Cover Photo: Unsplash
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Japan will likely begin by welcoming smaller tour groups as early as this month before opening its doors to general tourists in June
As the world slowly reopens its borders and travel picks up once again, Japan has finally announced that it aims to reopen its international borders to foreign travellers in June. The announcement was made by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 5 while he was visiting London.
“We will further relax controls so that in June it will be possible to enter the country as smoothly as other G7 nations,” said Kishida.
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Kishida added that the country decided that it was the right time for Japan to follow other countries by welcoming back tourists. Its borders have been closed since early 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He continued by saying that he hopes that the return of tourists will help the Japanese yen as the country recovers from the economical devastation of the pandemic.
In his announcement, Kishida mentioned that Japan’s reopening will be carried out in stages and that the first step would be for the government to observe the impact of Japan’s Golden Week holidays which recently concluded.
Golden Week is a week that includes four national holidays and which typically sees travel picking up as many take advantage of the long break. The government will observe the impact of the holiday for two weeks before coming to a decision as to how the reopening will go.
According to The Japan Times, a local news source, Japan may welcome smaller tour groups first before allowing general tourists to enter the country. This could begin happening as early as this month.
While no concrete details have been announced yet, it has been reported by government sources that Japan’s government is arranging to double the cap on overseas arrivals to 20,000 people per day in June. Currently, only 10,000 people are allowed to enter Japan daily but these only include visitors on business, students, and technical interns.
Japan is well-known for its strict entry policies as a result of the pandemic and Kishida has credited this for how Japan has managed to cope with the virus.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Japan has recorded less than 30,000 deaths thanks to its strict restrictions.
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Camillia Dass is the digital writer for Tatler Singapore.
