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!
Regarding opinion polling on opening borders, I hope that is not going to be a key metric. I wouldn’t expect it to change given that most are not directly reliant on international tourism, and I suspect the US would still be closed if it similarly relied on opinion polling.
I don’t think Japan will reopen to tourists until their election is over. Therefore I think they will announce reopening in July sometime 🙁 I’m absolutely dying to visit Hokkaido.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/05/03/national/when-will-japan-open-to-tourists/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1651562096
Another article today. There has been a few recently, even in Japanese media, albeit with less attention.
It’s behind a pay wall so I’ll copy and paste for those who don’t know how to get round them;
More than two years since Japan closed its borders to tourists due to the pandemic, the country is counting the cost. One Kansai University professor puts the loss stemming from the lack of foreign visitors at ¥10.96 trillion in 2020 alone, suggesting that over two years it could be at least ¥22 trillion.
With that in mind, many are asking when Japan will reopen its borders to tourists.
There is growing momentum toward taking that step, with private-sector advisers to a government council urging Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration on April 27 to gradually reopen Japan’s borders to international tourists.
“To recover from the substantial decline in foreign tourists, (the government) should resume tourism entries in phases,” said the proposal from business representatives, including the chairman of Japan’s top business lobby, that was submitted to the Council of Economic and Fiscal Policy.
Adding to the sense of loss is the fact that traveling to Japan has become more affordable due to the weakening yen, but the country isn’t able to cash in due to the closed borders.
Japan’s top government spokesman has said he is aware of the rising calls to ease border restrictions.
“We are aware that cross-border travel is essential for Japanese economic activities,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a news conference on Thursday. “We will make appropriate decisions, taking into consideration quarantine and testing capacity (at airports), whether the virus is spreading at home and abroad, and the border and entry restrictions in other countries.”
Experts say that the decision on whether to open Japan’s borders to foreign tourists is highly political.
“Japan’s quarantine (screening at airports) is strict compared with other countries,” said Koji Wada, a professor at the International University of Health and Welfare who is also a member of the health ministry’s advisory panel. “The administration needs to make a political decision after assessing the pros and cons of opening the borders to tourists.”
With an Upper House election set to be held in July, Kishida is caught between a rock and a hard place — businesses are pressuring him to open borders, while surveys show the public is unsure about easing entry restrictions.
In an NHK poll conducted in March, 30% of respondents said Japan should not ease restrictions, while 35% said the government’s border restrictions — daily arrivals at that time had been raised to 7,000 with no tourists allowed — were “appropriate.” Only 27% said border restrictions should be relaxed even further.
Haneda Airport on Friday. Private-sector advisers to a government council have urged Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration to gradually open Japan’s borders to international tourists. | BLOOMBERG
Since Japan opened its borders in March to business travelers as well as foreign students and academics who have sponsors, many people overseas have been wondering when tourists will be allowed in.
But to their frustration, Japan has eased restrictions only in baby steps, with the daily arrival cap — which includes Japanese nationals and foreign residents — gradually raised from 3,500 to 5,000, then to 7,500 and now 10,000.
Conversely, other countries have fully opened their borders to foreign tourists over the past few months, especially in Europe. Britain completely lifted its COVID-19 border restrictions in March, while the U.S. has in principle allowed foreign tourists in if they are vaccinated and provide a negative virus result from a test taken before departure. Meanwhile, China is among the countries that have stuck with a strict border policy, only allowing in a handful of foreign workers and other special cases such as those attending family funerals.
Kazunobu Ouchi, an executive with academic group the Japanese Society of Travel and Health, says the difference is understandable given that Japan’s reported number of COVID-19 cases is low compared with other countries.
“It is widely considered that a pandemic calms down when more than 60% of the population has been infected with the virus,” Ouchi said.
“The figure is still low in Japan compared with other countries, so it makes sense for the borders to remain closed even though other countries have started to open their borders,” he said.
Japan has reported a total of about 7.8 million cases since the start of the pandemic, equivalent to about 7% of the population. Assuming there are twice as many unreported cases, the figure is still far lower than 60%, Ouchi said. In comparison, the U.S. has reported about 81 million cases, or equivalent to about 24% of the population.
A separate study has shown that nearly 60% of the population in the U.S. has been recently infected with the coronavirus.
