Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida has said on Thursday, February 17, 2022, that the country will ease its strict virus border rules to allow students and businesspeople into the country from March 2022, but tourists will still be barred.

The move comes with growing pressure on Japanese authorities from the business community and academicians to loosen the border restrictions, where it is the toughest, but has broad support from Japanese voters.

Japan has barred tourists since the early days of the pandemic and has in some cases, prevented even existing foreign residents from entering the country.

Last November (2021), the government slightly loosened the rules to allow some students and businesspeople to enter, but then quickly reversed the plan weeks later as the Omicron variant emerged.

According to experts, after an Omicron-driven spike in infections, cases in Japan now appear to have peaked.

From March 1, 2022, Kishida said “we will allow new visitors, except those coming for tourism”, adding that a cap on daily entrants will be raised from the current 3,500 to 5,000.

An immigration agency official disclosed that more than 400,000 people whose visas are already approved by authorities were awaiting entry to Japan as of January 4, 2022. More than 150,000 of those are students, with another 129,000 workers hired to take part in a technical training programme that is a key source of foreign labour for several industries in the country.

While Japan has not pursued a zero-Covid policy and has avoided strict lockdowns, it has made tough border measures a centrepiece of its pandemic response.

Even citizens and returning residents able to enter are subject to quarantines of up to two weeks, with testing before and after entering the country.

Kishida said quarantine requirements would now be eased, going from seven to three days upon an individual’s arrival test proves negative.

Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida also noted that quarantine will be removed altogether for those with three vaccines doses coming from countries judged low-risk. However, he did not specify particular nations.

Japan COVID-19 Situation

Japan has recorded more than 20,950 deaths in the pandemic. Polls show that Japanese broadly favour the tough restrictions, with nearly 60 percent of respondents in a recent survey by the public broadcaster, NHK backing a continued ban on entry.

An Italian entrepreneur living in Japan, Davide Rossi, who campaigns for students stuck outside the country, said the news was a light at the end of the tunnel. Rossi added that many now hope they can enter Japan before the new semester in April 2022.

“There is a very high sense of urgency. People are really on the verge of quitting, but now, with this announcement, they have some hope.”
Davide Rossi, An Italian entrepreneur living in Japan

However, Rossi recalled the way the border restrictions were tightened in November 2021, just weeks after it was eased.

“Hopefully, this is a lesson, too, and the borders won’t close again like they did in November, because that really hurt a lot of people so much. I hope things will get better from today.”
An Italian entrepreneur living in Japan, Davide Rossi