It sounds good on paper: Entry restrictions on travelers from overseas, requesting arriving passengers to self-isolate for two weeks and to shun public transportation during that period.

The government would seem to be taking appropriate steps to curtail the spread of the deadly coronavirus, even as cases of infection continue to rise across Japan.

The reality is somewhat different. Not only are these steps proving to be a major inconvenience for Japanese returning from abroad, but increasingly doubts are now being raised about the effectiveness of the measures, given the lax manner in which they are being implemented.

Hotel operators are also incensed. They complain that, in essence, the government has dumped them with the problem of handling people returning from abroad without offering any compensation or taking the lead in quarantining arriving passengers at government facilities.

STUCK WITH 2-WEEK HOTEL BILL

A 20-year-old university student who returned to Japan on March 23 from France, where he had been studying, booked into a hotel near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport upon arrival to self-isolate.

His friends who were on the same flight returned to their respective homes because their family members came to pick them up by car. But although the man lives relatively close, in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, his family does not own a car. He also could not use a taxi to go home because that is considered a form of public transportation.

Staying at the hotel for two weeks will put him out of pocket by about 110,000 yen ($1,020). The government will not compensate him.

“There is nothing I can do because I do not want to cause problems for others,” he said. “But the expenditure will hurt.”

But the man may in fact be among the lucky ones because other Japanese planning return visits report being turned down by hotels when they tried to make reservations.

A 33-year-old man who is studying at a London graduate school plans to remain in Britain for the time being. His family lives in Kumamoto Prefecture.

He at one time considered returning to Japan and tried to reserve a hotel room near either Narita or Haneda airports for the two weeks of self-quarantine.

But all the hotels he contacted refused to take his reservation on grounds they were denying long stays by those returning from regions with a high risk of infection from the coronavirus.

A 26-year-old woman living in Berlin also tried to reserve a hotel room near Narita Airport, but was turned down.

“(In other nations) quarantine facilities are being prepared, but the Japanese government appears to be avoiding responsibility because all it does is issue a request,” she said.

‘WORRIED ABOUT NEGATIVE PUBLICITY’

Hotels naturally have to take precautions so their staff and guests do not become infected.

One hotel near Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture now asks potential guests who wish to stay for more than five nights the reason for their extended stay. If they respond that they are following through on the request to self-isolate, the hotel will deny the reservations on grounds having such guests could place hotel staff and other guests at risk.

“We did not know how to handle this because it was such a sudden request,” a hotel official said. “The government has turned over everything to the hotel because it is not providing any compensation to our staff or the hotel.”

In early March, the All Japan Ryokan Hotel Association was asked by the central government if there were any member facilities willing to accommodate Japanese returning from overseas.

An association official responded that it would be difficult.

“We are worried about any negative publicity should a problem arise," the official said. "I have not heard of any facility aggressively willing to take in such guests.”

The official called on the government to consider accommodating people returning from abroad at public facilities or providing compensation in the event of negative publicity.

DOUBTS ABOUT ENTRY CURBS

But with nowhere to turn for self-quarantining, the government’s measures may end up backfiring.

A 20-year-old exchange student who had been studying at a European university returned to Japan on March 22. Because hotels refused to give her a room, she called her parents in Fukushima city and they drove four hours to pick her up.

The woman revealed that friends who accompanied her back to Japan used Shinkansen and local trains to return to their respective homes. The friends boasted that the authorities would never find out.

Another acquaintance made no mention of having been abroad and ended up staying at two different hotels for seven days each.

There was also the case of a teenage university student returning from Spain who was told upon arrival at Narita Airport to self-isolate. Instead, she took a domestic flight to Okinawa Prefecture, where she lives. She tested positive for the coronavirus the following day.

A 46-year-old self-employed businessman returned to Japan in mid-March from Italy’s Lombardy region via Dubai. At Narita Airport, the man had his temperature taken, but that was the extent of his quarantine inspection.

Because he was not informed about the self-quarantine measure, he took a train to reach his Tokyo home

“I have serious doubts about whether such an inspection system will be able to prevent a further spread of infections,” he said.

The entry restrictions call for two weeks of self-quarantine and to avoid using public transportation to reach the quarantine location. There is also a stricter entry ban that prohibits foreign nationals from entering Japan if they have been in nations covered by the ban or carry their passports.