Japan opens bookings for Kumamoto quake recovery travel discounts

TOKYO - Japan began accepting reservations Tuesday for discounted travel and hotel stays in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures under a campaign aimed at supporting the tourism industry across the southwestern main island of Kyushu following a major earthquake in July.

The five other prefectures in Kyushu are set to begin taking reservations later. The campaign offers discounts of 60 percent in Kumamoto and Kagoshima, both prefectures where many hotel bookings were canceled after the magnitude-7.1 earthquake, and 50 percent discounts elsewhere.