Japan to ease border controls to allow entry for up to 10,000 nontourists per day

Japan will raise its daily limit on arrivals from overseas to around 10,000 from April 10, up from the current 7,000, the top government spokesman said Friday, as the country gradually relaxes its coronavirus border controls.

The easing of the nation’s strict border controls is in response to growing demand for entry among returning Japanese nationals, foreign residents and new nontourist arrivals, including foreign students, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said. Foreign tourists are still barred from entry.

“Japan plans to increase international movements of people in stages by taking into account the infection situation at home and abroad and border control measures that other major nations have taken,” Matsuno said at a news conference.

Japan effectively imposed an entry ban on nonresident foreign nationals in late November to limit the inflow of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, drawing criticism from students, academics and business circles that the measure was too strict.

In recent weeks, the country has been relaxing what Prime Minister Fumio Kisida called the “most stringent” border controls among the Group of Seven nations. The daily entry limit was raised by 2,000 to the current 7,000 in mid-March, ahead of the start of the new Japanese school and business year in April.

COVID-19 travel restrictions have prevented foreign students from traveling to Japan, with around 150,000 said to be waiting as of March 1. So far, over 10,000 of them have arrived in Japan, Matsuno said.

The government has prioritized foreign students by allocating empty seats on weekday flights to facilitate their entry into Japan.

Also on Friday, Japan eased its coronavirus travel warning for 106 nations, including the United States and India, and is no longer recommending that Japanese nationals avoid traveling to these areas.

The Foreign Ministry lowered its travel advisories to Level 2 for those countries, also including Britain, France and Germany, from the second-highest Level 3.

Level 2 means that Japanese citizens are asked to refrain from nonessential travel to the countries, while Level 3 means that people should avoid all travel to the affected areas.

Meanwhile, 56 nations and regions remained under the Level 3 warning, including 40 in the Middle East and Africa, 10 in Europe and six in Latin America.

“Although the situations are different among nations and areas, the number of new COVID-19 infections and deaths has been on a decreasing trend globally, and risks of dying and developing serious symptoms have been reduced on the back of progress in vaccinations,” Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference.

Hayashi also cited gradual easing of restrictions on economic activities and traveling overseas in many countries.

The ministry left unchanged Level 2 advisories for 39 nations and regions. Among them are China, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia, for which the warning was lowered from Level 3 to Level 2 in October 2020.