THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 12, 2022 at 14:05 JST
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, is given an on-site tour of COVID-19 antigen tests conducted at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in February. (Pool)
The government plans to double its daily ceiling of arrivals from overseas to 20,000 starting June 1, according to sources.
It currently restricts entry to up to 10,000 arrivals per day as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The government is also considering exempting arriving passengers from being tested for COVID-19 if they come from nations with low rates of new infections, test negative upon departure from their home countries or show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
It is expected to announce a final decision by the end of May after monitoring the infection situation in Japan, where cases have begun climbing again after the Golden Week series of national holidays that ended earlier in the month.
The easing of entry restrictions is aimed at raising daily arrivals of business travelers to the pre-pandemic level of 30,000, according to the sources.
The government, in principle, had banned new entries of foreign nationals since November 2021. It has eased entry restrictions in stages at the behest of the corporate world.
The government began allowing businesspeople, students and technical intern trainees to enter Japan in March and has gradually increased the daily quota of arrivals.
Japan to allow entry to 1,000 travelers a day, but not tourists
September 23, 2020
Tourists to be allowed back into Japan on a trial basis
May 7, 2022
Eased entry for foreign nationals on certain visas starts from Oct. 1
September 26, 2020
1,000 additional foreign students to be allowed into Japan a day
March 4, 2022
Japan to further relax daily entry quota to 10,000 from April 10
April 2, 2022
Japan set to ban entry from the U.S. as early as next week
March 28, 2020
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
