Japan to Allow Tourists Starting June 10

On May 26, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that international tour groups will be allowed to enter Japan starting on June 10.  In addition, the number of arrivals permitted per day will increase from 10,000 to 20,000.

Despite this new relaxed policy, there are some stipulations that tourists must adhere to.

- Tourists must be part of a guided tour with a documented itinerary. Only Japan-based travel agencies may schedule these tours. They must take responsibility for all tourists that sign up for their tour.

- Tourists must come directly from a country in which the coronavirus infection rate is low. These countries are referred to as the "blue list." Tourists are allowed to join the tour as long as they have spent at least the last 14 days in a country on the blue list.

- Tourists must agree to adhere to basic infection prevention measures, such as wearing masks and disinfecting hands.  They must also be enrolled in a travel insurance plan that covers medical expenses related to the coronavirus.

Though a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to departure is still required, there will be no test and no quarantine upon arrival in Japan for foreign tourists regardless of vaccination status. It was clear that the current process was untenable with the larger influx of tourists.

Up until this change of policy, Japan had some of the most restrictive rules for entry in the world.  Frankly, it still does. Individual tourists are still not allowed. The number of people allowed per day is still limited. And, a tourist visa is still required to enter Japan. 

There is an element of foreigner control that does not exist in the USA or Europe. The Japanese government says that the reason why they are being so restrictive is that they want to limit the risk of exposing the population to the coronavirus. But, the World Health Organization (WHO) had advised some time ago to member states to relax or abolish restrictions on travel, saying that they are ineffective in stopping the spread of coronavirus. So while other countries around the world opened their borders, Japan continued its isolationist stance.

If you read the blogs related to this topic on Facebook, you will see that there are many students who have become disillusioned with Japan. Many of them have had their lives upended by the government's policies. Folks that have enrolled in a Japanese language school have had to cancel their plans. They see it as hypocrisy that Japanese citizens that are able to go on an overseas vacation and come back into the country, even though they pose the same kind of health risk that the government says they are trying to avoid by limiting foreigners from coming to Japan.

Earlier this year some Japan's most prominent foreign business lobby groups and representatives of students abroad called for a relaxation of the entry rules and quotas, warning that maintaining the current policy is damaging the economy and Japan’s international reputation. Their efforts are beginning to bear fruit.  Perhaps this is the real beginning of the "grand opening." I envision that by next spring we will see the entry policy back to normal. One can only hope.