According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on April 26, 57.7% of the population in the U.S. was infected with the virus during the omicron wave in February, up from 33.5% in December. The figure is based on a seroprevalence study, which looks at antibodies in the blood through natural infection — not from vaccines — and can help detect infections that were asymptomatic or unreported.
A similar seroprevalence study in Japan conducted in February covering five prefectures — Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Miyagi and Aichi — showed that 4.3% of the population had antibodies, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, which published the results on April 27.
Haneda Airport on Friday. Japan’s economic loss from closing its borders to foreign tourists because of the pandemic was ¥10.96 trillion in 2020 alone, according to an estimate by a Kansai University professor.
Vaccinating the population is also effective, but studies have shown that the currently available vaccines, which were developed against the initial form of the coronavirus, are less effective against the omicron variant, Ouchi said.
Still, Ouchi says Japan may be able to open its borders to foreign tourists once the sixth wave has ended, possibly in mid-May.
With more countries opening their borders to tourists, Japan will likely face pressure from those countries to reciprocate, said Ouchi. “If the sixth wave has settled, it will be easier” for Japan to do so, he said.
As was the case before Japan opened its borders to foreign students and business travelers, one frustration for people who want to come to Japan is the unpredictability of the situation — not knowing when and how the decision will be made, and under what conditions.
The criteria that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other top government officials have mentioned — numbers of COVID-19 cases at home and abroad, and border restrictions in other countries — remain too vague for people to figure out.
To alleviate concerns about opening borders all at once, Japan could start by allowing visitors on package tours with tour conductors and guides, and then open up to more people in phases, Wada said.
“The important thing is for the government to show the road map,” he said. “After the basic direction is drafted, details can be hammered out by experts.”
Japan as stated by historian Dan Carlin “The same as everyone else; only more so”.
Have a listen to Dan’s podcasts when you have plenty of time it will open your eyes..
I really hope they can open during the summer because my partner is Japanese and living in Japan right now and I’d love to be able to visit him!
I am hoping to visit during the cherry blossom festival next spring with my son. Surely they will be open by then with no quarantine restrictions?
Kishida and the entire Jap gov are bunch of squealers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjIwRTsRIPE
Our son and family live in Japan. We have never met our youngest grandson who is now 2and a half. We have just discovered that we can apply for family visas. It’s a complicated process but at least gives us some hope. Others in our situation may want to do the same. Info is available on the Japanese embassy website.
Similar situation for me and my wife.(family in Japan).
Have booked flights for end of November .Embassy ‘hotline’ said we should apply for visas earliest 6 weeks before departure. Visa lasts 3 months from date of issue . Forms have to be taken to embassy in person. In our case London , then we will have to return about a week later to collect visas.
Thanks for the continued updates. I’m sure if you look back through the comments on this article, I was optimistic that we would be able to visit Japan for our spring break in late March (2022). At this point, I’m not sure spring break 2023 is a reality! But we’ll keep hoping…
According to the following link Japan will be vaccinating the elderly with a 4th shot five months after their third shot: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/04/b244281cc111-japan-to-limit-4th-covid-vaccine-to-elderly-those-with-conditions.html
About 30% of Japan is elderly and about 30% of Japans population got their third dose around middle March. That means the 4th dose should be administered by middle August.
I suspect once the fourth dose is complete we will see an opening of September 1, 2022.
In these days, during Golden Week, all the Japanese are on the road crowding the popular tourist destinations but…to be safe, best to leave the contagious foreigners out of the sacred borders. That’ s the attitude..
Yep, at this point it’s not about Xth dose, number of cases, prevention measures, nothing.
It’s just straight up xenophobia against foreigners that they are not even trying to hide anymore lmao.
There just isn’t any valid excuse anymore from a scientific or logistic standpoint to allow hundred thousands Japanese to leave the country abroad and not allow foreigners in.
Yeah but why are we surprised? Xenophobia has been a hallmark of Japanese for hundreds of years. They thrive on isolation why are we so shocked?!
I’m not surprised. I think that anyone that had lived or lives there expected this looong neosakoku. But, honestly, I’m surprised at the lack of response of the international community. Like, for example, reciprocity in tourist visas.
Yeah, I know about Japan’s history for isolation.
I just thought that, in recent years, Japan was trying its best to change that image you know? By incentivating tourism with new records every year, hosting the Olympics and so on, I thought Japan was trying its best to show the world that the image of a closed country was “a thing from the past”, “from the older generation”.
