Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a news conference at the prime minister’s office on Aug. 31, the day he resumed his in-person duties after testing positive for COVID-19. (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)

The daily maximum number of people permitted to enter Japan will increase from 20,000 to 50,000 starting Sept. 7, and foreigners can arrive on conductor-less group tours, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Aug. 31.

At a news conference held at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Kishida also said the government will move up the initially planned October rollout of new vaccines specifically designed to protect people from the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.

It was the first in-person news conference held by the prime minister since he tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 21.

Kishida had earlier said the government, also starting Sept. 7, would no longer require travelers heading to Japan to undergo pre-departure PCR tests for COVID-19. But they must show proof that they have received three vaccine shots.

Japan lifted its ban on sightseers from abroad in June but kept some restrictions in place. Fewer than 8,000 international tourists visited the country in July.

The Japanese government came under pressure from businesses mainly in the tourism industry to ease its border controls to match those of other G-7 nations.

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