FUKUI--Once a bustling port for Kitamaebune merchant ships, the historic district of Mikuniminato in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, is setting sail on a new identity as a high-end travel destination.

The prefecture is ramping up efforts to attract wealthy travelers and international tourists with luxury accommodations and the recent extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.

In Mikuniminato, guests can stay in renovated townhouses and enjoy gourmet dining at the Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato, an accommodation-integrated restaurant that opened in January last year.

The prefectural government has introduced subsidies of up to 250 million ($1.7 million) to support the development of such lodging-integrated restaurants and further boost luxury tourism.

One beneficiary of this program is Kanshukuen Eshikoto, which features eight villas―each with a semi-open-air bath―and a fine-dining restaurant. The resort opened in Eiheiji town in November.

It offers stays starting at 70,000 yen per person per night, including two meals, based on double occupancy.

In February, the prefecture also began working with six municipalities west of Tsuruga to attract luxury resorts, accommodations with restaurants and glamping facilities.

Branded as the “Wakasa Bay Premium Resort Area Project,” the initiative is seeking investment proposals through June for nine scenic locations, mainly on land managed or owned by the prefecture and municipalities.

The initiative aims to boost spending by affluent travelers and foreign tourists, promote local consumption and create jobs that encourage people to remain in the region.

In addition, the prefecture will introduce a 5,000-yen subsidy next fiscal year for foreign travelers who fly into Komatsu Airport from Seoul, Taipei or Hong Kong and stay overnight within the prefecture.

SHINKANSEN DRIVES TOURISM SURGE

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, a popular spot in the prefecture often called “Dinosaur Kingdom,” has seen an increase in visitors from the Kanko and Koshinetsu regions following the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension to Fukui in March 2024.

As of November, the number of visitors surpassed 1 million. This is the first time since the museum’s opening in 2000 that annual visitors have exceeded the 1 million mark.

According to the museum, visitor numbers declined between 2020 and 2022 due to temporary closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, boosted by a renovation in July 2023 and the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension, attendance from March 2024 to February 2025 increased by around 26 percent compared to the pre-pandemic period from March 2019 to February 2020.

The museum has introduced a reservation-based ticketing system to help reduce congestion.

Even so, parking lots remain full, particularly on weekends and holidays, with many rental cars seen. 

The museum continues to focus on attracting visitors from the Kanto region this year, hosting dinosaur fossil exhibits at shopping centers in Tokyo and Tobu Zoo Park in Saitama Prefecture.

According to the preliminary figures from the Japan Tourism Agency, total overnight stays in the prefecture reached around 3.54 million in 2024, up 9 percent from the previous year―outpacing the national average of 5.3 percent.

Among Japanese travelers, the increase was 8.5 percent, ranking sixth in the country in the growth rate.

The impact of the Shinkansen extension is evident in the prefecture’s estimated data calculated from KDDI Corp.’s location data

It shows an 18.5 percent increase in the number of visitors around the three new Shinkansen stations―Awara Onsen, Fukui and Tsuruga―during the 11 months following the extension, compared to the same period the previous year,

Visitors from the Kanto region saw the largest increase at 35.6 percent, followed by a 15.9 percent rise from the Kansai region.

Although they accounted for a smaller share of the total, visitors from the Shinetsu region (Niigata and Nagano) saw a significant increase of 64.9 percent.

Visitors from Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures also rose by 12.7 percent.

BULLET TRAIN SPURS BUSINESS MOVES

The Shinkansen extension has also boosted the attractiveness of the prefecture to businesses, with 13 companies expanding into the region in just 10 months of fiscal 2024, compared to 49 over the five years from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2023 before the extension.

“Interest has increased significantly,” Fukui Governor Tatsuji Sugimoto said in February. “The impact of the Shinkansen is enormous.”

ACCOMMODATION SHORTAGE

However, hotel bookings are particularly tight during major events and busy weekends.

According to the prefecture, new hotel construction projects are planned near Fukui Station’s west exit and Echizen-Takefu Station and other areas. The accommodation capacity is expected to increase by around 2,000 by the end of March 2027.

According to a report by the Development Bank of Japan Inc. in December, the three Hokuriku prefectures will face a shortage of 378 luxury hotel and inn rooms priced at 100,000 yen or more per night for double occupancy if Japan reaches its target of 60 million foreign visitors in 2030.

“Although more affluent Western visitors are arriving, we have yet to fully tap into the demand for luxury hotels,” said Kazuyuki Iida, research manager at the bank’s Hokuriku branch.

“Hokuriku accounts for just 2.5 percent of Japan’s GDP, so the attention is remarkable,” he said. “It’s important to refine the region’s unique value while incorporating outside perspectives.”

(This article was written by Keiko Nagai, Yuki Kamauchi and Tomoyoshi Kubo.)