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!
hello, after cancelling 5 trips to Japan since May 2020 (yes I am an optimist) and possibly my 6th for October, I am really getting annoyed with this hyper fear of Covid. Japan was known for its Bushido, now they are becoming known worldwide for Wuss-ido. Besides Taiwan and China, it is I think, the only country closed in Asia. It is also one of the few industrialized countries in the world remaininig closed. (Guided tour toursim is a joke and patronizing). No one seems to be admitting their Covid containment system is broken, mostly because of lack of testing. That is Govt’s fault. I was infected with Omicron and the only reason I found out was because I took a home test. I had a cough and sniffles. THAT is how Covid is spreading in Japan….most people don’t know they have it until it is full blown . Also I read Japan does not have a good arsenal of Covid meds. I took Ivermectin which my doctor prescribed to over 500 patients and NO ONE patient died from covid or Ivermectin. Ironically Ivermectin was developed in Japan. Yet, they don’t use it.
But besides the lack of science used, the broken Covid containment chain and the Japanese fear of Covid, which is understandable, I think the main reason is this…..no one wants to make a decision because no one wants to make a mistake and be forced to do the 20-30 second deep bow of apology and shame. So they flounder , sidestep decision making yet do NOTHING vis’ a vis’ mass available at home testing or using drugs being used all over the world. I also read in the Mainichi newspaper that Kyoto is saying they might need to claim bankruptcy in 5 years and are contemplating taxing the over 1200 temples to raise income. Who suffers internally from no tourism….small businesses who thrived on tourism and their employees, like the person who posted here. People like my friend in Japan whose family owned 2 businesses and who closed them March of this year because lack of tourist money. The Japanese are very cavalier in their attitude towards tourism but I bet few of them are small business owners in tourist hubs….Osaka, Kyoto, Sapporo, Nara, Tokyo,Kanagoe, Kanazawa, Okinawaetc. Anyone ever see the throngs of people walking the walk towards Murayama Park (sp) from Kiyomizudera? I would bet it is 50% tourists with money to spend. Ever walk the streets around Yasaka shrine towards Nishiki market or going away from the shrine….loaded with tourists spending, eating and buying. Look at Pontocho street at night….tourists. Go to Sensoji in Asakusa….tourists spending at the booths… anyway….for me, no matter how much I love visiting japan and seeing my friends there, I need to travel to Asia and right now SoKorea , Thailand and Singapore look really good. IF any of my information is incorrect, I got it all from Japanese newspapers online I am sorry. . BTW. I am a senior citizen traveler with money to spend (not bragging) and the notion of ‘wait a few years’ doesn’t work for me. Hey, I might not make a few years. Shoganai….so, that was my dollars worth. I just need to vent…sorry all…just the ramblings of an aging foreign tourist itching to spend some money in Japan. Arigatougozaimashita for reading…maybe…LOL
Prepare for a 6th cancelation: yesterday, BA just canceled my flight that was to take off November 18. The Russian airspace ban has played havoc with my connection flights by extending a 11-hour trip to nearly 14 hours. I will try to reschedule anyway. However, the situation doesn’t look good. We have the Japanese government’s xenophobia AND the Russian airspace ban AND the fuel prices… This travel ban is no longer absurd, it’s criminal. The only instrument that could help force a reopening is Travel reciprocity banning all Japanese citizens from the EU and US, until Japan returns to its senses …
Are you sure it’s cancelled completely?
BA have been updating their flight routes for when flights restart in November and all scheduled flights have just had their take off times changed. They aren’t cancelled… Yet, anyway. Most are taking off earlier to still arrive by the original planned arrival time.
The BA flight from Heathrow to Haneda that day is scheduled at 8:55am, with an arrival time at Haneda for 7:35am.
Seems like they’re alternating between a take off time of 8:55 and 11:45 daily.
Obviously, these all may still get cancelled if Japan doesn’t reopen by then, but they have definitely been re-scheduling and re-routing flights from November as if they plan on tourists being allowed in. JAL operate two flights a day out of Heathrow currently, and ANA does at least 1. There’s no way that BA flight is filling up without British tourists, it was quite often half full at the best of times, as most Japanese use JAL or ANA.
A friend of mine works for a Japanese expat family here in London and is keen to visit Japan as she has never been before. The family told her to wait a few years. I am not saying Japan will open to ind tourism in a few years but I’m trying to tell you guys the concept of time is a little different for them. Japanese view gaijin as impatient and doe them few years is nothing but blink of an eye. Please for your own sanity and dignity try not to obsess day and night about Japan. I know you are frustrated but this obsession and reading and analysing every little article and interview won’t help. Japan will open fully someday and you will visit freely but until then let them be. It is what it is.
I understand very well that checking the news on this topic obsessively isn’t good for my mental health. However, when you’re in a relationship with a Japanese person who happens to be the love of your life and whom you haven’t met face to face in 2.5+ years, it isn’t that easy to just stop checking and analysing the news. This situation is affecting some of us on a very personal level. It’s affecting us emotionally, it’s affecting our mental health and our plans for the future. Who knows how many of us can keep our relationships alive until Japan finally decides that it’s ok to let us meet our loved ones? I understand that it’s their country, their rules, there are many factors at play, etc. etc. But telling someone in this situation to “just wait a few more years” is very painful and inconsiderate.
