Costa Cruises has announced that on August 26, 2011, Costa Classica will depart Shanghai on a four-day cruise that includes a call at Fukuoka, Japan. The cruise will be the first of 12 visits to the country by Costa Classica while she homeports in Shanghai from August to October.

Costa Cruises’ decision to resume Japan itineraries is a demonstration of its confidence in Japan’s tourism market and will help give the economy, and the tourism industry, a much-needed boost.

Costa Classica will visit the Japanese ports of Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima on four-, five- and six-day cruises from Shanghai. Itineraries will also include visits to ports in South Korea.

In 2012, the 2,394-passenger Costa Victoria will replace the smaller 1,680-passenger Costa Classica, thereby expanding Costa’s capacity in the region. Costa Victoria will sail to a number of new Japanese locations, including Hososhima/Miyazaki (Japan’s own tropical paradise), Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo.

Are you keen to travel to Japan after the natural disasters?