Korean tourists to Japan surged in January, up 41.2 percent from last year. The total number of Korean tourists increased from 1,658,073 in 2011, when the number hit its lowest following the devastating earthquake and tsunami, to 2,044,263 in 2012. The Japanese tourism board attributed the increase to the fall in the value of the yen and the diminishing fear of radiation. According to local travel agency Mode Tour, 14,200 Koreans booked Japanese travel packages in January and 14,700 in February, up 60 percent from last year. More tourists are visiting the Fukushima prefecture, which suffered an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, for its famous Higashiyama hot spring in Aizu with more than 1,300 years of history and ski resorts, according to the tourism board.

(wylee@heraldcorp.com)