Please don’t take it personally because I don’t mean to attack your comment. Whom I’m referring to here is that family you mentioned about or those people in power who don’t give a s*** about us who are in this situation.
My impression about Japan has deteriorated a lot and if it wasn’t for my boyfriend whom I love so much, I would have already moved on. I do hope the situation improves, not only for us, couples, but for everyone who wants to go to Japan for whatever reason. But I’m afraid it won’t be easy for us to forget the pain we’ve been through and the bitter taste that Japan left on us.
I’ve heard and seen quite a lot of “wait a few years”, and also comments along the line of “nobody in Japan cares”, “nobody talks about it”, or even “it’s nice without tourists”. A lot of these attitudes seem very selfish and unempathetic, like these people can’t fathom any situation that’s different from their own, or their pre-conceived ideas of what banning “tourism” really means. As commenter “She” says, the people who are most upset by this are not the ones who want to go sightseeing.
I get the advice about not obsessing over articles etc, which I am guilty of, but those expats know just a little as we do.
I can assure you that a few years doesn’t go in a blink of an eye for only those of us that are waiting to see friends, family and loved ones, on both sides of the border, but also all those that work in the businesses being destroyed.
I’ve explained before how the gdp figures for foreign tourism are underestimated, but Japan’s modest growth targets rely on the reintroduction of foreign tourism, and that is ignoring all the current domestic and global issues. Time is not on their side when it comes to their economy. Yes, politics have been put before economics, but there’s no arguing that is changing, just look at the Government response to this wave.
As other people have stated some people need to be in Japan for other reasons than tourism. I feel really lucky that my Japanese partners job allows her to travel to my country regularly so we don’t have the problem of not seeing each other for long periods of time due to Japans closure but most are not that lucky and their partners work ridiculous schedules in Japan and do not have the time to travel. So before you post the typical “stop obsessing over Japan and just go to another country” please realise that people on have reasons far more important than tourism to travel to Japan.
Same as She, my love is in Japan and I am disparate to not meet her when I want. I can wait to visit Japan but I want be with her, that’s simple.
My livelihood has been destroyed. I have already waited 2.5 years. I don’t want to wait any more years to have an income and be able to start saving again instead of depleting my savings.
I agree with the comment regarding people who make inconsiderate comments like those brag about how nice their trip to such and such Japanese place was without foreign tourists, and how empty it all was for them. That emptiness is the suffering of all of the businesses in the area. They are suffering for your happiness and convenience.
I never explained my reasoning here but yeah, I’m another one that is more about the people than the country.
The girl I love lives there and I desperately want to meet her, we’ve yet to meet in person.
So despite everything, my heart hurts and I need to keep following the news in hope of something to end the suffering and anxiety.
What Japan is doing is utterly insensitive, completely disregarding the feelings and connections of japanese with foreigners.
@Japan Tourism Small Business Owner, you should make or have an information drive there in Japan or a campaign on re-opening your border. I think the citizens are not pressuring their government enough to make actions on how they ignore people like you, like us.
With that, it is clear that the citizens of Japan, dont really want to open and hence, the government just do what the citizens wants.
If this page is really sincere and all people commenting in the discussions are all sincere, then they should not reject Renzo and others point, that we have to move on. Anyway, it is our individual choices.
I think, this pages discussions are fake. All discussions are all setup to gather clicks and nothing more. And I am stupid, still commenting. Lol.
@She, I am sorry, but I think the best thing to do is to move on and let go of things that we cant control.
I don’t believe that there are japanese that read this page and will say “oh!, they are right.”
Asuming is the mother of all….why do you care at all what strangers on the internet do in their free time.
For all reasons said here that I would rather prefer if Japan, like China, openly said that they won’t reopen in the next 2 years, than doing what they are doing.
We can’t move on, we don’t know, no one knows, and that’s the problem.
One doesn’t end a relationship like that.
“Hmm oh, yeah so, I think you guys will never reopen so it will be better to finish our relationship”
*reopens 2 months later*
Tiki, don’t think that I haven’t thought about “moving on” from my business. In fact, I have taken another job this year. However, the job conditions are not nearly as good as they were for me in 2019, and my business is something that I built. I want it back.
First it was “just 2 weeks to flatten the curve”. Then it was “we have to wait for the vaccination”. Then it was “we don’t actually know how to do a vaccination campaign in Japan and our warehouses are filling with tens of millions of doses”. Then when got vaccinated and it was “we are carefully considering our next steps”. We watched the world begin to re-open, of course thinking that Japan would also have its turn. In fall last year I received a tip that Japan was going to open tourism corridors with certain countries in December 2021 (which I believe was true based on other things that I’ve seen). Then omicron hit and no corridors ever came to be. The first wave of omicron passed, then we watched the mighty Australia and New Zealand announce their openings. If those 2 strict countries are opening, then Japan can’t be far behind, right? Then there was the May announcement that tourism would be “in line with G7 countries by June”, which turned into the stupid group tours that almost nobody wants to do.
