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!
It’s quite funny that we’ve already been in the stage of “many people don’t even realize they have it unless tested” and yet the fearmongering continues, and even worse, people still buy into the media and politicians’ lies.
this plandemic has been over for some time now. move on. Hopefully countries will open soon.
I really want to come again! This will be my 4 time visit! Please open April also is Dragonball super movie!!!
Seems like Tokyo’s bullshit “quasi-emergency” will stay in place until March 6, so we shouldn’t expect any changes until then.
The government doesn’t want to open the borders, no matter how much pressure and criticism they receive from business, students, and other important associations like European Business Council. They don’t care.
Will they open some time this year? Sure, because the excuses will end and this can’t go on much longer as countries like Australia have showed.
Are they looking forward to it? Definitely not.
So this is what purgatory feels like, before we can enter heaven 🙂
Hi All,
My family and friends are thinking of visiting Tokyo this July for 2 weeks, do you think the borders will be open by then and without quarantine? This will also be our first time visiting the country.
Thanks in advance
I believe Japan will announce a plan to reopen to visa applicants this week. I saw, as you probably did as well, the Diet meeting where they stated that they will adopt a flexible stance with the waterfront measures, looking to relax the restrictions. My guess is that the border will open to workers and students on March 1st.
Hi from Australia!
My travel company has just cancelled my fully paid for trip to Japan for the 2022 Cherry Blossom season. I have received full credit from them to book another trip. I still want to visit Japan. There is a silver lining in that I may get a better value trip including airfares this time from the same company. I understand they cannot book accommodation six weeks out when the borders are still closed. It was always chancy & I have been watching all news closely. Your article has excellent information. I would like to visit in the Autumn if possible now.
My guess is Japan will reopen around sometime of the summer and I booked the flights for Nov 1st.
Japan China and Korea are the only countries where racism trumps money
Japan and Korea I can believe. nothing trumps money for China. lol
In case there are others who could qualify to enter Japan on a special spouse visa, which may be possible again soon, here is what it involved: 1, One must fill out extra paperwork for Covid-19 screening as well as the special visa application before departure. Ittakes at least 3 weeks for visa review and approval (or denial), so it is recommended to apply at least 5-6 weeks before departure. 2. Everyone must take a PCR test and have the form filled out and signed by a doctor (or at least a PRN?) within 72 hours of departure; I think the requirement may now be within 24 hours.
3. You must install and use smartphone apps for location tracking and health reporting, using them to “check in” once a day for each.
4. Before your return to the U.S., you will need to take another Covid-19 test of an approved type. I understand you now need to obtain proof of a negative test result within 24 hours (previously 72 hours). Since Japanese clinics are not always convenient or open, that may be a little troublesome unless it is now possible to do at the airport.
Despite all the trouble and restrictions, including a 14-day (now 7 day) semi-quarantine at a hotel where I worked, I had a great trip to Japan and enjoyed it immensely. I would like to do it again as soon as possible!
I actually am a recent entry from the US to Japan. I am one of those exceptions as I retired to Japan and have a longer term visa. My wife was Japanese and for the past 2 years almost now helping her mom.
Life is fairly normal in Shiga. Getting in required testing before leaving with test results arriving 1 am of flight day. Then testing in airport. Long walk there. My wife’s brother picked me up. My wife had an apartment so avoided them government facility quarantine. Monitored and had to report conditions for two weeks with three Aps including random video phone call of that quarantined.
Here unfortunately Covid got in lately through the US bases that did not test before flying in or for five days after arrival. Since interacting with the community it spread it more quickly. The leaky quarantine was more due to the US not following Japanese protocols as they said they would.
Because of that cases spiked and the Japanese government reversed prior intended openings.
I am in Shiga prefecture with Lake Biwa in view. One with no restrictions. Masks everywhere and hand sanitizer. The good is that spring is close now so chance for Covid to decrease.
By the way masks very common here as the major preventer of flu as the Japanese do not tend to get flu shots. Also masks do protect from cold so I can’t tell if outside usage more a combination of cold and Covid.
I am looking at traveling as warmer approaches and hopefully my adult daughter and son can come here for visits.
Thank you for the outstanding article and update, Tom. This provides excellent information, really the best anywhere, for people like me considering another trip to Japan in 2022. Not only that, the photos are beautiful, and you have same real insights and analyses about Japanese society, culture, economy and politics!
I was one of the few foreigners able to visit Japan last spring, getting a tourist visa based on the “special exceptional circumstances” (as the MoFA calls it) of having a Japanese spouse. It was not easy at all, but I managed to get in despite the fact my wife couldn’t join me. I was grateful they still approved my visa at the time, when there was a third wave. It may also have helped that I am a past resident of Japan and was visiting our daughter, a Japanese citizen who lives there. But as you pointed out, ordinary tourists still cannot get a visa, so I felt extremely privileged to be allowed into the country after all the extra trouble preparing to go, traveling, and staying quarantined after arrival.
