Photo/Illutration The Asahi Shimbun

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga overrode coronavirus-prevention plans to impose a blanket ban on entry into Japan and decided to maintain eased immigration rules for business travelers from 11 countries and regions, sources said.

Lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties criticized the decision, noting that COVID-19 cases are surging around Japan, and travelers could bring in the more transmissible novel coronavirus variant.

Some accused the prime minister of hypocrisy and prioritizing economic activity over public health.

Suga on Jan. 7 issued a state of emergency for the greater Tokyo area, urging residents to work from home and refrain from traveling and dining out.

But Japan decided to keep its borders open, drawing immediate criticism.

“We cannot gain the understanding from the public if we restrict people’s actions under the state of emergency while allowing (foreigners) in,” Masahisa Sato, an Upper House member and director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said at a party meeting on Jan. 7.

Hakubun Shimomura, chairman of the LDP’s Policy Research Council, has asked the central government to completely suspend entry to Japan.

To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus variant that hit Britain, Japan on Dec. 28 reimposed an entry ban on all international travelers. But it allowed the eased entry restrictions to continue mainly for business travel between Japan and 11 countries and regions, including China, South Korea and Vietnam.

Under those relaxed rules, short-term visitors, technical trainees and students can enter Japan under certain conditions.

However, COVID-19 cases have continued to spike in Japan, and governors in the greater Tokyo area asked the central government to declare a state of emergency for their areas.

Officials of the Cabinet Secretariat and related ministries and agencies initially planned to bar entry from the 11 countries and regions, regardless of whether the novel coronavirus variant was confirmed, once the state of emergency is issued.

However, after they discussed the plan with Suga on Jan. 5, they were forced to back away from the tougher restrictions, according to sources.

Instead, an entry ban against travelers from those 11 countries and regions will be decided on a case-by-case basis after the new variant is confirmed.

It is the same guideline that the government issued at the end of December.

“Officials of the prime minister’s office expressed their acceptance of the new plan, but Suga would not budge,” a source related to LDP said.

“Suga has been enthusiastic about continuing to allow entry,” another said.

According to preliminary figures released by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, about 16,200 Chinese nationals, 14,400 Vietnamese and 2,000 South Koreans newly entered Japan in November.

Even during the worsening pandemic, Japan’s economic quarters have urged the government to keep letting in foreign technical trainees, who are categorized as mid- and long-term visitors.

“If we stop the flow of business travel, the economy will stop, too,” said a lawmaker who belongs to the LDP faction led by Toshihiro Nikai, the party’s secretary-general.

Suga has already come under fire over his actions during the pandemic, including his attendance at a dinner party in Tokyo’s Ginza district with more than five people and his reluctance to suspend a tourism-promotion campaign.

At the Jan. 7 LDP meeting, many lawmakers were aghast at the government’s decision to continue allowing people to enter Japan.

“It is so out of touch,” one said.

Another said, “I bet the (government) will come under fire from the public and will have to make a policy change again.”

Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, urged the government to completely ban entry and strengthen quarantine measures at the borders.

“It won’t matter how hard people work domestically (to prevent infections) if the COVID mutant strain enters Japan from abroad,” Tamaki said at a news conference on Jan. 7.

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