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!
https://www.sankei.com/article/20220723-RG63ZNVXGRMRPMWCEYLFHHONHU/
Bit more on the class 5 stuff.
Google translation for anyone that can’t read the full article;
While the epidemic of the new coronavirus “7th wave” is rampant, the new corona is taking stricter measures than “class 2” infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) under the Infectious Diseases Control Law. There is a growing voice in the medical field that it should be alleviated to the level of “class 5”, which is comparable to seasonal influenza. This is because if it is alleviated, it will be easier to secure a bed and avoid medical tightness. The government also wants to start discussions for a review when the seventh wave calms down.
“It is also necessary to start studying how to position Corona as a’one disease’in the daily medical care provision system.”
These words were included in the “Urgent Recommendations for the 7th Wave” compiled by the government’s new Corona Countermeasures Subcommittee on the 14th. “One illness” is a word that keeps in mind that corona is regarded as a disease like seasonal flu.
Currently, Corona is treated as “Class 2”, which has the second highest risk from the top under the Infectious Diseases Control Law. Only designated medical institutions can receive medical examinations, which puts a heavy burden on health centers and designated medical institutions. If this is reduced to the equivalent of “Class 5”, it will be possible for general medical institutions to deal with it, such as seasonal influenza.
Basically reinforcing Autumn, I see.
The question that remains is how fast this will all play out.
We all know that, when it’s of big interest of certain politics, some changes to the law can pass much faster than usual, and I don’t think Japanese politicians are different in that regard. (focus on the Urgent)
They must already be preparing some stuff behind the scenes.
I’m on wanikani as I’m studying Japanese..Some people have booked flights , hotels, ryokans and more culture tours.If it doesn’t open Japan will suffer in the end and probably making people hate them a bit 😅.
Japan better step up it’s not the people it’s the people who’s running the country.I think people in Japan want foreigners back . We have to be sensible but this is to much at this point…
Japanese people are so hardcore brainwashed by the government/media that most of them believe foreign tourists are already allowed in the country normally so…
No one is in a hurry for Japan to reopen to tourists except JATA, airlines, some business and some politicians, all of which are speaking to the void, being completely ignored by the government.
They also don’t care about the tourism oriented business that are closing, neither the economic impact of the restrictions, neither the damage the country image is suffering.
Prevent the spread of the disease while keeping strong waterfront measures is the government slogan, almost like a religion, more important than anything else in Japan.
“Go to travel campaign” apparently postponed until September, meaning September is already off the agenda, October getting really slim chances as well, November would be the best bet for this year to go to Japan.
https://twitter.com/rionishida6/status/1547041173407428608?cxt=HHwWgMDTnYXwmPgqAAAA
Not sure where Rion got it from, however, he is a Japanese citizen.
A youtuber? Sorry, but I find it difficult to believe it, considering the government makes intentional leaks when it wants to test the waters.
Even if it is only postponed until next month September is most likely off the agenda.
He is just relaying the info we all got last week, where people assumed that it won’t restart until September. Could well end up being true though.
I believe mid-August is still possible for the restart but even then, September is off indeed.
October would need a sudden change in posture by the government which… is not looking like it but who knows.
November looks ok. Maybe they intend to reopen there so tourists can enjoy the autumn leaves yet, as well as have time to prepare for the spring.
Leo, you are absolutely right.
World-class disinformation from the Japan Times:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/22/national/severely-ill-covid19-patients-surge-japan/
What is the “surge”? How about the actual % compared to infection? What are the incidental admissions? Oh yes, that’s not important. /s
“an expert to say that it is wrong to think that omicron does not cause serious symptoms ”
Why disregard the experimental data? As of now only the press wants the people to suffer, it seems.
., I think you should find easy parallels between the JP news hysteria and the UK press hysteria in July 2021…
We are booked with Trailfinders UK to Japan departing 1st October. Or not…….??
https://hubokinawa.jp/archives/17580
This is interesting. Okinawa tourism business operators have rallied against the postponement of the domestic campaign. Apparently it’s the second rally.
