Japan reopens borders to boost tourism

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan on Tuesday removed all restrictions on entry into the country, imposed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Japanese government lifted almost all restrictions after nearly two and a half years amid dampening tourism income, hitting the traders hard.

The number of tourists traveling to Japan dipped to 169,800 in August from around 2 million every month during the pre-pandemic period.

The country’s Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito called the move a “landmark day for the tourism industry” as Japan “no longer requires visitors to obtain a visa if they are citizens of a country with which Japan had a waiver agreement before the pandemic.”

Japan has visa-free agreement with around 69 nations and regions.

Around 32 million tourists would visit Japan annually until 2019. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in December of that year and a global pandemic was declared weeks later in early 2020.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s top government spokesperson, told a news conference in Tokyo: “The relaxation of border controls is meant to further facilitate international exchanges between our country and overseas while taking advantage of a weak yen, and it is beneficial for Japan's socio-economic activities.”

“Through these measures, we hope to promote tourists’ travel both domestically and internationally and help revive demand hit by the pandemic and revitalize regional areas,” he said.

All of Japan’s provinces, except for Tokyo, will lift the pandemic control measures. Hard hit by the coronavirus, the capital will implement new measures on Oct. 20.

To stem the spread of the COVID-19 infection, Japan first closed borders for international travel and later put a daily cap on arrivals. It also disallowed individual and non-prearranged trips.

The Japanese government has also announced providing soaps for domestic tourists while travel agencies have assured to “thoroughly implement measures against infections so people can enjoy traveling.”