Therese Sta. MariaJapan is inching its way to its complete reopening for international travellers. Starting 8 Nov 2021, Japan will officially welcome more business travellers, technical interns, as well as international students with mandatory quarantine. Along with this ease in border restriction, the Japanese government has requested that host organisations and universities manage the movements of their employees and students thoroughly. This also means that the government will start reissuing short- to long-term visas for foreign students and technical workers.
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Business travellers and international students to quarantine in Japan
Image credit: Emil Karlsson
Although the mentioned travellers will still have to quarantine, it’s still easier now compared to before, as Japan previously announced that all incoming fully vaccinated travellers will only be given a 10-day quarantine period instead of 14 days. The vaccines that Japan recognises for incoming foreign travellers are Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
The country has made an even bigger consideration for fully vaccinated business travellers who are only visiting Japan for up to three months. These short-term travellers’ quarantines may be cut from 10 days to three days. Japan News also shared, “Vaccinated short-term business travellers will be allowed to go out if they test negative for the coronavirus on the third day from arrival, and their host organisations submit the travellers’ activity plans to the government and obtain approval.”
Is Japan open for tourism?
According to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara, who spoke in a press conference, the Japanese government will continue checking the effectiveness of these new measures they have laid out for foreign travellers. In addition, they will also consider if they’ll be reopening to foreign tourists soon. “We will examine the situation if we can allow group tourists to visit again, aiming by the end of the year,” he said.
As of now, they continue to be closed to tourists from abroad.
Japan continues to be vigilant
“We’ll act flexibly if the situation deteriorates due to the spread of a new variant or other reasons,” he said, implying that they are still open to tightening restrictions again if necessary. As of writing, the Japanese government is keeping foreign entrances in Japan to around 3,500 people daily. Business travellers and international students will be welcomed gradually.
Featured image credit: David Edelstein | Unsplash