From today to (at least) mid-August, Okinawa will be the first prefecture to re-introduce Covid restrictions on event size and for restaurants, despite the national government saying its not necessary.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220721_28/
And your point is?
It’s stupid because it won’t change anything.
Besides, there was also Shimane first. Equally stupid
Also I read in a few articles that Tokyo hospital capacity for seriously ill patients is around 13% and if it were to rise to 30/40% then that would satisfy one of the criteria for a state of emergency to be introduced. Not sure what the other criteria is or if levels would ever actually reach that but something to keep an eye on.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14674997
Calum, except that it won’t because that’s not how Omicron works, for most of the general population.
The Japanese government hasn’t released any data about incidental admissions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a 30% of those ill patients were in hospital for other things THEN tested positive..
@zazza it might be more than 30% incidental admissions. In the UK, among critical care patients, only about 25-30% of them are there primarily for COVID the past few months (so, 70-75% incidental admissions).
Gavin, yeah, I read the ONS data, which is fairly reliable (I wish there was something similar in Japan…).
I am planning a hunger strike Infront of Japanese Embassy in London in August. I can’t take this anymore and MUST be allowed to visit. Please join me.
Did your psychic tell you to do that?
From what I understand, the head of the complaint department there is named Helen Waite, and Japanese policy directives will tell you take all your issues and go to her.
Cheers AndyO, I’ll see you there
My husband and I are currently scheduled to go on a river cruise through Vietnam and Cambodia. We are flying through Narita to get to Hanoi and I was thinking/hoping that we could do a layover in Tokyo for a few days. The plan would put us in Tokyo from August 27 through August 31. Is there any chance at all for this? Or should I just give up now?
I should add that we’re in the United States.
It’s not impossible, but it is very unlikely.
To avoid being in the situation a lot of us are in, I’d say to have a different Plan A, and just switch gears if things do open up. If not, make sure everything is refundable, and keep in mind that you’ll most likely have to change the plans.
Maybe having the layover on your way back instead might buy you a bit of time and slightly increase your odds, depending on the length of your trip.
August is impossible, must be honest.
Just enjoy Vietnam and Cambodia, forget about the layover.
Give those days to countries who actually want you there~ ^_^
Hi! So due to my country’s specific circumstances, I only have access to Chinese vaccines, which Japan isn’t accepting at the moment. Do you think this will change anytime soon? It would make sense for the Japanese government to allow back in again the country that represents 30% of their international tourism right?
Who knows…. they don’t even allow in travellers who have had one of the approved vaccines at the moment so Chinese vaccines could be some way off. By the looks of things at the moment approved vaccine travellers are some way off but its just one big guessing game.
This might take a while. A very long while. China will take years to return to normalcy, if ever.
But it’s not like you’ll be denied enter or anything, you’ll just be treated as unvaxxed, which might require a 3 day quarantine depending which country you from. (assuming they keep the current color scheme. I seriously think it’s more likely they just scrap everything before accepting Chinese vaccines lol)
Japan no longer requires any vaccine to enter. They removed this stipulation in June for all travelers.
So once they re-open to individual tourist, its unlikely they will re-require it.
Yeah, my country is in the yellow zone, so I’m trying to avoid having to do 3 days of quarantine because I’m on a low budget. Hopefully things change in December which is when I’m planning to go
Ah, the irony.
https://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/135084.php
Let the fury begin….
Getting angry is pointless but *maybe* the author should have pointed out the lack of reciprocity…
No fury my dear. Unfortunately Japanese no longer travel abroad now so their passport is useless.
https://twitter.com/KamiMasahiro/status/1550042671070134272?t=XMaMJP7JWG02M_N-kLGwZw&s=19
One of the rumor mill.
Of course slowwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllyyyyy…What could be possibly go wrong with this approach! /s
The time to act is definitely now, Kami has been preaching that since the beginning. But if the classification is to be downgraded to 5 would that have to be done through a revision of the infectious disease law ?
