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!
We had booked a trip for late september of this year so we are praying they come up with a quick solution to reopen the border…
Great bamboo shots Tom! While I’ve never been to Japan, it’s pretty high on my list so this is slightly encouraging.
Groundhog day.
Thanks as always for your thorough analysis of this situation. I have come to rely on your posts heavily as I try to weigh options and feasibility of getting back to Japan to visit my friends and loved ones (who I have not seen for almost 3 years). It has been a long and frustrating and slow road for all of us. I still have not made any arrangements but hoped to book a refundable flight to Osaka for November of this year. But after watching this absurd process for the last few years, I’ve decided recently that I’ll have to give up on Japan and turn my attention to South Korea or elsewhere. I’ll welcome my Japanese friends to my country when they can make it and move on with visiting other parts of the world who are ready to get on with life.
Many thanks for your helpful and balanced updates.
My many pre-covid visits to Japan over the last decade or more reflect the fact that Japan is a totally unique and brilliant place to travel around, with so much to experience and enjoy.
Because of travel restrictions I have now cancelled pre-arranged visits to Japan on three occasions, cancellations that I totally accept have been necessary but have nevertheless been very disappointing given the thought that has gone in to compiling each itinerary…and the difficulties in making/cancelling certain reservations.
I am 67 years old and love to travel independently in Japan, and relish exploring and making new and amazing memories.
I am not yet giving up all my hopes of resuming my Japanese adventures later this year but i honestly dont think i can again make new plans and reservations etc only for them all to be dashed once again. At 67, i can’t wait for ever.
Unlike Japan (at least yet), much of the rest of the world seems to have moved on and accepted the fact that everyday life and the virus has to coexist if we want any sense of normality in our lives.
I have read that South Korea has many similarities with Japan so with a degree of sadness (and a growing sense of excitement) I think i may turn my travel attention to Japan’s neighbour on the basis that I can have more confidence that the plans and arrangements I make will be much more likely to take place.
I love Japan so much that I hope I won’t be disappointed if South Korea (of which I know little about) is indeed my final destination. Maybe now is the time to find out.
Hotels booked for the beginning of October (obviously refundable). Will wait until the end of August – if no news, will have to book flights to alternative destinations.. which would be a shame, because my 1st booking was in Spring 2020.. and in a year my child will go to school, so I am not sure I will manage to go to Japan at all, because in summer it’s too hot for the child, and other school holidays are just too short.. But no way we will join an organized tour, just no way. Staying at home is better than joining an organized tour.
Thanks for your long article and serious analysis. I bought a ticket plane by the 3rd of October. I have to phone to Air France to know until which date I can postpone this ticket ! I cross the fingers to be able to travel there. I did not stay in Japan since 2017. So long.
My wife and I have just arrived back from a very nice 3 x week visit to the Kansai area to see our son and his family. We were able to get a visa to enter Japan and made sure we loaded the 2 x Co-vid apps (MySOS and COCOA) on our phones before departing. We also had predeparture PCR tests (these are allowed up to 72 hours before our flight).
Because we had all the necessary details on our phones – the arrival process at Kansai Airport was very straightforward – and interestingly was much quicker than our last visit in January 2020.
It is worth noting that the Japanese rely a lot on mask wearing and temperature checks. During our travels mask wearing was virtually 100% adhered to – even whilst out walking in high temperatures. On entering hotels and restaurants we always had our temperature checked before we were allowed to enter.
Apart from this, our visit was similar to previous trips. We walked around a lot, used the railway system and visited a number of attractions – which were all open and had reasonable numbers of people visiting.
Our only other observation was the clear lack of any tourists to Japan. We were made welcome in all the establishments we visited and felt that they were most happy to have us back.
We are planning to visit again later in the year so are hopeful that restrictions will start to ease soon.
Hi Stephen! Could you please share any resources on how you guys qualified for this visa to visit family? I’ve been trying to plan a trip for the whole month of November to visit my sister who has lived in Kyoto for 8 years. Our son is 2 and I am dying for her to get time with him (and just to be back in beautiful Japan)!! I may try to get a visa if they are closed come November.
That’s so awesome you were able to visit your son. Hope you guys had a great time!
Hi Katie U, Hope you can see this reply.
We applied via the Japanese Embassy in London. It was a fairly straightforward process with a number of forms to complete and some documents our daughter in law (who is Japanese) had to obtain locally and then send to us. The process took about 6 weeks including 2 x visits to the Embassy.
Please make the effort as we had a really good time over in Japan with our family.
BTW we went on our third trip to the Kyoto Railway museum which was a great way to spend the day with our 8 year old grandson.
Good luck and hope you get over soon.
Hi Stephen! Glad to hear you were able to go and that you had a good experience! We’ll be going to Kansai also on a Kinship Visa in September. Hope it goes as smoothly.
The COVID test is required 72 hours before departure. The Test Certificate form says either the PCR test or the rapid antigen test (quantitative) can be submitted. Did you get the PCR test? I hope we can avoid the deep nasal sample collection. I’d love to hear more details of your experience!
