Is Japan Open to Tourists?
Is Japan open for international individual travelers? Are borders open as normal in 2024? What are testing, face mask, and vaccine requirements for visitors? These are questions among those planning trips to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and this covers the answers.
The good news is that we now have an answer to questions we’ve been asking for nearly two years! First, after reopening to guided tour groups, Japan reopened to individual tourists on October 11, 2022. In the year-plus since, additional changes have occurred to the extent that it’s basically business as usual for visiting Japan in 2024.
We’ve already returned to Japan, spending about a month in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and elsewhere. In various updates here, we’ve been sharing our experiences and what it’s like as a foreign visitor, what has changed, crowd conditions, expenses of visiting Japan with the weaker yen, and much more. The big one for most of you is likely going to be Japan Face Mask Rules v. Reality in 2024.
Those two posts cover essentially everything you need to know about visiting Japan as of 2024. The short version is that it is possible to enter, regardless of whether you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated, albeit with a testing requirement for the latter. There are no quarantine requirements, and travel is visa-free for the vast majority of people reading this.
Please subscribe to our FREE email newsletter and stay tuned if you are curious about how things are on-the-ground for tourists in Japan post-reopening.
In terms of the latest news, the current vaccine and testing policies ended on May 8, 2023. This is because Japan has formally decided to downgrade the legal status of the novel coronavirus on May 8, 2023 to the same category as common infectious diseases, such as seasonal influenza, thereby easing COVID-19 prevention rules.
This is a major policy shift and will relax–if not eliminate entirely–Japan’s intensive COVID-19 countermeasures, including limiting the movements of infected people and their close contacts. Japan’s reclassification of COVID-19 to Class 5 came after a panel of experts under the health ministry agreed on the plan earlier in the day.
The downgrade would pave the way for a normalization of social and economic activities in Japan, and should mean that non-residents are able to enter the country without PCR tests or additional paperwork. Essentially, there will be no (legal) basis for the current border protocol effective May 8, 2023. Of course, things could change between now and then, but it’s likely the border will revert to late 2019 status as of that date.
We typically spend a couple of months in Japan each year, and are ecstatic to be returning after nearly 3 years away. We are eager to revisit our favorite places, see friends in Japan for the first time in over two years, and continue creating this site’s wealth of free planning resources. We’re excited about this great (but overdue) news, but also go in knowing that things will be different, in ways both good and bad.
For these two-plus years, we’ve been closely monitoring the situation in Japan, watching several hours of NHK each day and reading multiple Japanese news sources. All of this in the hope for some clarity as to when the country will fully reopen and Japan will begin allowing international tourists to enter once again.
What follows is based on that research and fixation with the on-the-ground situation in Japan. We’re preserving this for posterity, but everything that follows is now (thankfully!) obsolete information.
Japan is now allowing foreign nationals to enter Japan for purposes other than tourism so long as they have a sponsor in the country. This includes business travelers on short stays, students in study abroad programs, participants in technical internships, both guided & unguided tour groups, spouses or children (and other relatives) of a Japanese national/permanent resident, others with special exceptional circumstances, and those who would provide a “public benefit” to Japan.
With that in mind, let’s cover how we got here, why Japan maintains the strictest among the Group of Seven developed nations, and what could cause that to change…
Again and again, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that Japan “will continue to consider how the measures should be by taking into account the infection situations at home and abroad, border control measures taken by other nations, and progress in the rollout of vaccine boosters.”
Kishida has also acknowledged that Japan’s border control measures are the strictest among Group of Seven nations, and expressed a desire/need to bring Japan in line with its counterparts. “This is the first step in our gradual easing of the [border] restrictions,” Kishida has said.
As for why Japan’s border is still closed over a year after most democracies reopened, that can largely be explained by the country’s apprehensiveness of outsiders.
For better or worse, Japan is an insular and culturally conservative country–a characteristic that is often valued by visitors. Not so much in the last couple of years, as this has been reflected in policy-making. Japan has vilified and scapegoated foreigners and had an overly aggressive approach to its borders.
Due to this and other policies, Japan has lagged behind economically, seeing slower recovery than the United States and other counterparts that have more aggressively reopened. Economic benefits of international tourists is one big reason why Japan is expected to reopen its border.