My point is that nobody came out in spring of 2020 and told us that it would be 3 years before we’d have our lives back to normal or we could see the people we wanted to see. There has always been this idea that we’re “just a few months from re-opening”. You don’t abandon your business or your significant other a few months from the re-opening. At this point, the hope that normality is returning stops being a good thing and starts becoming a ball-and-chain that prevents us from doing what maybe we should have done, had we only known. Hope that things will get better can be a serious problem. The government here has only made it worse for us by never saying anything about what their intentions are. If they intend to stay closed for years more, that information would be useful to us now and would let people make informed decisions about what to do with their lives. The closure is damaging but so is the lack of comment from our officials.
@Japan Tourism Small Business Owner
Your comment was perfect, spot on.
It’s important to note tho that until around March this year, Japan was not alone, some other Asian countries were just reopening. The pain started increasing when New Zealand opened to visa waiver countries in May 1st and definitely left Japan alone as the only democratic or non-covid zero nation still closed to tourists.
Since then it was a wave of false hopes, including the blatant lies by Kishida at the London meeting. Japan decided to not follow the western industrialized first world nations. Japan decided to not follow its importance as a G7 nation, and its economical and political importance in the world as an important ally of USA and Europe.
No, Japan forgot about all that and decided to follow an approach much closer to the likes of Taiwan regarding Covid. Australia, New Zealand and South Korea reopenings had no impact whatsoever in their view of the scary overseas.
Instead we then witnessed the unbelievable monitored tours coming true. No no, it wasn’t just a test designed to a certain amount of people. It is, to this day, the only way to enter the country as a tourist.
And so here we are, to add insult to injury, watching Japan ranking 1st in case numbers since last week, sometimes with double the number of 2nd place country (according to John Hopkins at least), with no plan no exit, nothing, remaining silent, while keeping the reductant and utterly useless waterfront measures strictly in place, as well as refusing to reduce Covid to level 5.
By the way, they reduced the waiting time from 7 to 5 days.
A completely useless relaxation of border measures that affects almost nobody.
But it is a way to show they are doing something, while doing nothing.
@Japan Tourism Small Business Owner, then up your information drive there in Japan. Boost your campaign for re-opening after this 7th wave.
Ask people there to post something on their twitter, instagram, on any social media account about how affected you are, we are.
If you people keep on being submissive with your politicians which are held in the xenophobe elite hands, then nothing will happen. Nothing!
Of course, that idea may put you into trouble with your own government, if you don’t want that, then just move on. Enough with all those empty promises and silence already. It is already almost 3 years. The government do nothing, then either you move on or continue torturing ourselves or do actions that will pressure it.
There are no japanese who read this article, so all discussions here are pointless. Since you own a tourism business, then invite your clients japanese or not to read these discussions.
That’s my point, not news like comment, you all are posting here.
The citizens, the japanese citizens don’t care.
Leo, just a correction… Taiwan is a democratic country of a little over 23 million people, almost the same population as Australia. So Japan is actually 1 of 2 major democracies still in closure.
(This comment is brought to you by the Taiwanese person living in my home)
Tiki, I don’t think anybody is posting here thinking that Japanese are reading it or that it will make a difference. This is a place where people discuss, share, and look for the latest news (as rare as news is). It’s helpful. If you want to trash people who are trying to get through this with the support of others here, quite honestly you are the one who should leave. Go find a forum where people have already given up, or who don’t have as much riding on a re-opening. This is honestly the last place on the internet where I thought people would get trashed by others for their situation.
Nobody here, in government or otherwise, gives a damn about what some gaijin tiny tourism business owner, whose customers are all gaijin, and who doesn’t even get to vote in the elections, thinks about the lack of speed of re-opening. Do you think they aren’t aware of us already? Even lots of other gaijins don’t care, and they’ll tell me that to my face. There are much bigger powers than me, large business and tourism lobbies, who should be pushing for these things.
Tiki, I forgot to thank you for an amazing tip. Write stuff on our social media pages about how hard it is for us? Invite our gaijin customers to read and understand? Wow! I never thought of doing anything like that. I certainly haven’t written anything online, and our gaijin customers who have been locked out of the country, and don’t get a vote in Japan, certainly weren’t aware of the situation. Thanks so much!
https://www.data-max.co.jp/article/35874
Looks like Taiwan will be opening to tourists from October, potentially. Will Japan really be the last to open?
Oops, this is from two years ago! That’ll teach me to post stuff without checking dates!
Yes
Looking at the data, I need to see the points of yesterday and today but it looks like the curve is going to peak soon. Without any kind of intervention. Surprising, isn’t it? So much for 100,000 cases a day in Tokyo alone….
Does enyone still believe in 100k cases?
The press and certain “experts”.
I know, Leo. And what caused the Omicron surge? Well behaved people during holiday get together so? Cautious masking?
Or people congregating with a poor sense of self governance? Same thing they do every flu season. 😉
What happened was an R0 of 7 to 14. Condescending wink emojis don’t change that reality.