I saw this tweet, very bad news. This basically guarantees the country will stay closed at the very least until November.
No doubt there will be an 8th wave around the winter time too which could possibly push things back further.
Doesn’t Japan use the meteorological calendar? Autumn would start 1st September, if so. I believe rinjikai have taken place in September before. I appreciate the bill would still need to pass, I don’t know how long this takes in Japan, I assume it varies like everywhere else?
This also assumes that a bill needs to be passed before Covid can be re-classified (if anyone knows then please comment), and that tourists won’t be allowed in until that happens.
The problem of accepting tourists before reducing covid to level 5 is the ERFS system, which requires every foreigner that is entering the country a “sponsor”/”acceptor”, which individual tourists can’t have. They would need to drop that system entirely and restart issuing regular visas like before.
As much optimistic as I’ve always been, and despite all the pressure from business, airlines and other politicians, I can’t see them doing that while keeping covid level 2. It wouldn’t make any sense from their stupid perspective of preventing the spread. From their eyes, free tourism is a threat.
And then, even if they follow the meteoroligal calendar and do the thing about reducing covid to level 5 in something like September 9th. Considering all the obstacles Omi mentioned, how much time will be between an approval of the reclassification and border changes?
And also that’s all considering an early september diet meeting, the tweet there just said Autumn, can be anywhere in between.
The extremely sad reality is that the month that we were all giving as a super safe bet, even Tom, can now be look at as the best-case scenario: November.
Agreed Leo. Aside from the approval process itself, there is that thing which needs approval, which is: how would this new classification be implemented.
Omi explained how this implementation isn’t just a change from one day to the next. There is an entire system which would need to be transitioned, from how covid is managed on a local level, how cases are handled at clinics/hospitals, how data continues to be collected, how it falls into the overall health system, whats the plan for future vaccinations or other (not yet determined) treatment, who does all this transition and future management, and how funding for all of it is appropriated. Since Covid would be no longer regarded an emergency (which allowed much of the normal red-tape to be bypassed), it means fitting it permanently into the larger health and economic policy structure.
Japanese administration systems are complex, but one thing for sure is that they like to have all contingencies and possibilities covered. I’ve repeatedly tried to explain here that the logistical convolutedness in how things are arranged does not allow abrupt changes and they often paint themselves into corners. I will fully agree that it stymies the country in a major way (not just with a virus) but this is just the way it is.
And in keeping with the concept of having a contingency for every possible outcome, the more complex something is, the more layers of bureaucracy it takes. Covid is complex. Also, allowing in non-residents to freely travel around while a health emergency is occurring is more complex (to Japanese policy makers) than people here realize.
So unrestricted travel will probably not happen until covid is de-classified and it is fully incorporated into the system. November would be best case (but still not likely).
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220721_02/
A good start(maybe). Then, they can now consider COVID-19 induced by some Omicron subvariants as usual flu.
Now, let them kill their fears first, before anything can be done with their border policies.
the time this will new antiviral drugs arrive on Market the Varian will be replaced by another one, what’s the point…
This is what Japan feared, and it’s only getting worse.
(go ahead and berate me all you want, but there is a certain benefit to not having an extra contingent of non-Japanese speaking tourists to manage right now).
“Medical care close to buckling in some areas in face of 7th wave”
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14675679
“…
Owase General Hospital in Mie Prefecture, central Japan, is also a core hospital for emergency care and surgeries in the region.
But six doctors were confirmed infected with COVID-19 on July 9 and 10, and by July 16, a total of 17 hospital staff were infected.
That forced the hospital to stop providing emergency outpatient care from July 9. No new patients seeking surgical or internal medicine care were being accepted, either.
As doctors began testing negative, emergency outpatient care was resumed on the evening of July 20. But in the interim, emergency patients had to go to a hospital in Matsusaka, about 80 kilometers away.”
Repeat with me:the plural of anecdote is not data.
