Resumption of tourism - Latest info?

The latest that I have heard about the testing at the airport is that two options are being considered:

a) people with 3 recognized shots do not need to get tested
or
b) people from countries with reliable pre-flight testing do not need to get tested (don't ask me what that specifically means)

The reduced testing is highly likely to be introduced from June because that is also when the upper limit of daily entrants is set to be doubled to 20,000 and testing capacities would not be sufficient anymore.

Well rkold if you were still wondering why the tours don't seem to be available to book, it is probably because they are only letting 50 people, divided into tour groups four.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/05/17/japan-tourism-test-re...

I knew it would be conservative, but not quite to this extent. So they're letting in 50 people who are probably already inclined to behave in a foreign country (triple vaxxed + willing to take part in such an experiment in the first place), splitting them up into tiny groups and sending them off on tightly-controlled, supervised itineraries, and they expect to learn something about virus control? Right...

I have a friend arrived back in the country two days ago and despite triple vaccinated and negative pre-departure PCR test, they got covid on their flight to Japan and are in quarantine for the next 11 days (his wife is fine). When I was talking to him yesterday, the tightness of control makes it sound like everyone has ebola. He also mentioned that, as far as he can tell, the hotel he is stuck in is full of Japanese people probably locked down after returning from GW holidays to Hawaii.
Expect changes to be slow, wait for official announcements.

Reading the post of JCT I think that for tourists it makes no sense to come to Japan as long as there is post arrival Covid test and quarantine. Just imagine you come to Japan for your long awaited holidays just to get a positive Covid test upon arrival (or just were sitting in the vicinity of a positive case) and instead of traveling through Japan youfll be locked in for 10+ days in some hotel and will then even need to fear for your return to your home country as most likely youfll need a pre departure negative test. And sometimes after a Covid infection it can take a few weeks until the test is negative.
For residents/ new residents thatfs not so much of a problem. They have time. But for tourists thatfs going to be a huge risk.

https://youtu.be/4LwvPdBILZk

According to above news from ANN, one idea being considered by Japan is to categorize countries into 3 levels based on the positivity test rate at the time of entry, and apply different requirements.

Specifically:
(1) Countries with the lowest positivity rate - No vax, no test, no quarantine. Currently there are over 100 counties that fit into this category, including the US.
(2) Countries with next lowest positivity rate - With 3 vaccine shots, then no test, no quarantine.
(3) Others - Keep the current restrictions.

Just an idea being considered.

Unfortunately, I think that will be for everyone but tourists.

It seems that the government is moving towards that 3-group system. Whatever system will be selected, it will also applied to tourist. However, I don't expect that any considerable numbers of tourists will be able to enter the country before the elections. Only very small numbers and under ridiculous conditions.

The small tour groups about to be let into Japan are all travel industry professionals from the four countries allowed, NOT regular tourists. This is a trial run for a later staggered reopening and seems to be purely for show as it will effectively mean nothing as far as reopening to general tourism is concerned.

I'm so disappointed in Japan. The Xenophobia, the lack of transparency, the slow work being done...as far as I'm concerned, at this point it's clear that Japan is keen on keeping out non-Japanese for as long as possible by using every excuse they can. Meanwhile, Japanese citizens travel the world freely.

I'm tired of waiting and getting the run-around. I'm just going to return to South Korea instead.

Think I'll give up on this year again.
Such a shame, I adore Japan and the wonderful people but the xenophobic old men that run the country clearly don't want people like me, they'd rather run the country slowly into the ground and maintain their political positions.

look at the right side.
"What is your main feeling about Japan keeping its borders closed to tourists as one of the last countries in the world?"

the result is
"agree" plus "understand" is 32% in total.
It is surprisingly pretty high, although posters in this thread are almost negative.

