Hi! I’m Nathan and welcome to Ninja monkey. I’m currently focusing on what’s going
on behind Japan’s closed borders.
My aim in this video is to put all the readily available information into one place, to make
it easy for you, potential tourists, students, business people and anyone interested in Japan
to follow what’s going on behind japans closed border.
Hopefully my updates will help you make informed decisions leading to answering the
question “When will Japan’s border open?”
In this video we will be looking at the situation in Tokyo and nationwide, as well as continuing
to look at the vaccine drive too. I dive into some of the facts that will help us see weather
or not the state of emergency will be lifted, and we look at some pretty interesting news
stating that the government is looking closely at inbound tourism to revitalise the economy.
Additionally finally it seems that quarantine will be reduced to 10 days. And I will for
once give my thoughts on what all of this means in my opinion. So make sure you watch
all the way to the end to see if you agree with me or not!
So, lets get started with the situation in Tokyo and Nationwide.
As always, I continue to present on screen some important stats for you, including nationwide
cases, Tokyo’s numbers and the amount of PCR tests done nationwide. So, feel free to
pause the video if you want to. All stats are up to the latest Government officially
available data upto and including the 24th September.
Tokyo reported 235 new cases on Friday, this is down by 547 from last week and means that
cases have been falling for 33 days in a row.
Not only that but The daily figure stood below 1,000 cases for nine consecutive days and
the seven-day average is down to 469.3, compared with 945.7 last week.
Nationwide numbers have also fallen with 2085 cases on the 24th of September.
Team, things are looking good. Numbers continue to fall across all fronts.
Remembering that the Japanese government mentioned some benchmarks that will hopefully lead to
the State of emergency being lifted, and a review into opening up the border for foreign
visitors.
Here are some important stats to keep an eye on.
In regards to hospital beds, There continues to be 6,583 beds secured for patients out
of which 503 are beds for patients with severe symptoms.
and as of this update there are 1,632 hospitalisations that’s 1,247 less than last weeks update,
out of which 131 are deemed severe cases. A drop of 51 from last week.
Remembering that one of the critiera is that hospitalisations drop by 50% this is a great
sign and if things continue this way then this should be met fairly soon.
Additionally, Last week there were 1,445 patients awaiting for guidance or to be hospitalised
at home. This has dropped to 721. That’s 724 less than last week. Another good sign
and indicator that things are looking good. aditionally 2,344 people are also recovering
at home.
The fact that the number of patients recovering at home or waiting to be hospitalized needs
to be lower than 60 people per 100,000 residents in major cities, and the number currently
continues on a downward trend is also fantastic news and in line to be met if not already.
I continue to believe that another important indicator is the vaccine drive and how it
is progressing. So lets check out this week’s stats.
As of the latest officially available information from the 24th September: there have now been
a total of 156,559,895 doses administered and includes first and second doses.
Of those doses, 85,829,323 Make up people who have only had one dose and 70,730,572
make up those who have received both jabs and would therefore be considered fully vaccinated.
That means that out of the population of around 126 million people: 67.8% have now received
one dose of the vaccine and 55.8% have received both doses of the vaccine.
And for further clarity, regarding the elderly which are usually considered the most vulnerable
group and make up people 65 years of age and older 88.8% of those wishing to take the vaccine
are now inoculated with both doses too.
As we can see, Japan's infection situation continues to improve. And it looks like emergency
conditions could soon be lifted in most parts of the country.
However, Hospitalisation rates and patient bed availability will factor into whether
the state of emergency in Tokyo and many other parts of the country can be lifted as planned,
"After hearing the opinions of experts, the Cabinet will make a final decision," Health
Minister Tamura told reporters.
Team, I am rather optimistic that the State of emergency will be lifted, either as a whole
or in part. I do think that the best outcome will be the complete lifting of the state
of emergency as it will hopefully lead to the promised review into foreign entry.
Even Suga who although is on his way out as Prime minister is sounding optimistic.
"The situation has certainly taken a turn for the better," Suga told reporters in Washington
a day after attending the first in-person meeting of the leaders of Japan, the United
States, Australia and India.
Also health minister Tamura’s has suggested a high likelihood that the state of emergency
will be ending on Thursday, saying, "I think we can realize it given the current situation."
However, with the Japanese government expected to make the final decision on the state of
emergency on Tuesday September 28th, we really wont know what will happen until then, but
I personally am rather hopeful!
What do you think team? Are you on the side of The state of emergency being fully lifted
or do you think Japan will continue on the side of caution and either not lift it, or
only lift it in part? How do you read these signals? I’d really love to know your opinion
on this!
I came across the next story in Kyodo news where it states that all four candidates:
The vaccination minister Kono, former Foreign Minister Kishida, former internal affairs
minister Takaichi and former gender equality minister Noda, recognise the importance of
tourism and agriculture, stating that these issues are crucial to revitalize regional
economies.