As always, the media going crazy after Omi said that we are entering a stage where the public “can make their own decisions and devise their own solutions”, a “matter of self-help”.
Imagine telling this to a public that can’t think by themselves and just follow what they are told blindly.
https://www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/view/life/308759/2
Also I know it’s been discussed here many times but it never ceases to amaze me how the media talks like it’s not the same disease that affected the entire world, like if Japan was exclusive and that this 7th wave will kill half the country, and an immense tragedy is coming thanks to such declaration by Omi.
Yes, it’s because Omi thinks that way that the entire country will explode. Sure.
I can assure you the press here said exactly the same thing. The Japanese press is simply following the trend.
More on the topic, it should have been like this from the beginning. Public Health is about empowering individuals who then decide on their own.
In fairness, if we’re going to contend that Japan is no different than the rest of the world with regard to reopening feasibility and outcomes, I think it’s only fair to point out that this type of editorial is fairly ubiquitous in the rest of the world.
Heck, there were articles (plural) like this in today’s Los Angeles Times. Obviously, the specifics differ but the tone is similar. While there’s a more cynical reading of the underlying motivations, I think big ones are fear and a human desire for control. People have suffered a lot of trauma in the last ~2 years and it’s not easy moving on from that–especially in an uncertain way.
In all such circumstances, I think the authors/advocates/etc. of such measures should be required to provide evidence of efficacy, an exit strategy or their metrics for moving on, and how they’d minimize/address economic externalities.
The one big difference between Japan and the rest of the world is that just about everywhere else is disregarding this vocal minority of voices. However, it appears that Japan is also finally trending in that direction, too.
Not sure if it will be any impact or not, but news are reporting rumors that Suga may be “nominated” Abe’s sucessor (mostly to represent the faction in the LDP which he was the leader of, I think).
Japan has detected its 1st case of monkey pox today. I wonder what’s gonna happen next? Will they panic or use this as an “excuse” to postpone the reopening?
I haven’t seen or heard about any other country in the world that is considering closing its borders due to monkey pox at the moment. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.) So I’m very curious about Japan’s approach towards this situation.
Also, it’s stated in this article that the nationality of the infected patient wasn’t disclosed. Why so much mystery? I wonder…
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/first-case-monkeypox-japan-detected-tokyo-ntv-citing-govt-source-2022-07-25/
He was Japanese with a recent history of travel to Europe.
Everything is purposely vague because the vast majority of sufferers are gay or bisexual men, and a significant number (although I don’t believe it is a large one) also have HIV. I would imagine they are trying to avoid making similar mistakes to the AIDS crisis in the 80s, although thankfully this is much less serious. Currently, vaccinations in the UK are concentrated to London and those that attend sex events/clubs there, and I’m sure I don’t need to explain the reasoning behind that decision.
There has been spread to family members, etc, but it has mostly contained itself to the gay community. I don’t imagine any sort of restrictions will be brought in anywhere unless this changes.
I’d like to add the news outlets (Japanese included) “conveniently” omitted the part that Thedros overruled the Committee which was against calling it an emergency.
As for the reason…I think it’s easy to guess.
Thank you very much for enlightening me, “.” and zazza.
This 7th wave in Japan clearly demonstrate that there is no link between Covid infection and Tourist in Japan…
Like all other wave in all other countries who do understand that we keeping restriction in Japan ?
There are an high daily contamination even if the country is still lock, higher that other countries who are fully open with a lot of tourist.
I can’t believe that Japanese government is so “Baka”.
Open to tourist, ask for a negative test before departure. Ask for a quick test upon in the airport, this will be more clever.
Does anyone know if a rinjikai has been decided yet for this fall ? If opening up the borders does require change to a Class 5, and the responses to Omi are any indication there is a high level of public interest that will take some time to work through. Not as much on the hospitals filling up/capacity issue as with health care infrastructure tied to costs in general. Unfortunately the tourist problem seems to be being held hostage by these other concerns even if there is no scientific basis for them being intrinsically intertwined.
Not yet. I wouldn’t expect anything until after this wave is safely past the peak.
I wouldn’t write off a stage in between a complete reopening to everyone and what we have now (think back to the JATA suggested timeline), regardless of declassification, but given the timing of everything, that may not be the case. It’s all way too up in the air to make any sort of reliable prediction.
It will be interesting how this plays out. I was just watching the TBS segment on the potential shift of class and it was good to see a reporter actually on the scene in a completely open UK with everyone going about maskless and no testing requirements. Although he did mention there were not as many elderly, which is true, the debate has at least started and the media does seem to be offering both sides (for now).
“ask for a negative test before departure. Ask for a quick test upon in the airport, this will be more clever.”
Nope. Testing has to be abolished. Along with everything else.
I think the government had the idea of keeping those monitored tours for much longer but giving their abysmal results the pressure is growing from the tourism sector which isn’t seeing nowhere near the kind of recovery they expected.
NHK article with “specialists” surprised about the fail of those tours: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220724/k10013733811000.html
Shock news from the person they interviewed from Inside Japan Tours in the UK, British and American tourists would rather wait for full reopening than have to go on a group tour!!
