To protect its population, Japan had closed its doors to foreign tourists since the outbreak of COVID. Despite the drastic nature of this decision, it did limit the spread of the virus within the country. Today, thanks to the therapeutic advances that have mitigated the pandemic, Japan has decided to reopen its borders to foreigners. What are the implications of this decision?
Tourism
It's important to point out that Japan wasn't the only country to close its borders. Like other states around the world, it was looking for the best way to manage the entry and exit of people at the time of the COVID health crisis. Although a cure has been found, the pandemic continues. However, the pandemic was mitigated by numerous medical advances and vaccination plans. This enabled the country's leaders to put tourism back at the forefront, as this sector had been at a standstill since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The news of the resumption of tourist activities was announced by officials in May. With this news, the tourism industry can resume, and the government claims that this step is only the first part of the reopening plan. If it works, officials say Japan could fully open its borders to foreigners as early as June. However, it must be stressed that this resumption is subject to strict conditions.
Conditions for entering Japan
Although permits have begun to be issued, it should be stressed that Japan is not yet open to all countries in the world. For the moment, tourists from four countries are allowed to set foot on Japanese soil. These are Australia, Thailand, Singapore and, of course, the USA. However, all foreign visitors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 with a series of three vaccines and be part of a fixed travel group to help limit potential exposure to COVID.
This is welcome news for vaccinated people who have been looking forward to visiting Japan since its borders closed in early 2020. In addition, it must be said that the country has experienced numerous waves of COVID since the start of the pandemic, but, it has fared well in terms of total number of cases and deaths. To date, Japan has recorded 8.39 million cases of COVID-19, with 30,087 deaths. This is in light of the pandemic's global impact of 522 million confirmed cases and 6.27 million deaths.
How many people can enter Japanese territory?
Although the number of visitors authorized to enter Japan is not certain, it should be pointed out that 20,000 people are allowed in daily. As you will note, this is a gradual and cautious reopening. However, in 2019, the country welcomed 31.9 million foreign visitors, with a target of 40 million by 2020.
Furthermore, to facilitate access to the country, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has declared that he wishes to relax border control measures. However, the process is likely to be slow.
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