Okamis promote trips in Japan

A group of Japanese female innkeepers have appealed for people to make more trips around the country to increase the number of guests at inns and hotels.

The female innkeepers, or okamis, from 38 prefectures attended a promotional event at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo on Tuesday. The event was organized by an association of hotels and Japanese style inns in the country.

The okamis, wearing traditional happi costumes, handed out round fans to passersby and called on them to make sightseeing trips during the summer holidays.

The association says the number of overnight guests has decreased by about 20 percent from a year earlier, after the March 11th disaster. It also says some inn owners have been forced to close their businesses.

An okami from quake-hit Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture said her inn was flooded in the tsunami but that she was able to resume business in April. She said an increase in the number of travelers will help rebuild the affected areas.

Another, from Nikko City in Tochigi Prefecture, said guest traffic has decreased in the wake of the nuclear accident in neighboring Fukushima Prefecture. She said that although her inn is open for business, there have been few guests so far this season.