Fukushima’s comeback: This Japanese destination is ready for tourists again

Fukushima (CNN) — It’s a brisk autumn morning, and the Mishima overlook in Fukushima prefecture is crowded with photographers, mostly from Taiwan, eager to capture the scenic Tadami Line railway as it crosses the arched Dai-ichi Tadamigawa Bridge.

Among them is local photographer Kenkou Hoshi, who has photographed the region more than anyone else and has singlehandedly pioneered grassroots tourism in the area.

After discovering the hilltop viewpoint overlooking the Tadami River, he convinced local authorities to construct stairs for easier access; he’s now lobbying for an elevator for the elderly.

As the train chugs into view at 9:05am, there’s a whir of clicking cameras as though for a celebrity.

“New industry is difficult to attract, so tourism is the best way to bring development,” Hoshi said through an interpreter.

Knowing that most tourists to Fukushima are Taiwanese wishing to experience autumn and winter seasons they don’t have back home, Hoshi promoted Mishima by organizing competitions in Taiwan of photographs taken of the Tadami Line from the overlook.

He launched Mugenkyo no Watashi tours on the Tadami River, which, using flat-bottom boats similar to those that ferried him across the river as a boy, take in the haunting place where his village once stood, abandoned after a 1964 landslide.

Hoshi is passionate about Fukushima, which, if you stay long enough, seems to be the defining trait of most everyone who lives there.

Many businesses have been passed down for generations.

Luring visitors, however, hasn’t been easy. Fukushima is one of six prefectures comprising Tohoku, a vast, remote and undeveloped region on the northeastern end of Japan’s main Honshu island, which receives fewer than 2% of Japan’s international tourists.