After the March 11 quake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, many embassies rushed to temporarily close or relocate out of Tokyo. More than half of them were back in business Monday.
The Foreign Ministry said it was notified by 32 diplomatic corps that they had closed their Tokyo offices at one point since March 11. But by Monday, 18, including the corps of Finland, Mozambique, Nigeria and Kenya, had reopened their Tokyo offices, a ministry official said. The Finnish Embassy had relocated temporarily to Hiroshima but resumed Tokyo operations last Wednesday.
"The Ministry no longer advises Finns to leave the Greater Tokyo area and transfer to Southern Japan," the Finnish Embassy's website says, but added that it advises against unnecessary travel to the Kanto and Tohoku regions. "The embassy in Tokyo was opened since the number of Finns returning to Tokyo is expected to rise, which increases the need for customer service."