Boosting tourism was core to the late former Prime Minister Abe’s economic revitalization, and both subsequent prime ministers have indicated their intentions to maintain continuity with those plans. However, the number of foreign visitors to Japan dropped to 245,900 last year, the lowest since 1964, as the country enforced tighter border controls. Compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019, it dropped 99.2 percent. That’s the sharpest fall on record according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
Economists fear a “double dip” recession in Japan due to the prolonged closures and restrictions. Decreased tourism plus falling exports, an increased consumption tax, reduced consumer spending, weak yen, and growing national debt. Japan’s economy has serious issues and inbound tourism was previously a bright spot.
In other words, reopening to international visitors will be important to the health of Japan’s consumption-driven economy at some point in the not too distant future. This becomes increasingly true as the yen weakens due to the Bank of Japan continuing to pursue its loose monetary policy while the United States Federal Reserve, European, and other central banks raise interest rates. Quite simply, Japan is inflicting pain on itself by remaining closed.
There are also signs that stringent travel measures, including the border closure, are having a greater impact on Japan’s economy than previously believed. This is despite Japan’s “Go to Travel” campaign that subsidized domestic travel, which was offered at various times during the last two years.
According to data from the Japan Tourism Agency, stays at hotels and other accommodation facilities hit another record low in Japan last year–breaking the previous record set in 2020. The total of guests at hotels and inns was 315.75 million, down 4.8% from 2020 and 47% from 2019. (This number includes hotels used as government quarantine facilities, not just leisure stays.)
The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party recognizes these problems and realizes it needs to rebuild Japan’s economy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that his top priority was formulating new economic measures and implementing these goals. The government will also take measures to stimulate and jump-start the economy.
Despite the aforementioned numbers, Japan is maintaining its goal of attracting 60 million foreign visitors by 2030. Additionally, the Japan National Tourism Organization has set 2024 as its goal for recovering to 2019 international travel levels. Both of these statements are reassuring given the current border closures, and indicate that Japan will unwind its travel ban in months, not years.
Against that economic backdrop, let’s take a look at the latest changes to Japan’s reopening plans…
We have more good news! Multiple media outlets, including NHK, Kyodo, Nikkei, and Fuji TV are all reporting that Japan’s government is planning to further relax restrictions and border measures with an eye to implementing the revisions by the start of October.
The specifics are not consistent among outlets, so let’s start with where they’re in agreeance.
First, there is consensus that the daily arrival cap, which is currently set at 50,000, will be eliminated entirely.
This is a necessary prerequisite for further reopening and the resumption of more inbound international flights, but this alone was not an obstacle dissuading most international visitors. While the daily number of arrivals was higher pre-closure, we assumed that 50,000 is the level at which this cap becomes immaterial with China still sidelined. Regardless, it’s good to have this removed as it eliminates an element of uncertainty and could have been an issue during peak travel times for the Japanese.
Another possibility is that Japan will allow individual foreign tourists to enter the country and exempt them from visas if they have been vaccinated three times or submit a pre-arrival test result.
This is where there is disagreement among the major outlets. Kyodo, Nikkei, and NHK are reporting that this is to be determined, with government officials still deciding whether to proceed with this plan or start with lifting the daily arrival cap. By contrast, Fuji TV is treating this as a done deal, using less ambiguous language.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reportedly plans to make a decision as early as the end of this week, according to the news outlets’ sources.
These “leaks” came after Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara spoke on Fuji TV over the weekend and stated that Japan will consider easing all three restrictions–the daily arrival cap, ban on individual tourists, and visa requirements. “We will review all three restrictions together. We have to carry it out in the not-so-distant future,” he said.
“Japan has seasonal attractions in fall and winter. We know there are a lot of people overseas who want to come to Japan,” Kihara added. “Amid the weakening yen, inbound travelers will have greatest economic effect…There are many foreign visitors who want to come visit Japan.” Kihara added that eliminating the arrival cap alone was not enough.
Kihara isn’t the only one who has been vocal about fully reopening to tourists recently. During the Bloomberg New Voices panel, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she would open the country’s doors “tomorrow” if it were her decision. “Tourism is a big industry in Tokyo, as well as in all Japan, so this is the time to greet more foreign tourists by using this advantage of the depreciation of the yen,” she said.
Koike said that Japan’s borders would fully reopen soon. “The national border is under the management of central government,” Koike said. “As governor of Tokyo, that would be tomorrow.”
The yen has fallen to a 24-year low of ¥144 to the dollar, likely contributing to the sense of urgency in the aforementioned interviews.