At an event which was the third of four virtual town hall sessions the LDP has organized so
that candidates can answer questions from citizens on many issues:
Kono actually said that Japan needs to promote inbound tourism that would have a "good influence"
on regional economies, and that one challenge for the country is how to draw wealthy visitors.
Remembering that Japan continues to set a goal of targeting 60 million foreign visitors
to Japan by 2030 and that the number of inbound visitors stood at 4.12 million in 2020.
It is very good indicator to see that once Suga is gone, candidates are indeed looking
towards Tourism as an important way of revitalising the economy.
The fact that the wording used is ‘inbound tourism’ leads me to believe that it is
referring to foreigners entering the country.
However Kishida said tourism has "big potential" for regional economies. If elected, he said
he will upgrade the government's subsidy program to spur local tourism by making use of vaccine
certificates or negative test results.
Therefore there is also an enthesis on local tourism, and I’m guessing this is referring
to domestic tourism.
Team, this is great news. The fact that future candidates who could potentially become prime
minister are discussing tourism, is good for all travellers including students and business
people. I have always been of the opinion that there will likely be phased entry with
certain groups like students and business travellers able to enter before tourists can.
However There seems to be a chance that Japan will open for everyone at the same time? What
do you think?
With vaccination rates creeping up and case numbers continue to fall, all of these indicators
are great news. However we will still need to wait and see what the vision of inbound
tourism is once the new prime minister is chosen, happening very soon on October 4th
and then once the general election takes place in November.
I’ve been reporting that Japan had been rumoured to shorten the period of quarantine
for fully vaccinated people from 14 to 10 days. And it seems that this has finally become
official with the health ministry saying on Friday that Japan is making final preparations
to shorten quarantine for fully vaccinated people who will now only need to isolate for
10 days instead of 14. allowing them to self-isolate at home, and getting rid of the quarantine
hotels for these entries.
Although not clearly stated, it seems that these changes will take place starting in
October, according to reports citing government sources.
Following the planned change, those who present proof that they have been fully vaccinated
will be able to observe the shorter quarantine period at home. It is not yet clear what will
constitute acceptable evidence, although Japan and other nations have begun issuing vaccine
passports for overseas travel.
This is the first time that Japan will be accepting a vaccine certificate or passport
for entry into the country and will likely mean the foundation of how certification is
used for future travel. It seems that currently these rules will only apply to people who
have received one of the three vaccines that are authorized by the Japanese government:
those being Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Inoculated people will reportedly have to undergo tests on the 10th day of quarantine
and only those who test negative will be exempt from the full 14-day self-isolation period.
However, some restrictions are likely to unchange. For example the use of public transport during
the quarantine period will probably not be allowed with the only permitted ways to go
from the point of entry to the quarantine location being private taxi services, dedicated
train cars or car rental services.
Please bear in mind that currently only Japanese nationals and residents as well as people
with special circumstance can enter the country.
Pressure continues to build to let displaced foreigners in, especially students who have
had to put their life on hold, but currently nothing has changed and the only thing that
can be done is be vigilant, keep an eye on updates so that you can be ready the moment
things change.
So what are my thoughts on all of this.
The fact that quarantine is only being reduced to 10 days may actually mean that borders
open to everyone at the same time. (anyway this is only my gut feeling and I might be
completely wrong on this one) after all what tourist can afford to, or choose to isolate
for 10 days before even starting sightseeing? Whilst students and business people might
freely choose to enter the country with these conditions. In essence, keeping a quarantine
will filter out tourists from those who are likely to contribute more to Japan, for example
students staying for extended periods of time.
I do feel that the 10 day quarantine will be reduced even further as more of the population
is inoculated and the situation stabilises. The fact that Japan will soon be accepting
vaccine passports for entry means that this could set the ground work for when the border
finally opens up.
Anyway, those are my personal thoughts.. as always I only give you the facts so that you
can make up your own mind. My aim is to not predict a specific date but rather give you
all the indicators so that you can make informed decisions and stay up to date to better prepare
for you trip.
So team, What are your thoughts on all of this? I really would love to know in the comment
section! And if you don’t have much to say , just say hello and where you are from as
I’d love to get to know you too!
Anyway, Did you check out my latest video? Although not a border update, I collaborate
with Japanese journey and talk about the differences between the city and countryside in Japan!
It would mean the world to me if you could check it out as I really want to expand the
types of video that I create! Your support means a lot to me!
So, As always, Thanks so much for watching this far and staying tuned.. it must mean
that you are liking the content so far, so please consider liking, subscribing if you
haven’t already, and hitting the bell notification to keep up to date with all future updates.
Till next time, stay positive team! Arigatou, gracias thanks bye!