Photo/Illutration All 22 ryokan inns remain closed in the Wakura Onsen hot spring resort in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, as water supplies are suspended. (Daisuke Matsuoka)

The government plans to create a travel subsidy program to prop up businesses in Ishikawa and three other prefectures hit by the Jan. 1 earthquake, sources said.

The proposed Hokuriku Oen Wari program will cover 50 percent of expenses--up to 20,000 yen ($136) per person per night--for trips to Ishikawa, Fukui, Toyama and Niigata prefectures in March and April, the sources said.

The four prefectures constitute the Hokuriku region. 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said travelers are staying away even from areas that escaped substantial damage from the earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula.

“A spate of reservation cancellations has dealt a serious blow to many lodging facilities even in areas where business as usual is possible,” Hayashi told a news conference on Jan. 23.

The Cabinet is scheduled to approve using approximately 150 billion yen from a reserve fund in the fiscal 2023 budget on Jan. 26 to finance the travel subsidy program and other assistance to disaster areas.

For example, the reserve fund will also be used to cover subsidies to help quake-hit small and midsize businesses restore factories, stores and production equipment.

The government held a meeting of the emergency disaster response headquarters on Jan. 23.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reported at the meeting that Noto Airport, which was closed following the earthquake, will begin handling commercial flights as early as Jan. 27 as its runway and other damaged facilities have been largely restored.

Only limited types of aircraft, such as Self-Defense Force transport airplanes, have been using the airport in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, since it reopened on a provisional basis on Jan. 11.

Kishida added that volunteers will play an important role in cleaning up houses and removing earthquake debris in disaster areas.

He instructed government officials to support Ishikawa Prefecture and local governments in matching volunteers with sites where they are needed and making preparations for accepting volunteers.

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