Besides, the problem is the quarantine, not the disease. Put things in the correct perspective, thank you.
It’s buckling because of Government regulations, which will be changing for close contacts soon (down to 3 days with a negative test) to stop things like this from happening. The rest of the world has figured this out already.
https://www.sankei.com/article/20220721-BPOHUNBS4ZNR5AGAC45GD3ISFA/
This is also something the rest of the world already knows;
“65.8% of the newly infected people were “living together” and 3.5% were “dining” on the 12th to 18th.”
Tourists aren’t an issue at all, anywhere. Don’t defend government policies you know are BS, unless you can provide hospital data from other countries that show any sort of significant amount of tourists being treated in hospital. The EU has been open for some tourists since 2020, the data has been available for 2 years.
., that’s exactly what happened in my country.
The problem was (and still is) isolation of positives. Not the disease itself.
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOGR20DYK0Q2A720C2000000/
Aviation companies are complaining Japan is being “left behind” due to its insane border policies.
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/07/d32d62b033a5-japan-saw-over-100000-foreign-visitors-in-june-3rd-month-in-row.html
I can’t believe how Kyodo is spinning the news to put it in a positive light. These guys need a reality check.
Those japanese news outlets in english like Kyodo, Japan Times and so on are the most disgusting piece of journalism I’ve ever seen.
Nobody should take this article’s advice and book any travel to Japan for 2022. I have a trip booked for November and I’d put the odds of it happening at about 10%. If you made me guess when Japan will open for tourists without quarantine, I’d say Summer 2023. 50% chance before then, 50% after.
I’m confused I looked at the rules and didn’t it say if your a blue country you don’t need quarantine or certification of vaccination? Ofc no individual travelers but in tourist groups??
Don’t worry Eliene, Brian is just overreacting.
If your country is on blue list, there’s indeed no need of quarantine regardless of vaccination status. They will not step back with restrictions.
At the current situation we gotta wait for this wave to subside and see what the government has to say for August.
Only then we’ll be able to make better assumptions.
I was really optimistic of a best-case scenario as a commented before but got down a bit after the tone Omi used in the interview Andy posted here. He agrees about a class 5 approach but seems to put a lot of obstacles in the process.
Seems like even JAL overstepped itself in wishful thinking for border re-opening and is now reassigning staff away from the international sections.
https://japantoday.com/category/business/jal-to-reassign-3-000-employees-as-int'l-air-travel-struggles
I’m in agreement with you. My whole point of japan bookings is for onward travel to South Korea and Singapore now. For now, they are simply a transit terminal, and will be until they understand xenophobic border policies will lead them into another economic decline.
The wave is well past the peak here in the UK. The peak in deaths was nearly half of the BA2 wave. Hospitalisations were only a little under the BA2 wave. Everything peaked in only a month. Will be interesting to see if this follows in Japan. I would assume it will drag out for longer there, by reason of what was discussed earlier today, but the previous Omicron waves were similar, so who knows at this point.
“.”, do you think those flight routes returning at the end of August and September indicate something?
Or are they just “gambling” by the airlines based on what they expect to happen?
I would imagine it’s mainly for Japanese citizens, especially where flights to and from Japan aren’t operating currently. The others will partly be a gamble on a potentially opening, as there does seem to be an increase in flights from late summer and autumn from multiple airports and airlines globally that already have flights operating, but they will want to also keep some their historical scheduled flight times from before covid, as I believe airlines do actually lose access to them after a certain amount of time. British airways flew to Haneda occasionally throughout the pandemic and I assumed it was for that reason, as there would’ve been barely anyone on the plane. Most Japanese, especially business travellers, stick to JAL and ANA to fly to London.
If the airlines knew any more than we did, I think it probably would’ve leaked by now, but it isn’t completely out if the realms of possibility that they’ve been told something non-committal.
The “cases” may be higher but the pattern will be identical (Japan’s only a month and a half late or so compared to EU).