I adore Japan and the wonderful people but the xenophobic old men that run the country clearly don't want people like me

I think it is the opposite! Most of "old men that run the country" would actually like to reopen the borders as soon as possible. But it is the majority of the common people who does not want to reopen the borders yet. Therefore, the "old men that run the country" will probably wait until after the July elections before a more considerable reopening. Unfortunately Kishida - unlike his predecessors - is putting populism above pragmatism.

What concerns me is that even inside Japan, tourism is still not being fully promoted yet. And the media continues to make a huge thing about everything bad related to the virus while downplaying the damage caused to the economy. It seems to me that most people think that it is alright for Japan to make new debts indefinitely. No urgency, at all.

Never thought I'd see the day when Japan's tourism was on par with North Korea's...what a disappointment. People can mention 'elections' as much as they want, but it's a poor excuse. Japan has fell short as a member of the democratic world.

The yen is weak and the economy will only suffer worse as time goes on.

Japanese public will be happy because they've been told for the last few years by politicians and the media that Covid is to be blamed on foreigners.

Relevant :

https://www.ie-ei.eu/Ressources/FCK/image/Theses/2021/GLOBAL_Foster_Th...

Yep, my mind always goes back to when then local Ibaraki (I think?) politician instructed people not to have contact with non-Japanese so as not to risk spreading the virus. We aren't making excuses for Japan when we talk about the election, we are talking about it because it is factually a major contributing factor, whether we agree with it or not.

I think that of all the times over the last two years that one could have lost patience, now makes the least sense. Changes will be slow but they are happening which is more than we could have said a few months ago, and I personally believe it won't be long before the momentum building towards a full reopening will be unstoppable. It is pointless to get frustrated when we are so close.

Today Japanese media is heavily reporting on the new monkey pox cases spreading in the West and even the government official was asked about it during the press-conference. With this as a new hot topic, don't expect any public support for actual opening of borders to tourists. What Uji said about is correct: it's not the politicians, it's the regular Japanese people who don't want tourists. For people who don't live in Japan it's hard to understand, I admit.

For years I have seen a complete unwillingness, by many people who I would categorize as gJapanophiles,h to accept that xenophobia is a deeply rooted part of the culture in Japan. Of course not all Japanese are xenophobic, any more than all Americans are racist, but some degree of distrust of non-Japanese is clearly an element of the psyche of many Japanese natives. People who love to travel to Japan but only experience it as tourists and donft have Japanese relatives or learn the language beyond a few basic phrases are sometimes blind to even blatant examples of anti-foreigner sentiment, or they dismiss it as exceedingly rare. So I sort of find it interesting to see on this thread some considerable open acknowledgment of that sentiment. And more than a little resentment of it, by some.

I donft really follow Japanese politics, but I have to agree with Uji that the politicians in this case are just responding to the underlying sentiments of the gcommon people.h Of course, the politicians fuel these sentiments as well, just as the populist movement in the U.S. is building political power at present.

We all want to get back to Japan, but this is not going to end soon. Even when the country is reopened, Ifm afraid there will be a heightened antipathy toward foreigners that may last for years. I expect that eventually things will calm down and sort of be close to what they were before the pandemic, albeit probably with a lot more mask-wearing. Letfs hope that tourism returns in force before too many more businesses are killed off.

In the meantime, we just have to wait until we can get back in again. It is indeed very frustrating for all of us who love to travel to Japan.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220518_32/

A government source says countries and regions will be divided into three groups, depending on positive rates of coronavirus tests carried out upon arrival.

Visitors from the lowest-rate group will be exempt from virus testing and self-isolation, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.

People from the medium-rate group will also be exempted from tests and self-isolation if they have been vaccinated three times.

The government intends to maintain the measures for visitors from the highest-rate group.

So groups would be made based on aggregate covid test results upon arrival in Japan, not on covid rates in the country of origin. Sounds pretty random.

They have mentioned reliability of pre-depaturing testing in countries of origin in the media the past week, as well as testing in other countries in general. I will refrain from pointing out the irony...