Kanto trip in July 2021

Hello.

I'm a German living in Germany and I travel to Japan every year. Unfortunately I had to cancel my trip this year :(

I'm going next year, in July and I have two questions.

1. How realistic is a border reopening for Western tourists until July?
I personally don't think there will ever be a vaccine because there are also no vaccines for all the other coronaviruses. Will the borders reopen if there never is a vaccine?

2. I am going to Kanagawa. But I also would like to see more of the Western or Northern Kanto region. What can you recommend?

1. How realistic is a border reopening for Western tourists until July?

Nobody knows. We can only speculate. My guess is that there is a 40% chance.

I personally don't think there will ever be a vaccine because there are also no vaccines for all the other coronaviruses. Will the borders reopen if there never is a vaccine?

Yes, the borders will reopen even if no effective vaccine (or other types of medicines or treatment methods) will be found. I guess that the key to the reopening of Japan's borders will be the number of tests that can be conducted at Japan's airports. In September, the number of tests will be raised to 10,000 per day. That is enough to finally open the borders to a limited number of business people. So in my opinion it is only a question of how quickly this number can be increased. I am convinced that testing will increasingly become faster, cheaper and better over the coming months, and my hope is that the number will be large enough by around next year's summer that some tourists will be allowed into the country again.

2. I am going to Kanagawa. But I also would like to see more of the Western or Northern Kanto region. What can you recommend?

I recommend to select destinations based on your personal interests:
https://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1103.html

Why does everyone fron germany go crazy avout a vaccine? Seems to be a repeatative theme.

Anyway. Borders open when they open. Considering the this has bern going on six months and most regions are having second waves currently. Opening of borders wont be soon.

As for when they do open. It is unknown. No one how what will be going on with the virus in a months. So planning for 6 or 12 months in advance is still an unknown.

No one can answer question 1, we can only speculate. You won't get any kind of true answer here; not even the people in charge of opening the borders could answer that.

@Uji So what'd be your guess how many years will it take to reopen for Western tourists?

Even if 50 people came to say they think Japan will reopen before the end of the year, what difference would it make? Would you believe them?

About your trip: aren't you afraid that it is going to be very hot in July, or are you used to it ?

I would be shocked if Western tourists could still not enter Japan in large numbers by the end of 2021. But then again, this crisis has surprised me beyond imagination multiple times before.