Atami’s appeal ranged from hot springs to weekend visits
South China Morning Post reporting describes Atami’s hot-spring reputation, its postwar draw for Japanese holidaymakers as concrete resorts opened, and weekend visits by two friends during Japan’s Covid-19 border closure. The friends are an individual example, not evidence of a wider visitor trend.
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The South China Morning Post’s account presents distinct kinds of appeal for Atami across three periods: its hot springs, its role as a holiday destination for Japanese travellers, and the weekend visits of two friends during the Covid-19 pandemic. The excerpt says the seaside city was known for its springs in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 40 years after World War II, its popularity with Japanese holidaymakers grew, and sprawling concrete resorts opened.
The pandemic-era example is narrower: after Japan shut its borders, expats and long-time friends Hillary Hewins and Blake Piper began spending weekends in Atami. The city was a 40-minute bullet train ride from their adopted home of Tokyo. Their visits illustrate one pair’s connection to the city, not a broader change in tourism. The excerpt ends while describing Atami’s city centre, so it does not establish what happened there.
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