I do not agree at all with what Andrew states. Keeping visas for foreign tourists (to which countries then? The whole world?) would be a bizarre idea that automatically would not allow the Japanese themselves to travel freely (the strength of the Japanese passport would jump from first to last place…) and then it would bankrupt cities like Kyoto that practically live only on tourism (the domestic one while substantial is not enough, just look at the many hotels “temporarily closed” these days).
Only if other countries care about reciprocity and suspend visa waivers for Japanese citizens. I’m not sure if we’ll see that happening.
It all depends, of course, on how much longer Japan will require visas. The European Commission has already pointed out that the Union requires reciprocity, and South Korea has long since reintroduced it.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/54590fe6efe423753866157dbf53c8fc7c0ec9f5
VERY interesting article (though blocked outside Japan). There are some officials being quoted as saying “no scientific evidence for reduction in movement > reduction of spread” (well duh), and also saying that imposing “restrictions” on restaurant would solve nothing.
It corroborates my idea that the government is fully aware of the futility of spread control and that’s why it didn’t impose any quasi emergency measures.
Also Yoshimura (Osaka prefecture governor) asked for a reduction to class 5.
…I may be mistaken but wasn’t the same person who said no foreigners wearing the Osaka Expo shirt, or am I thinking of someone else?
Of course we don’t wanna people being hospitalized and severly ill due to covid, but what is happening with 200k+/daily (prob way more) is the only way for the japanese to learn and realize that all those stupid measures that they all proclamed as the best in the world don’t work and never worked.
They need to fail themselves regarding. Data and studies from other countries never mattered a single bit in their policies so the only way for those to crumble is they realizing themselves that they don’t work.
I’ve seen a few tweets about it, but no news so not sure how reliable is this info, but apparently Omi and the panel asked for reduction of quarantine a long time ago. I assume it wasn’t put into practice earlier because:
a. The elections
b. The golden week (which many thought it would kill half Japan…)
Reading AndyO’s interesting comments gives a good understanding of how the Japanese think. It is fascinating because living in Japan one begins to think like a Japanese. The summary is the usual: Japan does not reopen to foreigners (unlike other developed countries) because it is “different.” Everything that can be solved more or less easily in other countries becomes complicated in Japan and is therefore postponed. Obviously there will be a million reasons plausible or not to explain this (in fact if you notice well his posts are long as in the best Japanese tradition). What escapes is the substance of the problem. What is Japan’s strategy to get through the pandemic safely since the virus is here to stay? Stay closed for a few decades or hundreds of years? Or more likely, one more or less distant day magically reopen borders while pretending nothing happened? And all of us happy people will forget all about it. Finally, let us not forget the contradiction related to the fact that the Japanese themselves rightly now live and travel within the country as much and more than before and everything is crowded. Therefore, the closure to foreigners only makes no logical sense from the point of view of preventing infection. But, we know it well by now, making comments and predictions based on common sense and rationality is useless. Unfortunately this would be enough to close any discussion on the subject for good.
Hi !!!, putting your insults aside, you must speak extensively with many Japanese to know that I think one in the same as them. Yes, all Japanese bitterly complain about their inept government, its foolish spending, stagnant indecisiveness, superfluous need to plan for every conceivable contingency, and rigid obedience to out-dated policy. Yes indeed, this land is full of such contempt like mine!!!
(oh, excuse the exclamation points, I was using it as grammatical effect, not trying to call you by name)
But I do wholeheartedly agree with you asking, what’s the strategy? Beats me. I think everyone here is trying to guess it… and so too probably are the policy-making “leaders” in Japan as well.
In posting, I’m simply trying to explain, repeatedly, that due to decisions, policies, and realities of their own making (many of which pre-dated covid, like language failures) Japan has boxed itself in and feels it has little flexibility to steer out of this mess.
AndyO, my country is as (if not even more) bureaucratic than Japan, complete with complex procedures etc… but even here they’re phasing out stuff, slowly. And that’s because of money: I may be a broken record, but this stuff costs. Too much in the current economic climate.
This time Japan cannot afford to do their usual shitck . Otherwise the whole economy will take a hit…and I’m not talking about the tourists.
I think it’s quite clear the elections have had a big influence on policy decisions. I’m still of the belief that we would’ve seen movement for individual tourists late this summer if it wasn’t for the timing of this BA5 wave, but that is irrelevant now. What isn’t is that, despite cases being at an all time high, the government aren’t bringing back restrictions, and are even loosening them, in some circumstances. Does anyone really think that would’ve happened before the election?
If this was happening before the election the entire country would be in a red state of emergency already LoL (including cancelled events and the likes).
I think this wave came at exactly the right time thinking about a reopen. Imagine if they had somehow reopened and THEN this wave happened? It would be much worst lol
I will save myself from all these frustrations. The trolls have point, the discussions here will only add up to our frustrations.
From Aki and Andy0, it is clear that Japan will not open their borders to us outsiders. We don’t matter to them, domestic problem is more important. It is their citizen, that should pressure their government to open up. But, clearly majority of their citizens are not for this idea. Their politicians, elites and specially the media are against tourism. So, what can we do? Nothing!