Japan eased its border restrictions last week, raising the daily arrival cap from 20,000 to 50,000 and dropping the requirement for pre-arrival PCR testing for vaccinated travelers.
Japan also began allowing unguided tours, meaning ones not accompanied by tour conductors. This is specifically for “unguided tour groups” or “non-escorted visitors on package tours” and not individual tourists.
In Unguided Tours in Japan – Reopening Phase Rules, we cover what this entails and the recently-released guidelines and FAQ for these tours. Prior to those guidelines being released, we speculated on how this would work given basic logic and past precedent with prior groups who had been allowed to enter Japan. We were wrong–the unguided tours offered two steps forward but one step backwards.
We mention this in part to own past mistakes, but also as a cautionary tale. While it certainly sounds like the end is near for the Japan travel ban, it’s premature to have a high degree of confidence.
Kishida’s government has been trying to take advantage of the weak yen and accelerate growth by attracting more foreign visitors. It thus stands to reason that opening to individual tourists necessarily needs to occur–that raising the entry cap will do nothing in furtherance of their stated goal. However, as we have seen time and time again, the patently obvious conclusion often is not the outcome reached by Japan.
Moreover, how this played out with Japan’s last announcement is also instructive.
On August 23, specifics of the September relaxation measures were leaked to the same media outlets. At that time, it was unclear whether unguided tourists would be allowed to enter. On August 31, Kishida made an official announcement encompassing all of the rumored changes, including unguided tourists. (It took a few more days for the guidelines to be released, and the clarifying FAQ is still being updated.)
While presenting the above as a cautionary tale against optimism or over reliance on logic when assessing Japan’s decisions, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. (I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. Like a moth to a flame.)
First, there’s already the realization that unguided tours–like guided tours before them–will not move the needle on inbound tourism in any meaningful way. It’s another symbolic measure, and coming at a time when an increasing number of international visitors have already moved on to other destinations and pent-up demand has begun fizzling out. The number of people anxiously awaiting Japan’s reopening is shrinking, not growing.
Second, there’s awareness within the Kishida administration that the window of opportunity to reopen the border is closing. This is something we’ve pointed out in our best and worst case scenarios in prior updates, but there’s only a limited amount of time between waves.
Over two years into this, the seasonality of COVID transmission is well-established. Cases are currently in freefall and will continue decreasing next month before bottoming out sometime between late October and early November. There will be a winter resurgence. It could start as soon as late November, but is more likely in December.
Reopening to individual tourists in October presents minimal (political) risk and maximum (economic) upside. Public opinion polls show that most voters have already moved on from COVID to assorted scandals; the minority who still care will see no immediate increase in cases correlating with the border reopening.
Frankly, the miscalculation here by the Kishida administration is thinking that this will have an immediate impact on inbound travel. Those reading regular updates on Japan’s reopening are not representative of international travelers at large. Most people need months of time between booking and traveling; very few plan and take last-minute trips–especially international ones.
Obviously, the easing has to occur at some point and this lag will always play out, but the notion that this moves the needle for fall is misguided. Autumn is already a lost cause. At best, this helps with winter. More likely, the impact won’t be fully felt until next year’s cherry blossom season.
One wildcard is the downgrade of COVID’s legal status. Several recent updates have centered around Japan’s internal debate over whether to strip COVID-19 of its special status and downgrade it to the same level as the flu in Japan’s infectious disease categories.
It’s been our perspective that this was a necessary prerequisite to welcoming individual tourists as there would no longer be a need for a responsible receiving party to monitor travelers and act as a liaison for infected individuals. Given that none of the recent reports have even mentioned COVID’s status in regard to reopening, it’s possible our perspective was wrong. Or, that this barrier does still exist and Japan will have to create a “solution” for it (travel insurance?) for individual tourists. Either way, that’s something to continue keeping in mind.
Also as previously mentioned, recent poll data also shows the public is now far less concerned with COVID than the economy, Unification Church scandal, Abe’s state funeral, and other issues. It’s entirely possible that Kishida sees this polling and his sagging approval numbers and realizes that it’s time to move forward. That there’s more upside than downside risk in reopening and encouraging more economic activity.
As we’ve stressed repeatedly, Japan’s populace has been among the most cautious in the world with regard to COVID-19. Human behavior and sentiment don’t change overnight, even if it’s economically advantageous and objectively safer to do so. Statements by politicians and medical advisors, gradual border relaxation measures, and other changes could be interpreted as Japan laying the groundwork for a resumption of normalcy and the country’s eventual reopening. It now appears that the time is here–or coming very soon.
