Kansai Airport Reports Big Drop In Foreign Visitors In 2011

Above, the Kinkaku-ji "Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Kansai International Airport reported a steep drop in foreign visitors in 2011 according to The Mainichi Daily News.

OSAKA (Kyodo) -- The number of foreign visitors to Japan through the Kansai International Airport in 2011 posted the steepest-ever fall of 22 percent to 2,734,196, due to the higher yen and the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged a wide area of northeastern Japan and triggered a nuclear crisis, Kansai International Airport Co. said in a preliminary report Monday.

The overall number of air passengers passing through the 24-hour airport on a man-made island in Osaka Bay during the year, including domestic travelers, fell 6 percent to 13,520,663, following a revised 7 percent increase in 2010, according to the airport operator.

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Alternate Japanese Capital Idea: "Life Imitating Art"?

Above, Tokyo's National Diet Building. It was located in Osaka in "Godzilla x Megaguirus" (2000). Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This news article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek caught my attention:

Japan Lawmakers Propose Alternate Capital Site In Case of Quake

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government should turn Osaka's old airport into a site to handle administrative functions and economic activities in the event an earthquake or other disaster knocks out Tokyo, a group of lawmakers said.

Why did this catch my attention?

Eleven years ago, Toho Co., Ltd. released Godzilla x Megaguirus in which (in the story scenario) Godzilla, in 1954, totally destroys Tokyo. This forces the government to relocate to...get this, Osaka!

Above, yours truly with a Godzilla filming suit used in "Godzilla x Megaguirus." Photo by Richard Pusateri.

There's a shot of the National Diet Building with Osaka Castle in the movie. This, I heard, amused Japanese audiences.

It appears that the lawmakers' plan could very well be a case of "life imitating art." Perhaps these lawmakers screened Godzilla x Megaguirus and that's where they got their idea?

To read the full article, go here.