Let us avoid Japan for tourism or anything related and look somewhere else.
We are just all hyped with their “unique culture” which is clearly not true.
Let us all move on.
Hi AndyO!!! There must be a communication problem because you see insults where there are none…or maybe you are offended if you are told you think like a Japanese…? Anyway, in your posts, getting lost in details explaining the “reasons” why the government is taking its meaningless measures against the virus leads to the risk of being at least ambiguous (see your sarcastic posts in response to other users) and, shall we say, misinterpreted. I also speak to Japanese people and obviously the criticism towards the government has always been there since before the pandemic. It is also true that here we are commenting on the decisions of the “government” and not individual citizens. Such decisions, as in the best tradition, are passively accepted and often supported. I think we should get to the heart of the problem and state clearly that closing borders is now an unnecessary as well as frankly unacceptable policy. All the details you provide (hospitalization, infections rate, linguistic problems, insurance etc) often give the “wrong” (I take note) impression that you endorse them as well as being just smoke hiding the reality. Let’s face it, these are just excuses that the whole rest of the world has already largely overcome without any problems for a long time and that Japan too will sooner or…later (that’s the problem) from one day to the next overcome by pretending that nothing has happened.
I will save myself from all of the frustrations, we outsiders don’t matter to them, so maybe those trolls are correct that there is no point for this discussion.
Based on what Aki and Andyo is implying, Japan is not willing to open their borders to us outsiders. So, let them be. Maybe, we are all just hyped by their animes and whatever.
Zazza said, 50% of past visitors are from China, so let us ignore their tourism and see other countries.
Matsuno “robotic speech” tested positive (which is not the same as “contracted corona” as the JP news outlets say). Another proof that there’s no way to avoid getting this virus.
Eagerly waiting for the August update to tell us that reopening to ind tourism is just around the corner. For real this time. Thanks for the thorough and optimistic updates.
I guess maybe I wasn’t clear, but I didn’t say that the tourists are going to fill up the hospitals. The hospitals are already filled up with Japanese patients during the winters.
Thus, its very unlikely that the country will open the flood gates right before winter because if there are any sudden increase (even small) in coronaviruses among the population as the massive influx of freely traveling overseas tourists enter, and put further strain on the hospitals, somebody will be held accountable.
(I am part of a physicians network with many colleagues in Japan)
PS I wish everybody the best of luck.
I agree Aki.
The “somebody will be held accountable” part is what Japanese probably fear more than the virus itself.
If (or when) I get Covid here, I’m happy at least I can speak Japanese, don’t have foreign insurance to contend with, and have a home I can self-isolate in with friends and family who can give support.
If just a quarter of the normal number of foreign tourists were here right now (so tens or even hundreds of thousands continuously mobile people on any given day), even just a handful of additional patients in most hospitals/clinics would make a bad situation right now worse, particularly due to the additional hindrances (beyond just being sick) each non-resident would create with language, payment, and figuring out quarantine.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220724/k10013733201000.html
I mentioned here weeks (months?) ago that this current wave was inevitable (due to overall low infection spread pre-omicron) and something the government was always probably worried about.
Lets just hope that it burns through the population without too much damage, provides a sizable amount of natural immunity, and allows Japan to feel more on-par with other countries with this disease and lets them re-open in a more normal way (though this shouldn’t be expected immediately after the current wave concludes).
AndyO, the wave wasn’t “inevitable” because of low infections but simply because the virus works like this.
And if you really believe the virus hasn’t reached the place where you live… sorry, but you may be delusional.
“Lets just hope that it burns through the population without too much damage”.
There is no need to hope, as Omicron works exacly like this. There’s ton of data from the rest of the world. Japan isn’t special at all, in this regard.
Look, they may think that way, and that may be why tourism isn’t allowed until next Spring, but that doesn’t make what you’re a realistic scenario if they were to open. Show me the data from other countries that proves it. You will be looking for a while because it doesn’t exist.
For the record, I’m not saying Japan should open during this current wave. I’m saying that opening after it is over will not result in another, or any sort of meaningful increase in of hospitalisations, even in Winter. This has been proven time and time again all around the world.
., I believe, despite what AndyO is saying, that the government is fully aware of this, and it’s just trying to save face by making it look it was its actions that lead to “normalization”.
Every other country has managed to open up to tourism whilst managing hospital levels. Japan is supposed to be an industrialised nation…..clearly not.
Countries even did it in late Autumn/Winter last year. The US, for example, opened to everyone in November, and only had an increase of cases once Omicron hit them, the same as Japan. Japan’s just started two weeks later. There is zero evidence opening to individual tourists, after this wave is over, will cause admissions to hospital or create another wave, even in the winter. Sure, it may delay some new variant getting into the country by a week or two, but ultimately, we all know by now that makes no difference in even the short term.
I will also make the point that hospitals in the UK have struggled every winter with capacity issues in flu season. As we have “socialised” medical care here, there is, without fail, newspaper headlines either stating they need more funding, or privatising, to cope. Guess what? They coped just fine last Winter, before and after the Omicron wave, even with tourists, and more than likely with way more tourists than what Japan would have, with no Chinese being able to travel.
