Photo/Illutration New arrivals join the queue for people exempt from COVID-19 tests at Narita Airport on June 1. (Yoshiko Aoyama)

The international arrival wing at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture was showing signs of pre-pandemic normalcy on June 1 after the government doubled the maximum daily number of entrants to 20,000.

One of the first flights that day came from Bangkok and landed at around 8 a.m.

Thailand is included in the “blue” category of countries and regions that are considered at the lowest risk of COVID-19.

Travelers from “blue” areas are exempt from testing and quarantine requirements after their arrival in Japan, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not.

The arrivals from Bangkok still had to register information on smartphone apps, including a negative result from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure.

After showing their phones to quarantine officials at Narita, they proceeded to immigration checkpoints.

According to the Narita airport quarantine station, passengers often had to wait for two or three hours after their arrival to receive the results of their COVID-19 tests. The waits could last as long as five to six hours if many people arrived at the same time.

However, on this day, people were smoothly entering Japan.

To prepare for the June 1 relaxation of its border controls, the government had categorized countries and regions into three groups, blue, yellow and red, based on their COVID-19 situations.

The United States, South Korea and China are among the 98 countries or regions in the lowest risk blue group.

People arriving from the 99 countries or regions in the yellow group, which includes India, are required to take COVID-19 tests upon arrival and quarantine for three days at their home or other places. But those who have had three vaccine doses are exempt from both requirements.

The red group includes four countries at the highest risk, such as Pakistan. People coming from these countries are required to take the COVID-19 test upon entry and quarantine for three days at places such as their home.

Japan will open to international tourists on June 10 for the first time in around two years.

Initially, only foreign tourists on guided tours from the blue group will be allowed entry as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

They will be counted toward the daily cap of 20,000.

The government will regularly review the COVID-19 situation overseas for possible changes in the three categories.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a June 1 news conference that the government aims to gradually allow more foreign tourists to enter the country to levels seen before the pandemic struck.

(This article was written by Yoshiko Aoyama and Kohei Morioka.)

Related News