Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing

Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing
September 12, 2022, 8:04 am

Japan-Tokyo streets/Pixabay

Fuji News Network reported on Monday (Sep 12), Japan’s government is planning to waive tourist visa requirements from some countries as part of a further easing of border controls enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may decide as early as this week on the easing, which would also allow individual travelers to visit Japan without travel agency bookings, FNN reported. Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 countries and regions before the pandemic.

The government may scrap a daily cap on arrivals by October, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday (Sep 11).

Deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara said on a television program on Sunday that “a weak yen is most effective in attracting inbound tourism,” adding that further steps must be taken to draw in foreign visitors.

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Japan last week raised the daily ceiling of inbound travelers to 50,000 from 20,000 and eliminated a requirement for pre-departure COVID tests, easing what have been among the most restrictive border measures among major economies.

In 2021, just 245,900 foreign visitors came to Japan, the lowest figure since comparable data became available in 1964, dealing a heavy blow to the country's travel industry that had been buoyed by inbound tourist demand before the pandemic began in early 2020.

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