What I find frustrating about the point Andy rightly makes regarding logistic issues with tourists that get ill is that the previous administration had an app developed in 2020/early 2021 that seemingly dealt with the majority of it. Yes, it would’ve required limiting tourists to some extent, I believe caps were suggested at the time, but it could be something like limiting it to blue category countries only, or visa free countries only. The point is, there are solutions to the issue, regardless of declassification. The main thing holding things back are the political choices of this administration, not this virus itself. This has been the cases for nearly a year now.
Less than a week ago “.” you suggested to stop making comparisons between other countries and Japan because policy makers here apparently only look at the domestic situation and do not compare it much (if at all) with elsewhere. The UK (and elsewhere) had a different covid situation. Comparisons are still pointless.
And Zazza, this wave wasn’t inevitable for Omicron… it was inevitable for Covid. Look at any country which did “well” with low infections pre-Omicron: Australia, New Zealand, S Korea… all had massive spikes in the past few months (all from low single digits to 30+% since January). Japan somehow staved off the bulk of its first Omicron wave in February, but now its hitting hard… yet still at hardly 9% overall.
(I’m curious to see what happens in Taiwan. Super low infections till May, then a big spike, now a bit settled, yet still less than 18%. Very similar to Japan, but 3 months behind. Though it seems like their spike probably wasn’t big enough yet. Oh, and no date announce for re-opening to foreign tourists either.)
And zazza, as far as where I live, not that I mentioned it (you did) but my town of 20,000+ has had grand total of 632 confirmed cases in the whole 2.5 years, and today, during this massive record-breaking wave, there was 1. I only know 8 people living here who got it, none of whom did so during this current wave. It’s almost annoying now, I just want it to hit, and be gone (and/or be accepted.)
And “.”, as far as that awesome game-changing app, which you describe as “the previous administration had an app developed in 2020/early 2021 that seemingly dealt with the majority of it.”
Yeah, let me slightly correct your not quite accurate statement: “the previous administration had an overpriced and haphazardly developed app in 2020/early 2021 that seemingly -note, ‘seemingly’- dealt with covid management but was so crappy and unusable that it couldn’t be utilized for either the general public or, more importantly, for the Olympic Games, which is one reason foreign athletes and staff couldn’t leave the quarantine zone, let alone how no ticket-holding foreign spectators could enter the country. And being that they felt it was too difficult to ever properly do, particularly the multi-lingual part, they just scrapped the whole concept and let the overpaid yet un-delivering developer keep the money.”
There, fixed it.
AndyO… This virus has an asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic phase for most people. FAR, FAR more people have contracted it. Do not think most of those 200,000 are immunologically naive. In fact, it’s likely most of them experienced it in some form.
Andy, why do you always change what others say to suit your argument?
What I said last week was there is no point comparing RECORDED case numbers in Japan, as they are vastly undercounted, and that the Japanese government seemingly doesn’t based on data from other countries when it comes to their border policies. Please tell me where I’ve contradicted myself in this?
You have literally just said “Comparisons are still pointless” and then said, in the same comment, that you want to see what happens in Taiwan, I’m assuming, in relation to Japan. Quite the contradiction, no? Or are you just planning a trip?
I’m not talking about what the Japanese Government are GOING to do, I was talking about how Aki & others (perhaps you as well?) seem to think that after this wave is over, there would be some significant increase of cases and pressure on hospitals, both from tourists and the Japanese public, if individual tourists are allowed into Japan this Winter (still waiting on that data, by the way).
I even said “they (jp government) may think that way, and that may be why tourism isn’t allowed until next Spring, but that doesn’t make what you’re saying a realistic scenario if they were to open”.
I’m talking about the realities of Covid, not what I think the Japanese government will do in relation to them and the data from other countries.
Yes, the app was full of bugs and sucked. Was it a buggy app that failed or the actual concept was doomed from that start? Maybe both. Never did I claim that it was “an awesome game-changing app”.
I literally said “The point is, there are solutions to the issue, regardless of declassification. The main thing holding things back are the political choices of this administration, not this virus itself.”
The only point I did make about what I think the Japanese government may do is this; “I’ve also always thought there will be a step in between the group tours and completely unrestricted tourism 2019 style. This is what that proposed app in 2020 was for. Perhaps something SIMILAR could happen for blue category countries, or for visa free countries. This is sort of potential opening I’ve always thought is realistic this Autumn/Winter, not some sort of free for all.”
By similar, I don’t JUST mean another app. It could be sticking with a daily cap, or sticking with blue or visa free travellers only. I doubt they will be letting in everyone at once, even if demand will be a fraction of what it was in 2019. I was agreeing with you that there will more than likely be another stage in between what we have now and a return to 2019 border measures.
Hospital beds in Japan used to get pretty full from influenza patient during November to end of February. I don’t think Japan is going to risk opening to possible influx of coronavirus right before that.
I agree with Andy on almost everything he said in the blog. And I appreciate his factual and candid input. I understand also that everybody’s very frustrated. But I do agree that Japan is not going to open to individual tourists until at least next spring and even then I don’t see how they’re going to handle the massive demand since coronavirus will still be around. They will have to do some kind of a visa like Andy said.
