The contemplative peace of the idyllic resort of Toyako on Japan's northern Hokkaido island has been shattered temporarily by the G8 summit.

The 10,000 residents of the village surrounded by stunning nature have never before experienced such an invasion of journalists, politicians and police officers.

Everywhere you look there are security vehicles.

'It looks like a scene from a police film,' Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper wrote.

All of a sudden, the tiny, sleepy village on picturesque Lake Toya (Toyako) has been placed in the world spotlight.

And similar to the German resport of Heiligendamm that hosted last year's G8 summit, the residents of Toyako are looking forward to a flood of tourists now the world knows where they are.

But some residents remain sceptical about the tourism prospects.

Canny entrepreneurs are exploiting the few opportunities they have amidst the tight security surrounding the summit.

Since May, Echigoya Depart souvenir shop has been offering wooden swords for 2,500 yen (23 dollars) apiece with the names of the G8 countries and their leaders carved into them.

The shop has managed to sell 700 of them so far, but mostly to police officers, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Another option is the 'summit manju,' steamed dough filled with sweet bean paste.

Some tourism representatives are already rubbing their hands with glee: 'Tourists have told us they would love to drink a cup of coffee at the Windsor Hotel (G8 summit venue),' one Toyako tour manager said, expressing the hope for increasing visitor numbers over the summer.

Since it was announced that the large, boxy hotel on Lake Toya would be the G8 summit venue, Japanese media have reported a flood of bookings from people outside Japan's northern Hokkaido island.

The Windsor's rooms, which cost upwards of 30,000 yen (280 dollars) a night, are booked solid for the next few months, according to Nikkei business magazine.

Some 90 per cent of the 50 million people who travel to Hokkaido each year are Japanese from the island.

The tourism industry hopes for a boost from the G8 summit that will draw Japanese from other parts of the country and even foreigners to visit Toyako.

'Our town is known in Asia, but few people in Europe or the US have ever heard of Noboribetsu,' according to Shinobu Ishiyama of the tourism department of the town in Hokkaido's Shikotsu-Toya National Park near Toyako.

But the news is not all good: between 80 and 90 per cent of the hotel rooms in Toyako may be occupied, according to a representative of the tourism association, but only 10 per cent are tourists.

Japan's Foreign Ministry block-booked all usable hotel rooms in the region ahead of the summit.

Quickly afterwards rumours made the rounds that the security measures and traffic restrictions would be so strict that many tourists would avoid the area altogether.

'We currently only have security personnel staying at the hotel. We have hardly any normal visitors,' a female hotel manager in Toyako told reporters.

Since so many police officers had to be deployed for the summit - some 20,000 of them - other events had to be postponed because there weren't enough security personnel.

The traditional nightly fireworks display over Lake Toya, which runs normally from the end of April to the end of October and which tourists love to watch, was one of the casualties of the security measures, having been suspended for four days from Sunday.

The last time the fireworks display was cancelled was in 2000 when the nearby Usu volcano erupted.

Local business people were delighted that Toyako was awarded the G8 summit as it was a chance to put the resort on the map, Japanese media reports said.

But some have expressed the concern that those who had to vacation elsewhere because of this year's summit might not return next year.