But I was wrong. Sadly, when urged, they went a full step back to isolationism, not caring about anything or anyone that isn’t from their sacred land. Shut borders to everyone except the basic needs of workforce and knowledge and kept everyone else out, reviving a Japan that, while it wasn’t seeming like it, they desperately missed.
They didn’t reopen after the 2nd or 3rd dose. I don’t see why the 4th dose should herald a reopening. By September, they might be talking about a 5th dose in advance of the winter season (a variant specific booster maybe)
Yes, absolutely right. And the whole world doesn’t seem to be at all interested in their isolation.
Hate to be bearer of bad news but new variant(s) are here and they escape vaccines and prior infection but lets not worry because Japan will act like a grown up and realize they have to live with Covid and open up anyway. NOT!
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/omicron-sub-lineages-likely-evade-vaccines-natural-immunity-south-african-scientist
Those two sub-lineages are already all over Africa and Europe, which means they’re probably already global. Will more than likely go the same way as BA.2. I wouldn’t worry about these ones too much.
At this point we can safely say it doesn’t matter, Japan will stay closed for many many months yet if not this entire year, finding new variants or not.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/27/national/government-adviser-tourism/
Glad it’s being mentioned more by the higher ups. Still have the horrible feeling North Korean style tours will happen before a proper opening, but I’m still holding out hope for something better in the autumn.
https://t.co/3dokQGjNnG
Another article on the story for anyone interested.
Well it’s good news of some sort? Still super vague but as you stated, it is just nice to see that they are mentioning it and for the re-opening (whenever that may be!)
As an open, free democratic country, Japan should be ashamed of even proposing that idea of monitored tours. I would prefer them staying closed longer than come up with that ridiculous nonsense.
No one should take those tours, ever.
Anyway, aside from that it’s indeed a good point that the situation is finally reaching a lot of important people, as well as being noticed by TV channels and media.
I hope at least they show up a schedule. That way we all stop wondering “when this” or “when that” and can proper plan stuff in advance.
Agreed, we have waited to long for a schedule. It’s time we know exactly when we should be expecting to be allowed in.
I dedicate this song to Japan, their politicians, epidemiologists and all international travelers who have now decided Japan must be now considered off their travel bucket list 😁🤣😥😭 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Zvbjil8lk
Seems like some sort of reopening should happen by September: https://www.traveldailymedia.com/japan-reopening-may-happen-in-autumn-but-hold-your-horses/
https://t.co/kGvqZfp6NS
A baby step in the right direction regarding masks. At least they’re admitting masks are not needed outside right away, but I appreciate it will take awhile for the message to be taken up for the majority.
Hope that guy isn’t running for re-election this July. As of yesterday, the anti-mask platform is apparently quite unpopular with voters…
“Anti-mask politician gets trounced in local election in Oita”
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14606896
(note the irony of him getting a gag order for being unmasked)
Anti mask platform? Did you read the article?
Umm, the man gave out election fliers which claimed that wearing a mask “has adverse health effects.”
Thats on top his lawsuit against assembly censorship due to refusing to wear a mask and him going door-to-door maskless…
..seems like the dude was pretty anti-mask and ran on this sentiment.
Did you read the article??
‘Hope that guy isn’t running for re-election this July. As of yesterday, the anti-mask platform is apparently quite unpopular with voters…’
You said this in reference to the article I posted, didn’t you? So again I ask, did you read the article?
Why would I ask if you read the article you posted? Haha.
I said, you said, but I said….
You realize that this is utterly pointless, right?
If somebody wishes to change the mask mandates, which I myself currently need to adhere to adhere in Japan just to be “socially accepted”, then all power to them! I’m pretty tired of this pointlessness myself.
I just am trying to point out that, despite what me, science, Twitter, would-be foreign tourists, and a single politician may say, the general sentiment among the populace is that such a change will not happen anytime soon. And even the guy in YOUR article agrees that such change shall be slowly incremental at best.
Yes, it is pointless, but if you’re so tired of it, why even bother replying when you end up just re-phrasing what I said in the first place?
Here’s a reminder;
“A baby step in the right direction regarding masks. At least they’re admitting masks are not needed outside right away, but I appreciate it will take awhile for the message to be taken up for the majority.”
I appreciate why you continue to post, you’re trying to keep expectations in check and keep things realistic, I just don’t get the point you’re trying to make here.