Right now, many who are not tourist but need to go to Japan is allowed in and visa application has simplified quite a bit.
They will have to figure out how to expand this process. Also I think they will continue to require PCR tests three days before boarding a flight to Japan. Remember, PCR tests can be positive for up to 90 days after you get Covid. Another reason why you should have a fully refundable ticket or travel insurance.
ManyJapanese are not going overseas because of the PCR requirements. They are getting stranded.
Tourists do not end up in hospital with covid in any meaningful numbers, and don’t with the flu. I feel I have to correct anyone that mentions this because it simply isn’t true that tourists increase the burden on hospitals when it comes to covid.
Japan will also reinstate visa free travel because they will have to, at some point, if they want to keep their visa free status in other countries. How would a visa help with covid when it comes to individual travellers, anyway?
There won’t be massive demand, either. Around 50% of tourists in Japan are Chinese typically, and they won’t be going any time soon.
You might be right about Spring, who knows, but it won’t be because of those issues. I could even see blue status countries not requiring a covid test once it has been reduced to category 5.
I appreciate wanting to keep people’s expectations realistic, but finding issues where there aren’t any doesn’t help anyone, either.
I don’t believe there would be a future requirement for a visa (at least, not in the long-term), and as “.” mentioned, it wouldn’t help with Japan’s covid management issues, and it would run counter to the plan (if it still exists?) to increase tourist arrivals to 60 million per year by 2030 (though I thought that target was always insane regardless of any pandemic).
But to be honest, I’m not sure if keeping their “visa-free” status in the short-term with other countries is as heavily influential to covid policy as people want to think. Actually, for any country, domestic concerns usually outweigh international ones, especially when comparing visa-reciprocity with health management and population appeasement.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Japan attempts to expand on the tour group thing as a temporary step before allowing full unrestricted travel. By this, (an there are several possibilities) Japan may reduce the strict requirement for the entry-to-departure guided tour and make it so that one only needs to be in a tour for a part of their trip and/or the accommodation just needs to be booked through the operator in advance (but without a full-time guide). But in conjunction with this reduced tour concept, the tour operator would still be the responsible sponsor in case the tourist had some issue which needed assistance (yeah, its convoluted, complicated, and makes no logical sense to an outsider, but Japanese policies are only interested in covering their perceived contingencies, even if they are unlikely to happen and only add layers of tangled bureaucracy).
As far as hospitalizations (but also for testing, treatment, and quarantine), what needs to be constantly remembered is there are 4 main factors in play: what the public believes, what policy-makers believe, what health workers believe, and what is the reality.
Those 4 factors rarely ever agree, and any one of them may also outwardly say one thing but inwardly be the opposite (this is also the case with the “reality” because unless all possible data is available and accurate, then determining what is “real” can not be done).
But I would agree that before unrestricted tourism is allowed again, that covid probably needs to be de-classified to a lower level, but arranging this and then fully implementing it is much easier said than done. So early autumn re-opening is probably impossible, and spring is no longer unrealistic.
I agree the visa free deals aren’t an issue short term. It was more a point made in reference to those that think it will be a permanent, or ongoing when tourists are actually allowed in.
I’ve also always thought there will be a step in between the group tours and completely unrestricted tourism 2019 style. This is what that proposed app in 2020 was for (that I believe was finished and cost millions?). Perhaps something similar could happen for blue category countries, or for visa free countries. This is sort of potential opening I’ve always thought is realistic this Autumn/Winter, not some sort of free for all.
Can someone reply to me when we get actual news of what the government are saying…like what date they’re thinking of when they finally discuss it again.Come on Japan open up.
Despite these blogs (I love the one that has percentages based on nothing but his desire to sell tour), I’d bet we’re looking at 2023.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if they eliminated visa-free travel as a concession for the towns that had been stormed by hoards of tourists previously. That way they can guarantee some level of tourism and simultaneously make sure that Kyoto doesn’t turn into… what it had been the last several years.
To answer your question, the government has no official statements. That’s the polite way of saying “no.”
It will all comes down to a reclassification to level 5.
The moment that reclassification is concluded, the borders will reopen right after.
How long that reclassification will take? Only god knows.
Will they tell in advance, with a schedule? No, it will be in a whim some time after the reclassification. Prob one week before and that will be it.
I still think betting in 2023 is a pessimist view, November is a more realistic one.
Leo, “right before flu season” has been tried in Japan, last year. I agree I sound pessimistic, but we have precedent for it not happening.
Andrew, Omicron happened.
That was the reason everything was shut down last November, not flu winter season.
In what world do you think getting rid of visa free tourism because of the issues in Kyoto is a realistic idea? Whether they like it or not, Kyoto needs foreign tourists economically now. You can’t just remove billions of dollars from a local economy, unless the Government plans to continue to prop it up for the foreseeable.
Quite frankly, the idea that Japan gets some staggering amount of tourists is laughable. They get around 8-10 million less than the UK per year, despite the UK being half the size and half the population.