Visitors to the scenic tourist town of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, will soon be allowed to walk along a nature path in the Owakudani valley for the first time since minor volcanic eruptions seven years ago.

The trail was closed after the volcanic alert level for Mount Hakone was raised to 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 in May 2015. The level was later lowered to 1, but the path has remained off-limits for safety reasons.

A council including officials from the prefecture and the town decided to reopen the path after the coronavirus quasi-emergency restrictions are lifted.

The members say sufficient measures to ensure visitor safety are now in place. The steps include new shelters and additional volcanic gas detection devices.

They also say tourist groups will be accompanied by safety guides. The size of the groups and the duration of the visits will be limited.

Hakone Mayor Katsumata Hiroyuki says the number of tourists visiting the hot-spring resort town is less than half of the usual figure due to the coronavirus.

Katsumata says he hopes the reopening of the nature trail will help boost tourism in the area.