Japan Navigator

Today’s Japan Times writes about the toll taken by the H1N1 scare on the Tokaido Shinkansen:

Use of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line fell 14 percent from May 1 through Wednesday compared with a year ago as the H1N1 swine flu outbreak and a decline in business trips brought fewer passengers [...] If the downtrend continues for the rest of the month, the rate of decline will break the monthly record of 13 percent set in February 1995 after the Great Hanshin Earthquake [...]

According to the Kobe Shinbun, the total economic damage in Hyogo Prefecture was more like 60%.

But there was also a good side to it. Last Sunday, I traveled around noon from Kobe to Tokyo, and the train was never so empty (note that this is one of the unreserved wagons in the picture, which are normally packed with people, just after getting on in Shinkobe!):

As you can imagine, it was one of my most pleasant Shinkansen trips.