TOKYO - Earthquake simulators have become a tourist draw at disaster education centers across Japan, with a growing number of foreign visitors eager to learn about the hazards of life in a seismically active country.
With the number of foreign visitors increasing rapidly, some of the centers have started developing multilingual services.
In April, at the Ikebukuro Life Safety Learning Center run by the Tokyo Fire Department, some 30 high school students from Australia experienced a simulated level-7 jolt -- the highest on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, felt in the March 2011 quake that devastated northeastern Japan.
When the simulator began to rock, students could not stand on their feet and ducked under tables screaming.
It was the first day of a two-week school trip during which they would also visit places including Kyoto and Hiroshima.
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