I also could easily apply for a “special exceptional circumstances” visa but, no thanks, I will gladly return only when I am welcomed with all the attention and courtesy that a foreigner who brings valuable currency into the Country deserves without absurd quarantines, restrictions, gps etc. In the meantime I will enjoy the equally beautiful rest of the world.
If JPN reopens to tourists by the fall season, do you expect they will still require multiple testing and (if testing positive) quarantine? At some point, won’t they have to treat COVID like any other virus?
We appreciate the updates on Japan’s reopening. We’ve missed our frequent visits to Japan! But there’s no way we would visit any country that requires any type of forced quarantine. Yes, Covid-19 is real but there are protocols for staying healthy and recovery if you get it. We’ve been tried and came out just fine. Prophylactic we take Quercetin, Vitamins D3 & C, Zinc and Melatonin. We’ve recovered from C-19 by taking Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine. There is hope for Japan if they just learn to ignore following the US Government’s leadership, CDC, FDA and others that have spread fear and lies.
Thanks for the thorough updates! My new husband and I have flights and lodging (refundable/movable) booked for March into April. I think to be safe and ensure we see sakura we are trying to move it to 2023. I think this week we will have to start making those phone calls… Unless airlines contact me first? Feeling overwhelmed but glad we did refundable.
Hi Tom,
I follow your updates with much interest.
What are your thoughts on the appetite of Japanese people to travel internationally again? According to MOFA, the official travel advice is most of the world is level 4 (do not travel under any circumstances). Do you think the government will update this and endorse overseas holidays before, at the same time or after it opens its own borders. I know many Japanese who will not travel if MOFA says no.
T. Kishida is a korean kei just like the most japanese prime ministers, wealthy, celebs and ordinary japanese citizens
so he needs to pretend for a while…
We talk a lot about Japan here but speaking of moronic island mentality lets give a shoutout to New Zealand. They just announced phased reopening from July through October as long as you are willing to spend 10 (!!!) days in self isolation. 10 days self isolation when over 90% of their population is fully vaccinated. 10 days when its now well established Omicron is like a cold for most people. Thanks but no thanks…
I believe that 10-day quarantine applies to steps 1-3, not 4-5. And it’s “no later than” July through October for tourists.
Honestly, if we could choose between Japan announcing that same plan today and we were *guaranteed* they’d follow through or we could roll the dice and see what happens, I’d take the guaranteed route in a heartbeat.
10 days in one of those cell hotels with cold bento and no fresh air? I’m not so sure. After waiting for 2+ years I’d rather wait for a civilised opening rather than forcing it. Quarantine/self isolation is purely political at this point and makes no sense health-wise.
Yeah that’s the problem with Japan. Always with the infamous “for the time being”.
No plan, no schedule, no possible steps, nothing. Decisions taking almost always out of the blue without clarity and rather confusing requirements, like prob will be if they reopen for business and students in March~
That’s why in another comment I advised against anyone to make “travel of your life” plans to JP like weddings and stuff. You just never know.
We are starting to see some interesting moves from Asian countries tho, like Philippines and Indonesia reopening for tourists. Maybe the “out of the blue” reveals a surprisingly good ending.
New Zealand is China’s farmland. They are completely and totally lost. Don’t expect them to ever make a decision that doesn’t benefit China or their politician’s pockets.
NZ 100% Pure… New Zealander’s. Because no one else is allowed into the country!
It is sad and ironic to realize that, while in recent years, many of us have been concerned about the rise of sovereignty, populism and xenophobia in the western countries, at the same time we did not realize that the place we appreciated more than others was in fact, and to the disinterest of all, the true home of these phenomena that we opposed in our nations of origin.
I haven’t been concerned about those things.
You know Japan is a very conservative country. That’s part of the reason I like it.
It’s always been funny to me that so many unicorn-loving fantasy-land living choose-your-pronoun-of-the-day types are in love with Japan.
I, on the other hand, am very concerned with the values I mentioned, but that said, I understand that most of us in this forum do not have the “unicorn-loving fantasy-land” of which you speak but have much more practically family, job or interests to care for in that Country.
I have been waiting to return to Japan for 2 years now. It was my dream to live and work there and I had my boyfriend waiting for me too. But having my hopes build up and crushed again and again took a serious toll on my mental health. For now I have abandoned these plans and broke up with my boyfriend 🙁 It’s heartbreaking, but I am starting to feel better. At least I can read these articles without crying now, lol
One thing I’m noticing is how the so called “worst case scenario” only applies to the borders.
Japan is registering new records in case numbers and governments are arguing about a possible state of emergency.
Guess what, Kishida is against it, saying for now it’s not necessary and economic impact would be too much.
Pretty ironic for the person that, when it comes to foreigners, applies the harshest and strictest policies possible lmao.