Travel subsidy programs in quake-hit Hokuriku region to start March 16

Travel subsidy programs aimed at reviving tourism in Japan’s earthquake-hit Hokuriku region are set to launch on March 16, matching the opening of an extension to the Hokuriku Shinkansen line into Fukui Prefecture.

Under the banner name Hokuriku Support Discount (Hokuriku ouen wari) the prefectural governments of Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata will offer travelers to the region subsidies which could amount to discounts of up to 50 percent off accommodation and travel package costs.  

The discounts are part of a central government support package, approved by the Cabinet in January, aimed at reviving the local tourism industry in the wake of the Noto Peninsula earthquake which struck on New Year's Day. Amid news reports detailing the devastation caused by the magnitude-7.6 quake many domestic travelers canceled trips to the region, including to those destinations relatively unaffected by the disaster.   

While the discounts will come into effect for travel from March 16 eligible bookings can be made from March 8 for travel in the prefectures of Fukui, Toyama and Niigata. Bookings for travel in Ishikawa, the region most affected by the earthquake, will begin on March 12.

Residents of Japan as well as travelers from overseas qualify for the discounts. 

While the subsidy programs are commonly referred to as the Hokuriku Support Discount, each prefecture has a program with a name of its own, although the details for each appear to be largely the same. 

(Higashi Chaya District in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref.  Photo taken March 2023.)

Even with the best intentions on the part of program organizers the details of the travel discounts aren’t always obvious to these non-native eyes trying to read the Japanese on the dedicated program websites. However, the details appear to us as thus: 

In the case of tours booked through travel agencies which include accommodation and transportation to and from the destination a discount of 50-percent (up to a maximum of 20,000 yen) per person per trip is available where said trip is for one night only.  

If the accommodation / transportation package costs 20,000 yen per person, under the travel subsidy it would be reduced to 10,000 yen. If it costs 50,000 yen per person, a 50-percent discount would obviously exceed the maximum 20,000 yen discount available and so would just be discounted that flat 20,000 yen leaving the traveler to pay 30,000 yen. 

For tours of two or more nights, the 20,000 yen maximum becomes 30,000 yen. It becomes 35,000 yen when the tour stops overnight in two or more of the participating prefectures. 

To be clear, as far as we understand things at least, those maximum discounts are per person per trip, not per night. 

As was the case with the national Go To Travel subsidy program carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the case of booking accommodation and transportation separately, only the accommodation expenses qualify for the subsidies this time around - a discount of 50 percent per person per trip to a maximum of 20,000 yen per person. 

A hotel booking for a one-night stay at 10,000 yen would qualify for a discount of 50-percent, or 5,000 yen in this case. A room at 50,000 yen would get the flat maximum discount of 20,000 yen, leaving the guest to pay the remaining 30,000 yen.  

As with transportation and accommodation packages the subsidy is given on a per trip basis. A two-night stay or more will still only qualify for that maximum discount of 20,000 yen over the entire stay. Presumably staying one night in Hotel A before moving to Hotel B for the following night qualifies as two different trips.

There is no limit as to how many trips an individual can take under the Hokuriku travel subsidy programs, however, travel for business does not qualify. 

The subsidy period runs until April 26 (for check out on the 27th) or until the given prefecture’s budget for the subsidy has been used. Not all tour agencies and accommodation facilities are taking part in the programs so travelers wishing to take advantage should check in advance of making bookings along with the appropriate booking methods.

Ishikawa Prefecture was the last to decide to join the travel subsidy program. The period between March 16 and April 26 looks like it will be the first phase of a program offered by the prefecture. Another phase could begin after the Golden Week holiday period in late-April / early-May amid concerns that accommodations currently serving as secondary evacuation facilities might not be able to take advantage of the first phase. 

The Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, the region most devastated by the earthquake, will be the subject of a subsidy offering travelers discounts of up to 70 percent in the future, according to reports. 

Speaking at a press conference in February, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito told reporters that his ministry had secured accommodation facilities for up to 25,000 secondary evacuees through to the end of February. 

Meanwhile, Ishikawa Prefecture would continue to work on securing necessary secondary evacuation accommodations for March and had requested accommodation facilities to extend the period for taking in secondary evacuees, according to Saito. 

“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism would like to call on lodging facilities participating in the Hokuriku Support Discount to cooperate in secondary evacuation,” Saito said.

(The Echizen-Takefu station set to be new stop on the extended Hokuriku Shinkansen line, Echizen City, Fukui Pref.  Photo taken March 2023.)

March 16 is also due to mark the opening of an extension to the Hokuriku Shinkansen line, from the city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture to a new terminus in the city of Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture. The extended line will cover a length of around 125km. After it opens, travelers will be able to make the trip from Tokyo to Fukui Prefecture on a single train service in under three hours.  

Hokuriku Support Discount website (Japanese): https://oen.hk.campaign-management.jp/

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