Japan to loosen travel restrictions imposed during pandemic, welcoming vaccinated tourists

Japan has announced it will ease COVID-19 border control requirements next month after maintaining some of the strictest border measures among major economies since the pandemic’s onset. 

In response to the pandemic, Japan effectively blocked entry to visitors for two years until it began a gradual reopening to tourists in June. 

But on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the country would restore individual tourism and visa-waiver travel to people from countries, expected to include Australia, as long as they are vaccinated from October 11.  

At the same time, Japan will also scrap a daily cap on arrivals, currently set at 50,000, and may revise regulations on hotels, allowing them to refuse guests who don’t abide by infection controls, such as mask wearing, during an outbreak, domestic media reported. 

Mr Kishida’s announcement, made during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, follows a pledge he made in May that Japan would bring its border controls more in line with other Group of Seven nations. 

“We are a nation that has flourished through the free flow of people, goods and capital,” Mr Kishida said.