Japan “SARS_CoV2 is Ebola” Times today reported an increase with 7-day rolling average of around 95% (another significant slowdown).
And to reiterate, the testing may insufficient, but the pattern is not linked to the number of tests, so regardless of peak capacity, it’s something that *is* happening.
Leo, Japanese airports (Narita, Haneda, and to a degree Kansai) serve as a major hub for between North America and East Asia. Many people coming/going on those flights do not get off, but instead only transit through Japan. There have also been flight re-routes due to closed Russian airspace.
From what I understand (based on sporadic reports from travelers), many flights in/out of Japan are pretty full, but less than half (or even just 20%) usually ever enter Japan. The rest just transit. Since other Asian countries are fully re-opening, people are going to/from there.
Also, one serious issue has been the inability to transfer between Haneda and Narita (or the ability to overnight transit in Narita), so increasing flights in either would mean increased options for transit.
Small article here states Japan actually had less visitors last month after partially reopening the border.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Visitors-to-Japan-decrease-even-after-reopening-to-tourists
Would be funny if it wasn’t so sad! I read earlier that only 16,000 have booked group tours for the rest of the year and 2023.
Yeah its pretty laughable! I really hope it continues to fail as it makes the people who actually thought group tours would be a good idea look like complete fools.
Also hoping those tours continue to fail miserably.
That way JTB will also join the pressure of a reopening since I think they are earning much, much less money than they thought (or what the government told them).
I think JTB said something about it last week, actually. JATA has a few times in the past couple of weeks, too.
., yeah, JTB blasted the “see what happens in the other countries” robotic speech by Matsuno.
JATA actually started a campaign to pressure an early reopening.
For a company like JTB, they’re now in a tough spot. The tanking of the yen must be having an effect on outbound tourism, so expect them to get louder about the restrictions on inbound tourism.
I wonder what other countries are waiting for to introduce visa reciprocity.
Ughhh….I’ve already booked a flight to Japan for October 23rd maybe this was a bad choice…I wish we could learn to live with the fact that COVID is here and as long it’s not making many people die we should carry on.I’ve been waiting for this for 3 years 😂.Here’s to hoping.
Can you see a scenario where tourists with ticketed bookings to specific events (e.g. the Formula1 at Suzuka in early October) are allowed in as a limited trial for independent travel?
Right now event organizers all across the country are probably stressing with worry that the current wave will start creating restrictions again (if not nationally, then within prefectures or cities), and one of the first control measures is always putting a limit on the number of attendees at events. Crowded places are seen in Japan as infection hotspots (this is not my science, its theirs)
Sadly, I could almost imagine that if foreign tourists were allowed back in, then they might initially be asked to not attend large-scale events. So I don’t think holding tickets for a sports event will let you in any easier (maybe if it was an academic conference or something). Sorry.
I can see what Andy says being true, the question is how exactly they would prevent individual tourists from attending such events?
Not allowing to buy the tickets? Requiring ID at entrance?
Or would be just “asking” but if you go “oh well we tried” lol
Regardless, large-scale events (over 10k people I think?) will be the last thing to return to completely normal in Japan (cheering, maskless and so on) so using those as a trial would be kind ironic.
Thanks both for your thoughts. It looks increasingly likely we will have to postpone our visit from the UK for the F1 once again.
ST, I know that you’re hopeful for that scenario because it would let you in, but the truth is that it doesn’t make sense on any level. Nobody in the government here cares if you have a ticket for a sporting event, and there is no way that would be a criteria to let people in. We have people on this forum who can’t get visas to see loved ones, but let in the guy who has a car racing ticket? It would also have an extremely easy workaround, every hopeful visitor would just buy a 2,000 yen ticket for some event and then be let in. Also, as the others mentioned, nobody in the government here would want to encourage the first visitors to go to large sporting events. Current visitors are asked to avoid crowds, not seek them out.
Your scenario would actually have a large positive impact on my business, so I’d love for it to be true, but it’s just not going to happen.
