Since June 10, Japan again has accepted groups of foreign tourists but placed under close surveillance.
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After two years of closure to stop the contamination by the COVVI -19 -including a particularly severe period in restrictions following the appearance of the Omicron variant in October 2021 -Japan is partially ending an isolation which placed in the lagging behind other G7 countries and had it appeared among the latest closed destinations. He plans to allow entry into the archipelago of 30,000 visitors per day (currently 20,000). Before the pandemic, there were an average of 100,000 daily arrivals on Japanese soil.
The new measures, in force since June 10, apply to tourists traveling as a group and family members of foreign residents in the event of “exceptional circumstances”, including if they are not married or spouses. But this procedure is of rare complexity, if not dissuasive. Since 1 er March, Japan again delivers visas to students and people wishing to go to the archipelago for professional reasons. But individual tourists are still not allowed.
Under the terms of the new provisions, foreign visitors are classified into three categories – blue, yellow and red – depending on the risks of contamination presented by the country with which they are nationals. Those which belong to the group of 98 countries classified in blue where the risk of contamination is low – of which France is part – are exempt from a test on arrival (required at the start) and containment. In the case of other groups, the rules are more restrictive and can go, for the Red Group, up to forty three to seven days.
During most of the pandemic, Japan prohibited access from its territory to tourists and, in periods of strong viral circulation, it had only authorized to return Japanese citizens who were subject to Interminable verifications at the airport and a containment period.
Opinion favorable to the entry restriction of foreigners
Japan has reopened to the international flights of provincial airports, like that of Naha (Okinawa) and Chitose (Hokkaido). The reopening of the archipelago should go for several months depending on the results of “test circuits” which have just ended with small groups of tourists (from Australia, the United States, Singapore and the Thailand). Tests intended to assess the reaction capacities of the authorities in the event of the appearance of cases of contamination.
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