenarios playing out on the 22nd March:

• If the Fukushima plant is not stabilised, we will cancel the departure. Full refunds or option to transfer to another trip will be offered.

• If the plant is stabilised, health risks are deemed by authorities to return to normal but the FCO advice remains against travel to Tokyo, we will provide full details of an optional alternative itinerary in Japan avoiding Tokyo, or clients may chose to transfer to another trip or take a full refund.

• If the plant is stabilised and we along with the FCO deem travel to Tokyo and Japan safe again, we will run our normal itinerary as planned.

We ask you for your patience during this time whilst we try to fully assess this continually changing situation and we will be in touch again on or before the 22nd March.

Dan Cockburn
Senior Product Manager

Updated: 14th March 2011

On Friday 11th March there was an 8.9-magnitude earthquake 400km NNE of Tokyo, just off the coast of the major city of Sendai. Aftershocks are continuing.

Exodus are following the events in Japan very closely and will always follow the Travel Advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO Website: www.fco.gov.uk).

We do not have any groups in the country currently, but we have cancelled the trip due to fly out this weekend (18th March). The FCO currently states: "We advise against all non essential travel to Tokyo and north eastern Japan given the damage caused by the 11 March earthquakes and resulting aftershocks and tsunamis."

Are you are travelling later in the year?

We have spoken to people in Tokyo, the Japanese Alps and also to our local partner based just outside of Kyoto in the west (the parts of the country that our itineraries visit) and all reports are consistent – short of the risk of occasional and planned power blackouts, there are little-to-no physical effects from the earthquake in these regions. The damage, while truly horrific is localised to the North East of the country, which none of our itineraries approach. Narita Airport and transport links to it are resuming normal operations.

As mentioned above, we have taken the step to cancel the first departure of the season – 18th March – whilst the situation on the ground remains somewhat uncertain and the risk of large aftershocks so soon after the main earthquake stays high. All clients on this departure have been contacted and notified of the change. However, we are hoping to run our subsequent tours to this fascinating and beautiful destination.

We will continue to monitor reports on the ground closely and will contact all clients due to travel to Japan with any changes to this situation. If we do cancel your trip to Japan, you will have the option to transfer your booking to an alternative Exodus holiday or receive a full refund.

Our Policy on Travel Security

Our overall policy towards security advice from the FCO is shown below:

• We will always follow FCO advice, and we will not operate tours to areas where the advice is against all non-essential travel. Where we cancel tours for this reason, passengers will be offered a transfer to an alternative tour, or a full refund.

• Decisions about when to cancel upcoming tours are made on a rolling basis, as the advice can change at any time. Where the advice for a country is temporarily against all non-essential travel, we will not normally cancel tours more than 2 weeks before the date of travel.

• The safety of our clients is always our highest concern, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Updates will be added to this web page as and when they become available.

For further questions, please call Customer Operations on 0845 863 9643, or email customerops@exodus.co.uk
 
Related links:
Compass Café comments from Dan Cockburn, our Product Manager for Japan
Know Before You Go
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)