With all of this said, I’ll present my revised best, worst, and base-case scenarios for Japan’s reopening to individual tourists…
Let’s start with the best-case scenario. This assumes that Japan downgrades COVID-19 from its special status to Category 5 literally any day now or that this is not a necessary prerequisite to an individual tourist reopening. (With the possible workaround of travel insurance or some other awkward “fix.”)
Critically, this would eliminate the legal requirement of a responsible receiving party for visitors to Japan. In such a scenario, the borders could almost immediately return to their normal pre-closure status in early October. With this, the visa exemption would be reinstated, making that a non-issue. The arrivals cap would also be eliminated in this scenario.
Then there’s the middle ground or base case. This is now the same as the best-case scenario. In short, the early October reopening is not just our most optimistic view–it’s now what we expect to happen.
To differentiate the two, I’ll also allow for a middle ground possibility of a bifurcated decision with the individual tourist reopening a few weeks after the entry cap elimination. Let’s say that happens in early November.
This is would allow a bit of wiggle room for Japan’s slow and belabored decision-making process that involves a lot of “careful consideration” and “evaluating the situation.” If anything has been well-established during the last two-plus years, it’s that inaction is Japan’s baseline, and anything that does happen occurs gradually and in stages.
Finally, the worst-case scenario is that Japan instead opts to revive its “Go to Travel” campaign just in time for fall colors season, and uses that to buoy the tourism sector through December. It’s possible the country views this as sufficient for tourism businesses to stave off bankruptcy or other financial hardship for another few months.
If/when there’s another winter resurgence in cases, the reopening can would effectively be kicked down the road for a few more months. That would mean individual tourists would not be welcomed back to Japan until sometime in the first half of 2023. I’m inclined to say Spring 2023, but it’s easy to envision a worst-case that isn’t until summer.
Our view is that the worst-case scenario is now highly unlikely. Japan relaxed its border measures earlier in September while still being #1 in the world for new cases. This indicates that Japan is finally ready to move forward and sets the precedent for future changes during waves. Who knows–it still may take until early 2023 to fully downgrade the legal status of COVID. But whatever winter wave occurs (and one will happen), that’s unlikely to be an obstacle to reopening progress, as was the case last year.
With all of that in mind, we remain cautiously optimistic that individual tourists will be allowed to enter Japan sooner rather than later. The political and economic appetite for fully relaxation now clearly exists, and there’s a vocal chorus of politicians in Japan–including those who were previously in favor of closed borders–championing reopening. It’s now the popular position being advanced publicly by politicians, not just being advocated by Keidanren or Japan’s business lobby.
Japan fully reopening in full is all but inevitable at this point. It will happen soon. The end is near.
It’s thus our view that Japan reopening in some capacity to individual tourists in October is a very realistic scenario. As improbable as it might’ve seemed even a week ago, Japan welcoming back international visitors who are not part of tours (guided or unguided) sometime before November is likely. It’s pretty clear the government is focused on moving forward. As frustrating as this whole process has been, Japan is not still (completely) stuck in March 2020.
As always, Japan is cautious and conservative, with a slow and belabored decision-making process that often embodies “analysis paralysis” and usually defies logic. That’s a wild card that could further extend any timeline. However, Japan is now joining the rest of the world as people are ready to move on with life.
We’ll keep watching the news and keep you posted if/when there are further developments about Japan reopening and allowing entry to travelers from the United States, Canada, Europe, and beyond. Again, if you’d like to be notified as soon as more details are released or rumored, subscribe to our free email newsletter for ongoing updates and alerts:
If you’re planning a visit to Japan, our recommendation at this point is to target sometime in November at the earliest. In our view, koyo (autumn leaves) season is a good bet, and that takes place from mid-November through December. That’s simply a good time to visit Japan and, hopefully, the country will be open to individual tourists by then.
Speaking of which, check out our Japan Fall Colors Forecast & Autumn Foliage Viewing Guide to get started on planning your trip to visit Japan’s popular fall foliage cities, including Kyoto, Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Himeji, and Nara. That also offers tips for avoiding crowds and strategy for visiting the best temples, shrines, and evening illuminations.
If you’re planning a trip to the Japan, check out our other posts about Japan for ideas on other things to do! We also recommend consulting our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto and Ultimate Guide to Tokyo to plan.
