In the Lower House Budget Committee meeting on May 16, Japan’s land minister stated his intention to spur Kyushu’s recovery from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes by reducing or eliminating expressway tolls temporarily. Drawing hints from a similar course of action taken in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the minister said he would like to consider the option in Kyushu, whose tourism industry has been hit especially hard by the disaster. The land ministry will work with the relevant central government agencies to deliberate details about specific timeframes and sections of expressways subject to toll reductions. Source: Asahi Shimbun, 5/17
