Japan will let twice as many foreigners in starting next month

ASEAN – According to the most senior spokesman for the Japanese government, Japan will soon double its limit on the number of foreigners allowed to enter the country each day to 20,000. This announcement was made on Friday.

At a regular press conference, the Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that passengers arriving from the vast majority of nations would not be needed to provide documentation that they have passed negative COVID testing, nor will they be forced to undergo quarantine upon arrival.

This includes persons from all of the other members of the G7 group of industrialized nations, which is the source of around 80% of the foreign arrivals in Japan.

Business travelers, international students, and members of the academic community are welcome in Japan; nevertheless, the country does not welcome tourists, with the exception of a select few who will participate in a trial of tour packages.

Matsuno said that the experience acquired from the trials will be taken into consideration in future decisions on the reopening of other facilities.

Japan also stated earlier this week that it would accept limited package tours from four countries before progressively opening up to international tourism for the first time since imposing tough border controls in response to Covid.

The visits would be authorized as an experiment from Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States, as noted by Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, participants must be triple-vaccinated, and tours must have guides and set itineraries. A maximum of four persons may be on each trip, with a total of 50 people scheduled to take part in the experiment.

The participants will be granted a special visa rather than a tourist visa to visit Japan. The findings will be used to create coronavirus recommendations for tour operators, hotels, and other enterprises involved in the tourism industry.