Your Thoughts
Would you consider visiting Japan later this year, or is international travel out of the question for you anytime soon? How do you view the news about guided tours? Think those will stick around for several months, or are simply theater to shift public opinion? Think the need to adapt and live with the endemic virus will outweigh fear when it comes to Japan’s reopening plans? Any thoughts or tips of your own to add? If you’re planning your trip to Japan, what do you think about these itineraries? Any questions? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
I wonder if the deflation of the currency will prompt government leaders to respond. Will be interesting to watch.
Japan is not taking the people who has Japanese fiance into account!!! My fiance can’t come to my country due to his work place conditions ( if he get out of Japan in this Corona situation he will get fired), and I have to go to Japan for the marriage procedure, and we are waiting two years for Japan to open borders (since 2020) … That’s a week action of the government…
He needs to find a job outside Japan and leave. The border will not open agin for years. Yokoso Japan tour agency shut down, with a message that “International tourism is not expected to resume”. Not, “soon”, but “not expected to resume”.
I will venture without fear of being mistaken, that no foreign tourist will set foot on Japanese soil until after the next elections, in the Summer. No Sakura Season 2022, fellow travelers… Maybe Koyo Season, if Japan decides to stop being racist and xenophobic. This closed country policy is merely the expression of the real public opinion: foreigners are dirty and dangerous. Too bad. I hope their economy goes bust. Cheers.
There’s one point I’ve to disagree tho.
The possibility of they returning next week to the policy that was announced on November of course is great news and not pessimistic ones. While ofc that has nothing to do with tourists, it’s a very important first step.
Only by allowing back students and workers you can dream about tourists.
The further the full closure for students and workers = the further the return of tourists.
I was planning on going March of 2022 for my 10 year Wedding Anniversary. We have had our flight booked since February of 2021. They just cancelled our flight today (january 6th, 2022). I am now trying to figure out how to rearrange almost a years worth of itinerary, tickets, and hotels. Should i book for the fall or plan for 2023? or maybe cancel everything….
Tbh when it comes to Japan it’s so hard to safe bet anything.
They let it clear in November with Omicron that if a new variant of concern ever appears they will insta close back for everyone without notice (they will literally return to phase 0 from whatever reopening phase they might be).
Japan might be open in Fall? Sure might.
Might be open next year? Very high chance.
Can anyone give Anissa 100% certainty so she can rearrange her plans without risk again? No.
Sorry to say that, and I am one optimistic myself, but until the pandemic becomes endemic Japan isn’t the right country to make important “long-life-awaited” travel plans like a wedding anniversary.
I didn’t think it was appropriate for the body text of this post, but this is a fascinating and potentially ‘instructive’ read: https://www.eurasiagroup.net/live-post/top-risks-2022-1-No-zero-Covid
While the impacts to the global supply chain are certainly concerning, the likely/inevitable failure of China’s zero COVID policy could have ramifications for other countries that have embraced similar strategies. While Japan has never gone anywhere close to that far, the approach has had some similarities.
Ultimately, I’m still cautiously optimistic (at least, more so than many commenters). As Hemingway said about bankruptcy, reopening elsewhere has occurred “gradually, then suddenly.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the same happens with Japan.
Tom thank you for your continued updates. I know it is tough for people that have invested their time and energy to be unable to visit Japan. I myself have been visiting 3-4 times a year every year since 1999 and have crisscrossed the country so many times its almost like home to me. I have studied the culture and history extensively and like some scholars have suggested Japan is a study in contradictions. The most polite and courteous and at the same time some of the most unreasonable and brutal. Japanese history is peppered with examples of such extremes. Sadly for the past 2 years we are subjected to their unpleasant and stupid side but this too shall pass. I also think their reopening with be sudden and could curiously coincide around the time Chinese come up with their own domestic mRNA shot.
It’s funny how similar all this sounds to the reports from the same time last year. The fact is that nothing will change until someone decides to not only ‘live with the virus’ in words but to do so in action. There will ALWAYS be another variant and then another and so on. It’s not going to go away, and no one is going to simply keep up with it by running out new vaccines as fast as the virus can mutate, or by hiding in a hole and hoping it will all go away. Guess what folks, the world is full of germs and viruses and that’s the price of doing business on planet earth. Either live with it or hide in fear forever, but trying to prevent every last germ from slipping past the borders is insane and idiotic. Politicians need to stop thinking about how they look in the headlines and their FB status and start doing their job of running their countries effectively and with common sense. I predict Japan will remain closed for Spring of ’22 and very likely for the following Spring as well, because perfect conditions with no risk of ANYTHING will never happen. Humans have to grow a pair and get back to living like humans, not grovelling little bugs afraid of their own shadows.