However, you could have a chance to get in in October for regular reasons, not for holding a sports ticket. I’m not ready to rule out October yet, not that I know anything or have been right about anything so far.
While sports spectators would indeed be an absolutely egregious exception to make, it has been clear that Japan’s treatment of those seeking to enter has been far from equal.
Awhile back there was that controversy over that DJ let in for a party event of some kind who was able to completely bypass quarantine. And recently internet superstar Pewdiepie permanently located to Japan.
Anecdotally, an acquaintance of a friend in Japan who is involved in film production has throughout the entire pandemic been able to travel a number of times between LA and Tokyo, despite only possessing a work visa. The reality seems to be that fame and money talks. Meanwhile, the bureaucrats don’t give half a crap if you had to break off your engagement with your Japanese fiancée if you’re a pleb.
A rather insightful new interview with Omi. Touches on many key points, including declassifying Covid to a lower level (interesting that he notes the problematic economics of doing so in that treatment in such a situation would no longer be free for people who catch it).
Generally though, he speaks of a gradual, (non-specific) “mid- to long-term” acceptance of Covid in life. He was clear that testing is very likely under-reporting the true infection rate. No mention of border policy, but he does makes a comparison to the EU and US policy and their higher death rates.
If I see it in English, I’ll re-post
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220720/k10013727441000.html
Thanks for this, must’ve missed it.
Seems like they’re very keen on resisting the urge to bring back restrictions. To me, it seems that he thinks that a reduction in classification isn’t too far off rather than a more long term goal, but my Japanese isn’t good enough to read the article without Google translate so perhaps I’ve lost something in translation.
I think he’s fair he’s not too pushy in any directions (relaxing/restricting). He’s not the one calling the shots, and I feel he’s just setting the bar for the government to follow, much like he did with masks in the open (they’re still useless, but at least he said people shouldn’t use them in certain conditions).
He is artfully non-specific in most plans, particularly with the classification downgrade. But he is essentially saying that this shouldn’t be his decision since there are nationwide socio-economic ramifications in doing so, as well as systematic framework and re-configurations that need to be incorporated within the health system for dealing with cases (including testing, reporting, and treatment as well as where its done and by who, and who would then pay for it all). So therefore this should be “discussed” and “considered” and a myriad of other non-committal phrases. (he doesn’t even specifically say who should discuss it).
But from what I can read between the lines (my Japanese isn’t that perfect) was that if they (not him) decide to declassify it, then sick people will need to pay for treatment and local government workers and health care staff would have a new not-necessarily-easier system to deal with, and I got the inkling that he thinks people won’t be liking that, especially during the current wave.
(Or more succinctly put, he’s saying “don’t blame me if you don’t like any changes in the policy. It ain’t gonna be my call”.)
As I said, whether people like it or not, a change will necessary at some point. The whole system is financially unsustainable in the long run, considering the virus is here to stay.
@zazza agreed!
Zero covid-19 infection/casualty is rediculous. If they will completely isolate themselves from the entire world and build walls, those walls wont be high enough stopping migratory birds and animals. A poop can infect them still. The best thing is to develop or test over the counter drugs for severe cases and let people mingle or cross border to gain immunity.
It is here and will stay, it will become, eventually part of our genetics.
Great find on the interview–thanks!
Like similar advisors the world over, Omi is a political appointee. When speaking to public broadcaster NHK, it’s very unlikely he’s offering an unadulterated public health message. (That’s not to disparage him or this type of role–it simply is what it is.) Whatever he’s saying publicly, to some degree, has already been agreed upon behind closed doors and that’s the government’s messaging.
Then again, perhaps I’m overly cynical and/or hearing what I want to hear.
Tom, I think it’s difficult to understand if it was agreed by NHK.
I mean, the NHK pursued relentlessy Abe with the Maritomo Gakuen scandal (and the hanami one too), then during the pandemic adopted the “we’re all going to die” mindset and recently, as I said in the other comments, “censored” a bullet point of *the PM* in the interview after the elections.