Japan Easing Entry Restrictions
Japan has been one of the most difficult countries in the world to visit during the pandemic. Its strict entry requirements weren’t relaxed for the 2021 Olympics either. But now there’s some good news as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hinted at Japan easing entry restrictions coming next month.
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“I plan to look into easing the border controls,” Kishida told reporters Saturday.
Japan has so far banned most foreign entrants including students and business travelers. The ban which has now been in place for almost two years has impacted the country’s economy.
Kishida did not provide a timeline or other details about the upcoming changes to the entry requirements, AP reports. He said he will make a decision based on a scientific assessment of the omicron variant, infection levels in and outside Japan and quarantine measures in other countries.
The current border measures are scheduled to remain in place at least until the end of February. So the relaxed entry restrictions, if they happen, couldn’t kick in until March 1st.
So far, Japan has reported a total of 4.16 million cases of Covid-19 and 20,986 deaths.
Final Thoughts
We know Japan has been high on everyone’s travel list for years now and people have continued to have to cancel and rebook their trips. Even though this isn’t a firm declaration of anything it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully the cases continue to drop and more and more restrictions are lifted around the world. I would imagine Japan will be very cautious on which countries they open the borders too at first. That may not be great new of US travelers. We will have to wait and see how it all plays out though.
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I’m in the same boat. Got a trip booked starting on May 18th
What do you think is the likelihood that Japan will allow entry to fully vaccinated US citizens (without any mandatory quarantine) by 5/22/22?
I would guess pretty low. This new easing of border restrictions is for a limited number of business people and students. It specifically says, “no tourists”. Everything I’ve read is guessing summer for tourism, and that’s assuming no new variants.