Totally agree. Kishida is the latest in a long line of overly cautious Japanese politicians. All I can say is thank god we dont live in a world dominated by Asia because if we did we would be wearing masks and live in fear for decades to come (not joking). Fear is a tumor, once it spreads its very hard to eradicate…
Either Asia accepts that we must live with the virus and move on like Australia is doing, or these countries (Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand, SK, China, Malaysia and so on) will never see tourists ever again lol
There is no stopping omicron, all they are doing is delaying a wave that will hit them as hard as everyone else in the end.
Well said, I couldn’t agree with you more. I wish the politician’s would take note. More of us need to start speaking out. Unfortunately the governments and media are keeping a lot of people scared and in fear.
Thanks for the information.
I urge everyone who has suffered disappointment and loss due to Japan’s xenophobic travel restrictions to boycott Japanese products and not to travel to Japan even after the restrictions are lifted. Why travel to a country that views you as a dirty foreigner when you can experience East Asian culture in other, more friendly and welcoming countries, such as Korea?
After falling in love with Japanese culture, I spent many years visiting Japan, promoting Japanese culture to family and friends, and defending Japan against the often-heard charges of xenophobia. The pandemic has exposed Japan’s true colors, and so I no longer promote or defend Japan. The younger generation of Japanese may be different, but the gerontocrats in control of the country and the majority of their constituents have demonstrated to the world that the apple has not fallen far from the 鎖国, 尊王攘夷, 日本人論 tree.
Japanese nationals are permitted to travel freely anywhere in the world, and the Japanese government will even pay for their quarantine upon return, yet foreigners are completely barred, as if the virus knows who holds a Japanese passport and who does not. The restrictions are therefore not about keeping out variants, which will enter via returning Japanese nationals, but keeping out foreigners. The Japanese government has also provided subsidies for domestic travel, thus encouraging movement (and facilitating disease transmission), while at the same time barring even foreign residents from returning. It is reportedly considering restarting this campaign in January even while foreigners are still barred. What possible explanation can there be for this other than xenophobia?
Why should we spend our money in such a country, even after it reopens? And why should any country admit Japanese nationals while their own citizens are barred from entering Japan? I urge you all to contact your respective representatives, foreign ministries, etc., and demand that Japanese tourists be barred from entering your countries unless and until your compatriots are permitted to enter Japan on basic principles of reciprocity. Japanese must be made to understand that they cannot enjoy the world outside 神の国 without allowing the rest of the world access to the elements of our common human heritage of which they are the current caretakers.
As mentioned in the article, many people enjoy Japan and Japanese culture precisely because it’s conservative.
You won’t get anything near the same experience visiting Korea. Korea is much more heavily influenced by the worst of western culture.
Why shouldn’t a country focus on it’s own people?
You sound experienced as write well, but your reasoning sounds like a butthurt leftist millennial who only cares about their own wants and feelings.
Why is Japan letting their own people come and go if they’re worried about importing cases from overseas?
There is a lot of talk about “kneejerk” comments here but the main guilty part is Japanese government. There is no rational or reason behind blanket ban of foreigners. This is cowardice with a dash of xenophobia pure and simple. Just think about it, they are claiming they have specific genetic traits allowing them to better fight off COVID (https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Genetic-factor-may-soften-COVID-blow-for-Japanese-study) and at the same time more and more evidence is emerging Omicton is far less deadly than previous variants so then why the blanket ban on foreigners? Cowardice.
One last point thats really astonishingly racist: lets assume they arent comfortable with tourists swarming their little paradise. Fine but then why ban students? They have already been screened and approved by their Japanese universities and are almost ensured to follow the rules as much as if not more than Japanese. There is too much evidence all pointing to one of Japan’s dark secrets and thats blatant racism/xenophobia.
Because they believe the Japanese will actually listen and comply with their instructions as opposed to “do as they please” foreigners.
Where’s the evidence “do as they please” foreigners have been an issue?
