The city of Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture has seen an uptick in school trips through October and November, as numbers of COVID-19 infections have fallen.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, schools usually planned educational excursions in June or September. But the Aizu-Wakamatsu City Tourism Bureau says that while 69 schools visited the city in September, the number increased to 226 in October and then to 290 in November.

Forty-five schools plan to send their students for school trips to the city in December, a period when few schools normally plan trips, the tourism bureau said.