Tourists to Japan will have a few rules to follow, as the country cautiously reopens to tourism again.
Japan is planning to reopen to tourists on June 10th, though with many restrictions. First, it’s only for package-tour visitors so far, and with a strict limit of 20,000 overseas arrivals per day. Before the pandemic, Japan usually saw arrivals between two and three million per day.
Tour companies will be required to communicate the restrictions to their guests in advance of arrival, and required to not bring any client that doesn’t agree fully. Restrictions include obvious things like mask-wearing and hand-sanitizing, but also includes required private health insurance. Tour-groups are asked to plan their itineraries and schedules to avoid crowds whenever possible, to keep careful records of their tourists’ movements, and to test everyone daily for infection. If anyone in a tour tests positive for Covid, the entire group may be required to go to a facility for isolation. Restaurants dealing with tourists will be encouraged to have tourist-only sections.
The rules are considered extremely unfriendly to travelers, especially since they don’t apply to Japanese tourists who go overseas and return.
“The government is treating Japanese and foreign tourists differently and the differences can’t be scientifically explained,” said Kenji Shibuya, an epidemiologist from the Toyko Foundation for Policy Research. “There’s no evidence that being accompanied by tour guides will lower the risks of infection. In endemic situations, it should be left to individuals to manage their own risks.”
But Japan’s strict protocols have led the country well so far, with eighty percent of the population vaccinated and boosted and low infection numbers, and the lowest mortality rate of the G-7 countries. Only last month did they relax their mask guidances, to allow them to be worn outdoors only in crowded conditions. With one of the densest urban populations in the world, they are exercising extreme caution.
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