It is possible that without Omicron, Japan could have opened by June next year. However, with Japan’s desire to have zero cases in its own population and stringent vaccination/quarantine requirements from tourists, the earliest opening would have been the end of 2022. The staged opening that is now being mentioned will require a lot of bureaucratic requirements that will certainly push the opening into 2023. I have tickets that are valid for travel in March 2022 and that I have rebooked three times so far. I am now in the process of cancelling and looking for an alternative destination. Furthermore, I am not impressed by the thought of having to go on an organised tour with a hundred other people. I have visited Japan eight times in total and usually go to places off the beaten track which I have really enjoyed, so organised trips are not for me! If you are looking for interesting destinations, consider Reunion, Madagascar, or Namibia.
The point of this approach frankly does not make sense to me. The target let’s call it “zero infections” seems unrealistic and meaningless. By now it is clear that we will have to learn to live with the virus in the best possible way (vaccinations, hand disinfection, masks, etc..) but just “living with” does not mean isolating themselves or worse an entire country because it is useless in the long run and because the isolation should last indefinitely.
Thanks for the update, again.
I hope for the day when there will be an optimistic update with good news…
Still, my predictions without knee-jerk reactions like the media and some comments here are as follows
– January and February: full closure, especially due to winter
– March and April: reopening to business and students.
– June: reopen to tourists
All of that ofc has a lot of if’s, but seems like a safe bet.
I, on the other hand, am much more pessimistic and I don’t believe at all in a return to normal tourist flow even for next Summer, we’ll see.
Yes expect Omicron wave late Jan through March. That will push back limited business/student opening to Summer and by the time they get to tourists we will have the usual Fall/Winter wave/new variant. Tourism will not happen until sometime in 2023/24.
me too, can’t see tourists in for the whole of 2022.
According to UK health experts polyvalent vaccines that target multiple viral mutations (basically the golden ticket out of COVID mess) are about 18 months away. Im going to book my Tokyo flight for Sakura season 2023 🙂
ANA March 2022 flights cancelled. Hello. Just to let you guys know. I had a flight with ANA for 24 March 2022. They just emailed me and cancelled. My flight route was Munich-Tokyo, and I was told it was suspended until March 26 and possibly beyond that. I don’t know if it is good news, or bad news, for a possible Abril reopening, but for me, with ANA, at least, there will be no Sakura Season… My fifth cancelation in 2 years. This is getting so absurd I can only laugh it off…
fwiw I dont see the point in booking anything in advance. It’ll open when it’ll open and then we can book booking anything now its just pointless
At least your pre-booking cancel 100% confirmed to us that at least until March’s end no tourists allowed.
Not that many people here believed in that anyway lmao. For April there’s the new fiscal year thing and April in general has a very special “beginning” meaning for the japanese so having hope is reasonable.
Thank you for the information.
Interesting…our March 2022 ANA flights still show that we are booked. I’m 99% sure we will need to cancel but I’m waiting a little longer to see what happens. Oh well, I knew it was a gamble when I bought these tickets year ago. Sigh….
Cant make this stuff up: Japanese “researchers” say Japan’s low COVID death due to “superior genetics”! https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/11/national/riken-research-covid-19/ Lets for a second stop laughing and assume this is true. Then why are they so scared of letting in few foreigners vaccinated and all? Shouldnt their superior genes protect them? Just wow
Might be a timely research to help Kishida proceed with a reopening while not losing much support for those that want borders shut.
If those Japanese convince themselves that they are naturally under less risk they won’t see the wave of gaijins as much threatening as before.
I am curious on what approach Japan will take after the Pfizer announcements and the fact that the new variant is less severe.
Will they keep the Kishida worst-case-scenario mentality and only think about reopening after everyone has taken the boost shot? Or will they eventually choose a mixed approach, slowly reopening while the population boosts itself? Will they ask every foreigner to get 3 shots?
One small thing I noticed they changed is about vaccine certificates accepted. There’s no more a list of countries, instead it just say “regardless of issue country” as long as it has all 5 requisites. Not sure if it’s because vaccination status doesn’t matter much atm but it was a good move. That list was extremely weird and included countries like Guatemala and Jamaica while excluding major countries like Brazil, Turkey and Russia.
The so-called ‘vaccines’ are complete garbage. it’s all about money and compliance (control). nothing more.
I will provide a negative test (even though the cdc admitted prc tests cannot differentiate between corona virus (cold, flu, covid-19, etc)) but not get the experimental jab.
I will boycott every business and country trying to require a vaccine passport.
Oh man this is just unbelievable. US Embassy warns of suspected racial profiling by Japanese police. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/us-embassy-in-tokyo-warns-of-suspected-racial-profiling-by-japanese-police
Could somebody please help enlighten me Im having doubts planning trip to Japan
I fear this extremely long closure by Japan (which might take another entire year in a worst case scenario) will only increase racism and xenophobic acts for when things start to return to normal.
