Toxic water leak plugged at Japan's crippled N-plant

Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors to Japan plunged dramatically in the wake of the March 11 twin disaster as well as the nuclear crisis, according to immigration authorities.

During the period from March 11 to March 31, an average of 3,400 foreigners per day entered Japan via Narita international airport close to Tokyo, down 75% from the same period last year, the Japanese capital's Regional Immigration Bureau was quoted as saying by Kyodo. In Osaka, some 1,700 people on average arrived at Kansai International Airport daily from March 18 to March 23, down more than 50% from the level before the earthquake, according to the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau. The twin disaster has already taken a toll on the tourism and retail sectors, which depend highly on foreign visitors, amid a series of cancellations of tours and hotel reservations. The sharp drop in the number of visitors also came as foreign governments advised their citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan. Before the quake, the number of foreign visitors to Japan had been on an upward trend, with a record 8.61 million people touring this country in 2010, although 2009 was a bad year due to the spread of the H1N1 influenza. The Japan Tourism Agency had aimed to attract 11 million foreign visitors in 2011, but an agency official recently said, "We have to review the target."
Royal Park Hotel in Tokyo, which had relied on foreigners for 50% to 60% of sales, said 80% of bookings for March had been cancelled, while other hotels and Japanese-style inns in tourist destinations like Kyoto and Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture also faced similar problems. Osaka-based Hankyu Travel International Company saw 90% of its tours for foreign travellers cancelled in April. "The majority (of the cancellations) are from Europe, where people appear sensitive to the nuclear issue," a Hankyu Travel official was quoted as saying.