Hope your next trip is good too. I’ll post more later about our experience.
Hi Jim,
Please persevere with the test – as ours wasn’t as bad as we thought.
Yes, it is a PCR test (technically: nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab – which to us meant a swab from the back of the throat (tonsil area) and also the nose).
We used the Expresstest (Cignpost Diagnostics) drive through facility at Birmingham Airport – which was well run and didn’t take too long and most importantly – was not too unpleasant.
Hope this helps.
I have a trip planned for late Sep 2022. I’ll give it another 10 days before I cancel and make alternate plans. Not sure I even want to go anymore. Who wants the hassle? Japan will learn what what other countries are discovering. Once you close to tourists and adopt restrictive measures, reopening and getting tourists to return isn’t a simple or a short process.
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Thanks for these updates.
Would love to go back to Japan for a wintersport trip.
One place on earth where the snow qualities are excellent and that is Japan. Keep fingers crossed for January 2023, hopefully the borders will be open 🤞🏻
I don’t see any benefit with borders closed. Do you?
Also, there is a pressure from European Union because the EU accepts happily Japanese tourists but not the reverse.
In any case I love September in Japan so, I am planning for September 2023.
The evident demonstration of the uselessness of closing the borders is shown by the fact that Japan has the highest rate of infected in the world. Simpler than that…
I booked a ticket for F1 race in Suzuka for October 6 – 10, hopefully the border will be open by then, I have contacted travel agents in case is not open and the price is really really high for 3 days in Japan for the event.
Anyone has any recommendation of a not expensive travel agency?
There is no such thing as an inexpensive monitor tour. If Japan isn’t open to individual tourists by October, you should cancel your trip.
According to a JNN Poll (with all the limitations that come with it), 58% of the respondants wants a reclassification of the virus at level 2 or equivalent.
The public perception seems to be shifting faster than the government actions…
@zazza, thanks for sharing with us of a poll that shows signs of moving on of the virus. However, I’m assuming you meant reclassification to level 5, not the status quo level 2?
Yeah, I meant the opposite, sorry.
@zazza, you’re good; I think your intended message was clear even with the mistake. And as always, thanks for updating us with objective news and evidence 😉
I was waiting if an event/concert I really want to go was to be confirmed for this year or not but it (thankfully) will only happen around Spring next year.
So for this November I’ll travel to Europe, Amsterdam and Rome, but I’ll keep following the situation since I really desperately need to attend that concert next year so fingers crossed.
Good luck for those aiming for November, hope they wake up to reality soon~
I’m booked for the last week of November, last year had to canceled and hoping not to have to cancel again. If anything I can move my trip till late February of next year before I’m forced to cancel again.
I have flight tickets booked for a late November/December trip. I so hope this happens so that we can go, but will reschedule if not. Fingers crossed that Japan finally follows the course of every other nation.
Booked for November, but everything is refundable and fingers are crossed. I did look into a private guided tour, because I can’t handle the idea of canceling this trip one more time, but paying someone for constant supervision on vacation is both cost prohibitive and off-putting, so we gave up and decided to just wait and see.
Good on you. As much as I missed Japan, I CANNOT stomach guided tours. These are not your normal guided tours before Covid, where you would be given free time to explore at certain areas or after finishing the day etc. At least there would be some freedom. What Japan does now is basically putting a bubble around you and watching your every behaviour. They cant pay me enough money to be part of it
Hi April, I just arrived back home from a trip to see my son and new DIL, in Japan. I found it ironic the hoops I had to jump through, as a single traveler, when there were large groups of (obvious) tourists,(in Kyoto). This makes zero sense to me. I would think that common sense would dictate that the spread of covid is far riskier with large groups??? The only reason I, as a single traveler, was able to go, is because my dil is a Japanese national. I was told that my son living there is irrelevant. However, I did find that the Japanese ppl were very welcoming and accommodating.
Hoping and praying the border opens sometime in early September, I know it’s a long shot but I’ve had a trip planned for about a year now for the end of September and I am really hoping it is possible!! I have tickets for an event that will never happen again so it would be blessing to be able to attend!
We’ve got flights and accommodation all booked from 26 December for our Japan revisit but are really thinking that Noumea is starting to look like a much more viable option…so sad that Japan can’t look to other nations and see that opening borders has really had no impact on case numbers. As a tourist I have no issue being fully vaxxed including my children, wearing a mask and even jumping through visa hoops. We just want to come back to Japan…
We were supposed to honeymoon in Japan for sakura season after marrying in 2021. Booked/canceled/refunded for 2022. Maybe looking at 2024 at this point because we there are other places to visit in 2023 (that want our tourism dollars). We love traveling and can’t put everything else on hold for years for Japan. We are exhausted of worrying about it and want an official reopening before we book this time. My spouse says he’s not in any rush so maybe by the time we get to Japan everything will be running like normal again. I admire everyone’s optimism and I appreciate the updates!