I was thinking the same.
I don’t have much hope of a 2022 opening.
And the loner this drags on, the Japanese will be thinking they are back in Edo times.
Racial profiling would be nothing new in Japan–but it’s also nothing new in most Western countries, for that matter.
As for an increase in racism or xenophobia, that’s probable. Our experience with that in Japan is that it’s mostly manifested in passive aggressive ways. For example, elderly Japanese might move away from you on the train or a clerk might have your credit card back to you in a disrespectful way. A lot of little slights that a first timer would likely not even notice.
My daughter is supposed to go in March but upon arrival she has to quarantine so by the time she is out of quarantine she has to travel back home. Not worth spending the money
The vast majority of Japanese people dont want us. Proof: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/06/national/kishida-arrivals-ban-support/
It’s not quite that high, but 78% of Americans likewise support border closures: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-are-worried-about-omicron-and-are-ready-to-take-most-precautions/
From my perspective, this is more an indictment of the media hysteria around omicron–despite so little being known (and the bases for optimism being overlooked)–than it is anything else. People are scared right now, and the easiest “action” is to vilify outsiders since that poses the lowest levels of inconvenience to those inside each country.
That doesn’t mean that’s where sentiment remains in 2022, or even a month from now when omicron is better understood. We could use fewer knee-jerk reactions and hyperbole–that goes for the media, governments, and even the comments here.
Moderna and Biontech say they need around 3 months to adjust the vaccine to the omicron variant. Other countries might then use it for booster shots around one month later. Japan will however not accept data from other countries, but will do its own clinical trials with 100 people (which scientifically will be totally meaningless) which will take another 3 months before they approve it. The reason why they don’t accept research data from other countries is because Japanese people believe themselves to be superior beings compared to the rest of the world. Then it will take another half a year until a significant percentage of the population will have received the vaccine. So that’s around 1 year. Forget any earlier border opening.
Probably another new variant will appear then and what I describe in my message will repeat (and repeat again).
While the work done by those companies during the course of the last 2 years is nothing short of remarkable, keep in mind that they are companies selling a product. Not exactly the most unbiased sources when it comes to whether modified vaccines are actually needed.
At this point, there are still a ton of unknowns. It’s entirely possible you’re right and this process repeats again and again. There’s also the reality that every past pandemic has ended, usually with a whimper. If the omicron variant is more transmissible and less virulent (which is what early data suggests), it could be the end of this.
The “problem” is that Japan does not accept medical trials already validated by third parties (such as the FDA and EMA) and requires to redo in Japan the trials already done and validated abroad, thus extending the time of months before approving new drugs and vaccines.
That’s the smart thing to do. The FDA and others are corrupt and compromised. Several pharma CEOs were former FDA and vice-versa. It’s just a money game for them.
Hate to agree with this but it seems it’s true. Japan has well and truly put the shutters down. Don’t they realise that this is something that we have to live with? How many years do they want to close down? Already 2 – and as stated by Chris another one at least.
Japan doesnt care about or need foreign tourists. Its that simple. Their domestic tourism is more than sufficient to run the sector and then there are happy to subsidize with stuff like Go To program.
you can’t trust the companies in the least. They’re in it for the profit, not your health. there is a reason these criminals have paid billions in fines.
the only immunity this current experimental drug offers is from legal action by those harmed.
With all the tools we’ll have available by then and the vaccination and immunity rates, I think the general tourist rollout will start in May, but keeping my March tickets for now just in case.
We have a cruise booked for April 8, 2022 in Japan. If it gets cancelled due to issues with Covid, it’ll be another year before we could even consider going (not going in fall 2022 because it’s not the same as springtime, and I spend my money going where I want to go, when “I” want to go-I’m not shelling out over $10,000 for a 2nd best time of the year!). This is so sad, we were supposed to go in April 2021 and it just gets more and more elusive as time goes on.
My husband and I booked our honeymoon for Japan March 2022 – is it possible that Japan might reopen by then? 😕
March zero chance.
That was already the best case scenario before Omicron which will delay everything.
The very best possible for now is May, with June more likely, and 2nd half of the year much more likely.
March and April they will use as test with some tourist groups in rural Japan.
January and February will be dedicated to reopen for business and students.
I’d have to agree altho I don’t have hope for a 2022 opening at all.