While local tourists have been shying away from the Owakudani district after volcanic activity was detected in the popular hot spring resort town of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture, foreign tourists seem to be undeterred by the news.

It's likely that their travel plans have already been set and that, after checking the news and reading information on the websites of their own governments, they simply decided that it won't be a problem if they stay away from restricted areas.

According to data collected at four of Hakone's five tourist information centers that received inquiries from worried visitors about Mount Hakone's safety in May, the number of inquiries from Japanese dropped about 31 percent from the year before while inquiries from foreigners rose about 26 percent.