Resumption of tourism - Latest info?

Thanks for the article. That is a good news, one big step forward.

Even if the answer might be obvious I am going to ask anyway.

If I planned a wedding in Japan, can I enter or am I considered as tourist?
Thank you

Is that wedding a wedding to your Japanese partner who is residing in Japan?
Or is Japan �gonly�h the venue?

Going to Japan to get married is tourism, but basically everything is determined by your residency status. If you don't have a residency status that is related to a professional, educational, familial, or some other rock solid connection to Japan, then you are indeed a tourist.

Also planning a simple holiday to Japan while the borders are still closed is very different from planning a wedding so obviously I very strongly recommend against planning anything until you know for absolute certain you will be allowed to enter the country.

Just a point for those that might misunderstand the entry status - it is more accurately described as "temporary visitor" rather than tourist because it covers a lot of other travelers that are not here for tourism.
So attending a wedding falls into the short term visit or "temporary" visitor status.

A next small step was announced. Now direct family of residents in Japan can apply for visas and visit.

Family members within the first degree of kinship to foreign residents who want to come to Japan to visit their family, as well as family members within a second degree of kinship to Japanese nationals and permanent residents. First-degree kinship is defined as children and parents, while second-degree kinship refers to siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.
Family members who need to take care of a resident of Japan who is ill, is having a baby or is in need of support in their day-to-day affairs.
Family members visiting a resident of Japan who is near death, or those coming to pay respects to a resident who has passed away.
Family members who need to accompany minors, or those who cannot travel on their own due to illness or other reasons.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/13/national/japan-reopening-...

I have noticed that some cruises visiting Japan in Sept, Oct, Nov this year are already available. Does this mean that Japan is opening to tourists soon?

Out of curiosity, would step brothers be counted as 2nd degree?

Thanks for sharing this big change! :D

rkold: yes. Let me quote a part of the article

But now, Japan has begun granting visas to a wider range of people, including:
• Family members within the first degree of kinship to foreign residents who want to come to Japan to visit their family, as well as family members within a second degree of kinship to Japanese nationals and permanent residents. First-degree kinship is defined as children and parents, while second-degree kinship refers to siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.
• Family members who need to take care of a resident of Japan who is ill, is having a baby or is in need of support in their day-to-day affairs.
• Family members visiting a resident of Japan who is near death, or those coming to pay respects to a resident who has passed away.
• Family members who need to accompany minors, or those who cannot travel on their own due to illness or other reasons.

Pure speculation here.

Things are finally moving in the correct direction. Allowing relatives of foreign residents (not just citizens) is a pretty big step in my opinion. They could have made concessions for these people at any point in the last two years but they are only choosing to now. I think they are gearing up for a full resumption of international tourism. Unless there is a massive swing in public opinion I still don't expect them to announce a reopening before the election in July, but barring a complete covid disaster I fully expect us to be going back this calendar year now.

I believe this has all been in place since March. I think it is also only for relatives of permanent residents only, not anyone in a temporary or work visa. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! I just don't want to get anyone's hopes up.

Hi!

I saw that 2nd degree counted siblings but I wasn't sure Japan put step-siblings/parents in the same category.

So do people get to bring their families? If you have a Japanese grandparent but have Canadian citizenship can you bring your spouse with you to visit your grandparents?

I admit, I am very curious about this on a personal level.

But this is definitely new. I have a friend with PR whose mother was visiting when the borders closed. He got her to extend her Visa a few times but she eventually came back to the US. It would be sort of nice if she could visit her child, daughter-in-law and grandkids.

@Guest - yes, there are a number of cruises scheduled to operate around Japan in the fall. Due to some national and international regulations they are required to visit another country, so that suggests, if they are not cancelled) that the companies are expecting passengers/employees can leave Japan and re-enter in the Oct/Nov timeframe.
I also saw a reference this week to another airline increasing its flight schedule to/from Japan from one to three flights a week starting in July. If that means they will actually be able to carry any extra passengers or not - unknown.

Sherpa website shows Japan borders are open to tourists staring today. Some restrictions still applies but no quarantine required for vaccinated travelers

Not sure what this Sherpa website is, but it seems false news. The official web page of the immigration authorities has nothing about open borders for tourists and none of the Japanese news outlets either.

Maybe you or Sherpa is mixing up South Korea and Japan?

It is a website compiling travel and immigration information for various countries.

https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions/JPN?originCountry=GBR...

It claims that I (British) can enter Japan quarantine-free as I am vaccinated and have no travel history to any "high risk" countries. This of course is completely false. I probably wouldn't even make it past check-in at Heathrow Airport, let alone immigration in Japan.

As always if anyone tells you that Japan is open for tourism and the Japanese government haven't also said so then they are either mistaken or just straight up lying.

G Adventures is showing the same, but I think they use data from Sherpa

Visa-free travel is suspended, so unless you have a visa, you can't enter. That pretty much rules out all tourists.

That reference to the "sherpa" website leaves out important information that IS shown on the page including the suspension of the visa waiver programme and that there are severe entry restrictions.
The misleading statement is in the phrasing: "most ... can enter" when in fact is it almost no travellers are allowed in.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/29724166677107370e6c4ed6373775fffce4...

Not really news but at least he's finally mentioned tourism...