Japan will Reopen this June 2022
Japan will Reopen in June 2022 for selected fully vaccinated tourist
On 5 May 2022, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Japan will be taking another step in easing their border control measures. This is expected to take place in June and will see Japan introduce smoother entry processes similar to that of other G7 members like the UK, Canada, and more.
According to local broadcaster FNN, visitors who wish to visit Japan must have undergone three COVID-19 vaccination shots and be part of a package tour with a fixed itinerary, citing multiple government officials. These measures will be treated as an experiment and will depend on the state of infections after the Golden Week public holidays that lasts from late April to early May. Should infections not spread, the programme will be further expanded.
Japan’s current border measures
Japan is currently closed to all foreign travellers except for business travellers and foreign students with relevant visas. As of 1 Mar 2022, these are the current requirements to be fulfilled before being granted entry into Japan.
1. You must take a pre-departure COVID-19 test 72 hours before departure and produce a negative result. The full list of tests can be found here.
2. You must be fully vaccinated, deemed as taking three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and have proof of vaccination as well. Those who are not fully vaccinated will be required to serve quarantine at their residence or self-secured accommodation.
3. You are required to fill in a “Written Pledge” and present it upon arrival.
4. You are required to fill in a health questionnaire online and produce the QR code issued upon arrival.
Travellers entering Japan via any of the five major international airports can also use the Fast Track application, which is an all-in-one portal to submit one’s proof of vaccination and health questionnaire form. More details can be found here.
Why have Japan’s borders remained closed?
We’re now well over two years into the pandemic, and with the exception of China, most destinations have once again reopened to tourists in some sort of reasonable capacity… except Japan. It’s odd, because pre-pandemic Japan had a booming tourism industry, so why has the country been so conservative to restart that?
Well, in every survey I’ve seen, the Japanese public has been supportive of keeping border measures in place, and not really restarting the international tourism sector. With major elections in Japan this year, I suppose it’s not surprising that the government would be trying to appeal to voters with the current travel restrictions.
Japan also had a slow vaccine rollout and there’s a not-insignificant percent of the population that’s anti-vax, so the country isn’t in as good of a spot as Singapore, for example, when it comes to citizens being protected. At the same time, unless you force people to get vaccinated, not a whole lot is likely to change there.
Bottom line
Japan’s Prime Minister announced plans for border restrictions to be eased for tourists starting in June 2022, which is potentially just a few weeks away. I’d sure love to see border restrictions eased, though unfortunately as of now details continue to remain pretty limited.
Let’s hope that we can all visit this lovely country soon!
Source: https://bit.ly/3Pmhi8D
