How some Japanese escape the coronavirus: camping

Tents emerge as getaway for teleworkers and stressed-out families

A campground in Daigo, north of Tokyo. Campgrounds around Japan have so far avoided a rise in cancellations, a nationwide association says. (Photo by Yukinori Okamura)

KENTO HIRASHIMA, Nikkei staff writer

March 8, 2020 05:25 JST

OSAKA -- As coronavirus cases spread across Japan, shuttering schools and upending vacation plans, some people are taking refuge in an unlikely place: the great outdoors.

Campgrounds around Osaka and Kobe report a sharp rise in reservations. The Snow Peak Minoh campground in the mountains north of here says bookings more than doubled in February compared with a year earlier, and are up by about half this month.