Photo/Illutration Workers at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture outside Tokyo test arriving passengers for COVID-19. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The government formally approved relaxed entry restrictions for businesspeople, students and technical intern trainees on Nov. 5, but curbs will remain in place for tourists.

The steps take effect Nov. 8. Those who enter Japan with vaccination certifications will be allowed to self-quarantine for much shorter periods. But companies and organizations sponsoring the visitors will be obliged to account for their actions beyond the shorter quarantines.

Entry restrictions have been in place since January to prevent the spread of variants of the novel coronavirus.

Businesspeople who enter Japan for short stays of up to three months, as well as those who are transferring to work in Japan for a much longer period, will be eligible.

The self-quarantine period normally lasts 14 days, but those who are vaccinated only have to isolate themselves for three days while their companies monitor their activities for an additional seven days.

Those measures will also apply to Japanese employees returning from business trips overseas.

Nations considered still at risk of variant strains of the coronavirus will not be included in the relaxed measures.

The self-quarantine period for students and technical intern trainees who are vaccinated will also be reduced from 14 days to 10 days.

The relaxation in restrictions is aimed at promoting economic activity.

According to the Immigration Services Agency, about 370,000 students and technical intern trainees have permission to enter Japan but have not done so.

Officials said the government is also considering increasing the daily quota of entrants from 3,500 to 5,000 to allow more students and trainees to enter.

Business sectors that rely on foreign workers for their operations welcomed the decision.

The 44-year-old owner of three convenience stores in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, said four of the 13 workers he employs are students from Nepal, Vietnam and elsewhere.

He is keeping his fingers crossed that more foreign students will be allowed in from this month. The lifting of the state of emergency for COVID-19 has led many bars and restaurants to hire more workers, which will likely further exacerbate the shortage of available workers.

Many farms around Japan depend on technical intern trainees to keep going, so operators were generally pleased with the latest decision.

A spinach farmer in Gunma Prefecture is still waiting for the arrival of two interns from Vietnam who were supposed to have come in spring.

Losing two workers means a loss of annual income of about 10 million yen ($88,000) because spinach farming is a labor-intensive sector where everything from harvesting to wrapping the vegetables is done manually, the farmer explained.

Despite the latest approval, an official with the Ibaraki prefectural agricultural cooperative said member farmers have raised concerns about whether the interns would actually arrive as scheduled.

“Even if Japan relaxed its entry limitations, the nations from where the interns depart may still have their own limitations in place,” the official said.

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