THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 1, 2022 at 17:00 JST
A family is reunited for the first time in about 10 months at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture on March 1. (Hiroyuki Kamisawa)
Japan on March 1 lifted its COVID-19-related entry ban on foreign travelers and raised the maximum daily number of entrants from 3,500 to 5,000.
Foreign nationals can now visit Japan for business purposes, as well as students, technical interns and others. Foreign tourists, however, will still be denied entry to the country.
The mandatory self-isolation period was also shortened if the entrants meet certain conditions.
In principle, entrants are still required to isolate for seven days at home or a designated facility.
But their isolation period can end if they test negative for the virus on the third day.
Those who travel to Japan from countries that are not designated as ones experiencing epidemics are exempt from the self-isolation requirements if they have received three COVID-19 vaccine shots.
The Japanese government “will gradually increase the international human traffic in view of both the domestic and overseas infection situations, the trend of demand for entry, including among Japanese nationals, quarantine systems, among other issues,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference on March 1.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in late November 2021 banned foreign nationals from entering Japan because of concerns over the highly infectious Omicron strain of the novel coronavirus.
The restriction was the most strict among G-7 nations, Kishida boasted.
But after the New Year, it became known that most people infected with the Omicron strain were not likely to develop severe symptoms, and that the period from contracting the variant until developing symptoms was short.
Lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito, as well as business circles, have demanded Kishida ease border controls.
The prime minister said at a news conference on Feb. 17 that the restrictions would be relaxed soon.
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