Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists, starting from 10 June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that Japan is opening only for package tours, for now, affirming that it will allow the entry of people on tours with fixed schedules and guides but
“We will resume accepting tourists on package tours with guides from the 10th of next month,” Kishida said. “Step by step we will aim to accept (tourists) as we did in normal times, taking into consideration the status of infections.”
Tourists from areas with low COVID-19 infection rates who have received three vaccine doses will be exempt from testing and quarantine after entry.
Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Keidanren, the nation’s biggest business lobby, voiced his expectation Monday that Japan will further ease its border controls.
“The 20,000 cap is just a process. I expect it will become 50,000 and then 100,000, and eventually, there will be free and open border controls similar to that of G7 countries,” Tokura noted.
“At present, the countries that do not allow tourists to enter are a minority, including Japan and China,” the letter said. “If this continues, Japan will lose in the worldwide competition to attract tourists.”
In the meantime, Japan is hosting small experimental package tours from four countries; Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. That experiment, which involves only 50 people who received special visas, not tourist visas, will end on 31 May.
