About 50 Russians might be staying in Japan

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) - About 50 Russian tourists might be
currently staying in Japan, a top-ranking official from the Association of
Russian Tour Operators told Itar-Tass on Friday.
"So far we do not have information on the exact number of Russian
tourists in Japan, but, according to our estimates, there are no more than
50 Russians - the so-called individual tourists who booked accommodations
by themselves," said Maya Lomidze, the association's executive director.
"The figure might include representatives from Russian travel agencies,
some 10-15 people."
"It is a low tourist season in Japan now," she said. "The flow of
tourists from Russia traditionally grows in late March - early April."
"So far the association has failed to contact the Russian embassy in
Japan," Lomidze noted. "The association is closely watching the situation
and is ready to offer any necessary help both to tourists, to the Federal
Agency on Tourism, and to the Ministry of Sports and Tourism."
Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the Federal Agency on Tourism,
Oleg Moiseyev, told the Russian News Service radio station that the agency
had no information about Russian tourists who might have been hurt in a
strong earthquake in Japan, an agency spokesman said on Friday.
"We are taking measures to find out the fate of our tourists. My
colleagues from the international department are contacting our embassy in
Japan and its consular department," he said.
A magnitude 8.9 earthquake on Friday hit Japan's northern provinces.
The earthquake caused a tsunami wave, which threw water and debris inland,
to high-speed motorways. According to reports coming from the city of
Sendai, a 10-meter high tsunami wave has washed away at least 200 people.
According to the Russian federal statistics authority, some 27,000
Russians visited Japan in 2010.