Personally, I feel like the “single politician”, you know, the one in charge of Japan’s Covid response, hinting there could be a change regarding mask policy is a story that others might be interested in. Many people won’t want to travel to Japan if they feel like they have to wear a mask outside, for example. Not once did I say this change was going to happen soon, policy wise or uptake by the public.
Why do I post? I post the info nobody wants to address.
Three weeks ago, the article on which we are commenting was trying to make people believe that there was a strong probability that Japan would re-open in May, and if not May, then almost certainly in June.
Anyone actually here would agree that timeline was totally unfathomable, if only for the simple fact that Japan would never, ever consider re-opening until the entire population at least has been given the opportunity to be boosted, (which is a standard that Japan requires for any non-quarantine entry), and the booster program will not be complete until mid/late July.
Nobody mentioned that but me.
Yeah, maybe its a political choice to require boosters, and maybe even totally pointless scientifically, but the lag time needed to distribute these boosters is a logistical reality thats been long foreseen and now a corner Japan has painted itself into.
And the same goes for requiring tests on arrival, as well as providing tests for people to go home (something that is is still required for entry to many countries, including South Korea, which would be Japan’s top currently-open tourism country)
Now, in the article and amongst others here there is a belief, based solely on wishful thinking, that there will be some sort of abrupt cosmic shift in Japanese immigration policy the day after the July election.
And again, based on the logistical ineptitude, glacially slow implementation, and general discord of the public, I doubt that any announced change in immigration policy for tourists will equate to fully open borders (like 2019), and it certainly won’t start on Day One post-election.
So if it doesn’t happen the day after the election, then it obviously ain’t solely based on politics.
Yeah, its easy to blame politicians, but nobody wants to accept that somehow Japan isn’t the wonderfully high-tech, industrialized, efficient G7 country they believe it to still be. Yeah, back in 1987 it was cutting edge, but now its still the same, unsharpened-since-then edge 35 years later, which still uses fax machines within endless layers of antiquated bureaucracy.
For Japan to fully re-open (and I mean “Japan”, not somewhere else) it needs to address many physical things beyond the ballot box, some which require policy changes, some which need systematic patches, and some which are harbored within the mindset of the people.
Sure, its easy to imagine these changes from a position abroad, where such changes are either already are happening or just simply ignored, but yes, Japan is different. It just is. For good or for bad, whether you agree or disagree, its different.
And realize, if Japan, its people, its culture, and its “way” were the same as elsewhere, it wouldn’t be so attractive, and you all wouldn’t be so interested in trying to enter.
Do you even read what you’re replying to? I have mostly agreed with the majority of your posts. I think it’s good you’re keeping people’s expectations in check, even if I don’t completely agree with all the points you make. I said that in my last reply.
I posted the mask article solely because other users have said they wouldn’t want to travel to Japan if they had to wear masks outside. That’s it.
Japan should simply behave reasonably like any other “normal” country in the world…Having said that, since you live in Japan, you should know that in that country more than any other the sentiment of the population is easily influenced by the authorities. In any case, the obligation to wear masks (which I personally agree with, at least indoor) has nothing to do with the reopening of the borders, which is the topic that we have been discussing (for years…) in this forum.
Yes, it is different, but not for logistic and disorganization reasons, but for cultural (and therefore political) reasons of “diffidence” (to use a euphemism) towards foreigners. Otherwise it would not be understood why only possible infections from abroad are scary, while internal tourism is encouraged. Maybe this is what other users who live abroad are complaining about and that you do not seem to perceive in your comments.
Another “strange” thing about Japan: Since Covid, Airmail to several countries (Europe etc.) is not available (still today only surface)…why? Oh yes, because Japan is “different”.
PS Yesterday I received a 年賀状!
Japan’s lockdown is all politics. The latest variant of the virus may be highly infectious but it is not lethal yet the bureaucrats of health love the power this has given them over the people, over businesses and they can keep the farang out of Japan. Keep in mind we all have to be fully vaccinated to fly and have a negative COVID test within 24-72 hours of our flight yet the vaccinated are being lumped together as somehow dangerous. What is dangerous are unelected bureaucrats with that much power.
OK, assume for a moment that there is political desire to re-open Japan to unrestricted tourism. What would that look like?
