Fukui enjoys visitor boost after shinkansen extension
Fukui Prefecture enjoyed a 20% increase in visitors over the 11 months since an extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line opened in the region.
Still, how to increase the number of tourists who stay at local hotels will remain a key issue in the second year of the new section, which opened on March 16 last year between Tsuruga and Kanazawa stations in the Hokuriku region.
"The number of visitors from the Kanto and Shinetsu regions, viewed as a key task amid the weak yen and rising prices, is increasing. It's a big step forward," Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto told a news conference in late January, emphasizing the impact of the extension. The line connects Hokuriku and Kanto, which includes Tokyo, via Shinetsu.
About 6.42 million people visited Fukui between March 16 last year and Feb. 15 this year, up by about 1 million from a year before, according to the prefectural government.
Popular tourist destinations include the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and Eiheiji temple.
But the growth has not necessarily translated into an increase in overnight stays in the prefecture, which is sandwiched between the popular tourist areas of Kyoto and Kanazawa.
According to Japan Tourism Agency preliminary data, the total number of overnight stays made in Fukui in 2024 was 3.45 million for Japanese visitors, up 8.5% from the previous year, the sixth-biggest expansion among all prefectures.
But the growth in overnight stays by visitors from abroad was low. The number of such stays rose 37.2% to about 90,000, lower than the national increase of 38.9%.
"There are few restaurants open until late hours and nighttime tourist attractions," a Fukui government official said.
In addition to increasing night events featuring food and traditional performing arts, the prefecture is working to develop tours to attract foreign nationals visiting Japan for the World Expo in Osaka, which opens next month. Its partner in the project is West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), one of the operators of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen line is due to be extended from Tsuruga to Shin-Osaka Station. But it is unclear when construction between the two stations will start, because of the huge construction costs local governments must bear and the impact of the construction work on groundwater.
"While the connection between the Hokuriku region and the Tokyo metropolitan area is strengthening, effects of the extended section have not been seen in the Kansai or neighboring Chukyo region," JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa told a news conference last month. "It is very important to connect the line to Kansai as soon as possible."
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