Japan safe, tourism leaders insist

Japan's embattled tourism leaders have delivered a fresh appeal to stay-away consumers by insisting the country is safe and free of radiation risk. The Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) took the step at the Japan Travel Mart yesterday of producing radiation readings in key Japanese cities - although significantly not Sendai, one of the closest cities to the Fukushima power station - and comparing the levels to six other cities around the world. The JTA claimed the levels of airborne radiation in Japan "are well within safe levels and in fact lower than many other destinations". According the Japanese Government, all cities measured in Japan on October 3 - Sapporo, Chiba, Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa - had levels below that of New York, Beijing, Berlin, Seoul and Singapore. (Travel Weekly)