First, Japan requires a booster to enter, just like many countries including most of Europe, so this in now fairly standard (yeah, go debate the “scientific” value of boosters all you want. Call France first…). However Japan has not yet been able to give boosters to all of its own citizens. This is not due to non-compliance, but due to how the inept government distribution of boosters has not been able to inject all citizens yet. The adult booster program is set to be completed in mid/late July (with kids ongoing perhaps longer than July).
So it should be basically understood that Japan will not allow boosted foreign tourists to enter until at least the time comes that its own citizens are first allowed to get their own booster. It must be realized that citizens should at least be able to enter/return to their own country in the same way as a would-be foreign tourist. Go ahead and call that “political”, but any rational government should do the same.
Next, if Japan does re-open to tourists, would Japan require a test on arrival? Look at Japan’s neighbors (being that East Asia is from where 75% of Japan’s tourists came from in 2019): South Korea tests all arrivals, so does Vietnam, so does Thailand (yes, Thailand is ending tests in May, but its currently still required and has been for months). Hong Kong is currently closed but plans to re-open in May but will require an arrival test AND a week long quarantine. Taiwan is shut the same way as Japan. I won’t even mention China.
But Japan can not be on par with its more “open” neighbors since Japan can not do mass testing on arrival due to logistical ineptitude. Some countries allow the arrival test to be done outside the airport within 24 hours, but again, Japan currently fails in offering that possibility as well (testing options are still limited in Japan, let alone in other languages). So even if there was political will to re-open, Japan needs to utterly remove this requirement that the neighbors impose since they do not have the capability.
(Sure, Japan’s limited testing capability of its own citizens for the past 2+ years may indeed have been a political decision, but not one decided upon for the reason of limiting foreign tourists).
And sure, Thailand is dropping “all” its requirements… except for needing the booster and Covid-specific travel insurance. Insurance? Japan has never had an insurance requirement for tourists, so to be “open” like Thailand then it would need to enact a new law to make this requirement. Should it? Yes, its a political decision, but also involves the health system as well as the whole tourism industry. Of the 75% of East Asian visitors in 2019, most came to Japan for just 3 or 4 days, but requiring insurance would be a deterrent for such short trips, and be another layer of systematic red-tape for Japanese immigration to manage. There are pros and cons in any choice.
Oh yeah, and since many neighboring countries still require a pre-departure test to enter, that means these tourists need to get it while in Japan so they can go home, which again, is logistically a mess (so go complain to those countries about “science”).
Not to mention, what happens if they test positive (it is, after all, the purpose of the test), let alone test positive on the final day of their visa (and/or visa waiver)? Japan would need a lot more quarantine hotels, and need further immigration management for approving these visa overstays. (if you overstay in Thailand, easy-peasy, you pay a fine per day on departure. In Japan, for even one day, its jail and/or a deportation hearing.)
Sure, other countries have figured it out (well, except those that haven’t, like Taiwan and China), but few are as safe, as clean, as orderly, as grey, as mono-lingual, or as content with being closed.
(FYI, I personally think the J-gov is full of idiots, but again, even if the political will was there to re-open to tourists, its means the universal scrapping of all Covid restrictions due to logistical inability, and zero restrictions goes well beyond what any neighboring country currently is doing).
Here’s an article detailing the logistical issues of testing on arrival at Narita Airport.
https://6park.news/hawaii/with-more-travelers-to-japan-the-testing-burden-at-airports-increases.html
Again, its pretty clear that until Japan scraps testing on arrival, it will not be able to fully re-open to unrestricted tourism. And testing on arrival will only be removed once the mindset of the country has changed in the public, in the politicians, and in the health care system.
Again and again: I do not understand what would be the news and especially in what way Japan would be different from the rest of the industrialized Countries. The truth is that the closure of borders is not due to alleged “logistic” problems of Japan, but is only and simply a precise political choice.
Japan is closed to tourists because Chinese cant travel freely. Go figure
If you want to argue that the requirement of testing-on-arrival is purely a political choice, then go right ahead.
All I am saying is that if testing-on-arrival is the current policy, then Japan fails at being logistically capable to do so in a mass way which would be necessary for unrestricted tourism, since Japan is logistically unlike other industrialized countries due to outdated, undeveloped, and “different” methods (hence Japan’s comparison to the Galapagos)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_syndrome
Did you read the article? Aside from the inadequate testing capability, it points out that everything at the airport is done manually on paper and not digitized. They may even still FAX these docs between testing, customs, and immigration (seriously).
So in regards to implementing this testing policy, it is a systematic failure, not a political one.
