Japan once again closes borders to foreign travelers with new entry restrictions

Business travel relaxation undone in less than two months.

In October, Japan took a major step towards reopening its borders by allowing entry to travelers from around the world, provided they were coming on business and completed a quarantine period upon arrival. However, less than two months after the easing of entry restrictions, the government has decided to tighten them back up again,

As of Monday, December 28, non-resident foreigners are once again prohibited from entering Japan, with the only exceptions being short-term business travelers from a handful of nearby countries and territories (China, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand). The travel ban will initially be in effect until the end of January, but the term may be extended depending on coronavirus infection numbers in Japan between now and then.

The closure works both ways, too. Previously, Japanese nationals and foreign residents of Japan were allowed to travel outside the country for brief business trips as long as they completed a 14-day quarantine upon their return to Japan. This program has now been suspended, meaning that residents of Japan who travel to countries outside the exempted nations listed above face the prospect of not being allowed to reenter Japan until sometime after January.

In addition, travelers entering or returning to Japan from countries where variants of the coronavirus have been documented will need to be tested and confirmed as non-coronavirus infected within 72 hours of their departure, and submit to testing again upon arrival in Japan. While the general travel ban mentioned above would preclude new travel to such countries, the new testing rules would apply to residents of Japan who are already abroad but scheduled to return to Japan in the near future.

The new travel restrictions come several days of record-setting new coronavirus infections in Japan, with Tokyo recording more than 700 new cases for five days in a row between January 23 and 27.

Sources: Yahoo! Japan News/Mainichi Shimbun Digital via Otakomu, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, NHK World Japan (1, 2)
Top image: Pakutaso
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