Despite a summer with a record number of covid-19 cases, the Japanese government plans to reopen the country to overseas tourists, maybe as early as October, according to reports from Nikkei Asia and the Fuji News Network.
Japan is one of the last of the wealthy countries to open up; even though China still has some of the strongest border controls, it presently only admits a small number of tourists at a time who have made reservations with guided tour groups.
Channel News Asia reports that Japanese policymakers are banking on the present weakening of the yen to attract bargain-hunting travelers. Seiji Kihara, the second-in-command of the Japanese government, reportedly made the claim on Sunday.
All of the regulations will be under scrutiny. “We have to carry it out in the not-so-distant future,” Kihara reportedly told Nikkei. In the fall and winter, Japan offers a variety of unique experiences. We are aware that there is a large number of people eager to visit Japan.
While this newfound freedom is welcome, it is set against the peculiar context of Japan’s relative safety in the early stages of the pandemic. Japan has decided to reopen to international travelers after experiencing its highest daily case count of the epidemic. Until recently, the country had never experienced such a dramatic increase in cases.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, on Sunday, Japan recorded over 81,000 new cases of covid-19 and 104 new deaths, down from the country’s record highs of over 200,000 new cases each day in late August. In contrast, daily case numbers in Japan peaked at just 25,000 in August 2021, a comparatively moderate wave.