That’s right, it’s a pure and simple political choice. It also seems obvious and trivial to me to have to emphasize that any logistical difficulties are only a consequence of “questionable” political decisions. Again, justifying every “questionable” choice with the claim that Japan is “different” from all the rest of the world seems to me to be just an overused rhetorical gimmick.
Systemic failure as a result of unscientific policies, supported an uneducated older and elderly voting population, by politicians that have an election in the next 2-3 months.
Still, must all be unrelated, right?
Japan will open up to tourism when/if China does. Somehow despite their history of animosity they seem to be in a marriage of convenience. Despite all the buhaha the Chinese are the biggest suckers for all things Japan and so long as hordes of Chinese tourists are trapped home Japan will remain closed to tourists. Call it Stockholm syndrome on steroid. You wanna know when will Japan open up? Ask Xi Jinping.
Singapore is removing the pre departure Covid tests for fully vaccinated travellers from the 26th April. Just booked 3 weeks trip for next month that I planned to pop in to Japan. And may pop in to South Korea too as they also not ‘stoopid’ as Japan.
Japan will open up when China does. They deserve eachother.
Not only pre departure but also arrival test. Who would have thought Singapore being a virtual dictatorship actually turns out to be sane and rational 🙂
I believe it’s been announced that Hong Kong is opening up on May 1st, too, but with a week long quarantine. Still, who would’ve thought that Hong Kong technically opened up for tourists before Japan, although I’m sure the quarantine will put off most.
Thailand has also dropped some more entry requirements, if you fancy a trip there, too.
We are running out of countries to compare Japan too.
Soon, Japan and China will be alone hugging together in fear for who knows how much longer while the entire world smiles again in cities full of colors, tourists and relief for a return to normal.
Your anecdotes are just as valid as my friends and those on twitter. そう思いませんか？
I said less, not the vast majority. Watch that number increase this summer if there isn’t any significant problem after Golden week.
Being that Covid will not utterly vanish from the earth anytime soon, if Japan does somehow re-open in 2022 you should expect to remain masked up if visiting:
“I believe that the day people can stop wearing masks will never come in Japan so long as the country keeps seeing novel coronavirus cases,” Toshio Nakagawa, head of the Japan Medical Association, said at a news conference on April 20.
Mask requirements, he said, “can be ended when the infection trajectory and epidemiological surveys show that the coronavirus pandemic has been completely stamped out.”
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14603691
So the question for Japan’s policy-makers would be, “If we allow in foreign tourists before the coronavirus pandemic has been completely stamped out, can we actually trust that these gaijin will follow the mask rules? Because if they don’t obey, and go around maskless, people will complain to us.”
Again, not a problem in other countries that had mandates for wearing masks outside. Multiple European countries had them, as ridiculous as they are. Compliance from tourists wasn’t an issue on the whole.
Quite frankly, the idea that mask wearing in Japan will be indefinite is hilarious. Many Japanese are fed up with wearing them, and anecdotally, less are wearing them, although obviously, the vast majority still are.
Fewer Japanese are wearing masks?
そうですか。
The Japan of which you speak is not the Japan in which I live.
In some Countries of Europe masks are still (legitimately imho) always required to be worn indoor but still foreign tourists are very welcome. Also this time I do not understand what would be the news and especially in what way Japan would be different from the rest of the industrialized Countries. The truth is that the closure of borders is not due to alleged “logistic” problems of Japan, but is simply a precise political choice.
Feel free to scan twitter for the reaction of the news you posted. You’ll be surprised.
My friends in Japan have told me they’ve noticed more people not wearing them outdoors, or not wearing them properly, e.g hanging from their chin, or not covering their nose.
Twitter Comments = Reality
そうですか。
I can only report that which I see first hand. Don’t kill the messenger.
I have been visiting Japan regularly (at least twice a year) every year since 1999 until 2020. At first I was quite “homesick” not being able to visit and all and obsesses watching YouTube and NHK etc but gradually after seeing and hearing so much crap and nonsense form the Japanese (both government and people) I am no longer longing to visit. At best I am ambivalent. Honestly life is too short to obsess over anything least of all a country on the other side if the World. I dont want to sound harsh but I say screw Japan.
“can be ended when the coronavirus pandemic has been completely stamped out”, what a joke. that’s as foolhardy as China’s “zero covid” policy. Hopefully their epidemiologists will inform them that this endemic…