Japan to open up the country on October 11
Kanako Mita and Tomoko Hara
Modern Tokyo Times
The long shadow of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in Japan related to international travel is coming to an end. Thus Japan will restore visa-free visits to the country once more – from October 11. Therefore, the number of entrants per day, the ban on individual tourism, and other restrictions will cease.
Kyodo News reports, “On the same day as the expiration of the daily cap, currently set at 50,000, Japan will also resume visa-free individual trips to the country, Kishida told a press conference in New York.”
Non-Japanese citizens connected to the country related to business dealings, family relations, work, students, and others – suffered greatly since coronavirus restrictions were put on individuals entering the country. Therefore, it was always much easier for Japanese nationals to travel abroad.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is finally playing catch-up with other G-7 nations. However, with Japan having the most weekly infections in the world in recent times – the numbers are now coming down – then picking on foreign nationals was rendered shortsighted.
Voice of America reports, “The changes come as Japan records the highest 28-day average of cases in the world, 3,052,150, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.”
Shinzo Abe, the late former leader of Japan, had targeted the expansion of tourism before the coronavirus crisis emerged. In 2019, a tourist record of 31.9 million people was reached under Abe’s guidance. Therefore, this sector seeks to expand internal and external tourism to help the fragile economy.
Individuals who haven’t been vaccinated three times will need to provide a negative coronavirus sample before travel. Hence, Japan is hoping for a strong rebound later in the year – or early next year.
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP MODERN TOKYO TIMES
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/moderntokyotimes/ Modern Tokyo Times is now on PINTEREST
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi’s website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/moderntokyotimes