Hi! I’m Nathan and welcome to Ninja monkey. The place for all things related to Japan.
I give travel tips, insights, create fun related videos and,
I’m currently focusing on what’s going on behind Japan’s closed borders.
So, If you are a potential tourist, student, business person, or any other type of traveller,
you’ve come to the right place! So, join team Ninja monkey if you haven’t already
and make sure the bell notifications are on so that you don’t miss any future updates.
My aim is to put all the readily available information into
one easy to follow video! I do the research so that you don’t have to.
And, as always, all links are included in the video description so that you can do
your own reading if you wish to. Time stamps are also available for your convenience too!
In this week’s video we will be looking at Case numbers in Tokyo and Japan, I’ll continue
to give you an easy-to-follow recap of how the vaccination program is progressing. Look at some
non sport Olympic related news, including a furry visitor at one of the venues.
I’ll also look at more Vaccine passport information and the possibility of Japan
looking at accepting foreign vaccine certificates and creating travel bubbles. We will also look at
what could be the future for visiting tourist sights, and highlight some viewer comments too!
So, lets get started.
Firstly, let’s get up to date with a brief overview of the Covid situation in Japan.
Back dated a few days from the publishing of this video to the latest officially available data.
Officials in Tokyo on Thursday confirmed 1,979 new cases in the capital. The figure was 671
higher than a week ago. With Tokyo's average number of infections for the seven days
through Thursday up 55.7 percent from the previous week.
In comparison the whole nation saw 5,387 with nearly half of them
being in the Tokyo Area as mentioned.
The rise in Delta cases has prompted tightened quarantine protocols for travelers from Myanmar
and several other areas, including some U.S. states and regions in Russia.
These Japanese citizens and residents re-entering Japan,
will be subject to strict quarantine procedures, which includes a six-day stay
at a government-designated facility as part of their 14-day quarantine.
They will also need to undergo three tests for COVID after entering the country. The tests will
be conducted immediately after entry as well as on the 3rd and 6th days after their arrival.
Meanwhile, arrivals from several countries including Egypt and Pakistan, where the
pandemic situation has been improving or is under control, will see quarantine measures eased.
As you probably know, I am a firm believer that vaccination is potentially the way out
of the situation, therefore, keeping an eye on the situation in Japan
and immunity will help guide anyone wanting to make informed decisions in the future.
So let’s have a look at how Japan’s vaccine drive has been doing this week
As of the 21st July, there have now been a total of 73,970,888 vaccinations administered.
To better understand this figure, I will break down this figure even further:
44,586,506 Make up people who have only had one dose and 29,384,382
make up those who have received both jabs and would therefore be fully inoculated.
Therefore, out of the population of around 126 million people:
35.1% have now received one dose of the vaccine and 23.1% are fully inoculated with both doses.
It is evident that Japan continues to progress with its vaccine drive,
(for now anyway) even through there have been supply shortages and most major cities in Japan
have had to revise their vaccine plans as a result. It seems that the government of Japan
it hoping to learn from its past mistakes and start planning for doses for 2022
from Moderna, It is not yet known how long the effect of these vaccines will last
and it is thought that booster shots will likely be needed in the future.
Additionally discussions are also underway between the health ministry
and Takeda to secure 150 million doses of the vaccine developed
by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Novavax Inc. starting in early 2022.
Now that the Olympics have kicked off, (and by the way made a video giving a comprehensive timeline
of Covid cases linked to the Olympics, if you haven’t watched that one then I recommend you
do so after this video, I was quite shocked at how things have escalated! So do check it out. )
Did anyone else feel that the start of the Opening ceremony was rather serious
and kind of sad? - The ceremony did actually attract some protests outside the stadium,
protesters faced off with police as they held up signs saying
"Stop the Olympics - No Olympics" and "Cancel the Olympics! Save lives!".
However, although there certainly is opposition, its interesting to note that sales of Big screen
TV’s went up in Japan. So, some of the public are interested in the Olympics.
The best-selling products at Bic Camera, Nojima and Yodobashi Camera are 65-inch (OLED) TVs.
Already only a few hours into the Olympics and some interesting things have happened. For example
a brown bear was spotted near one of the venues early Tuesday, and it came back again on Wednesday
just hours before the first scheduled softball game between Japan and Australia took place.
“We couldn’t find or capture the bear, and while there won’t be any spectators at the stadium,
we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site,” the official said.
So, Just ‘bear’ with me in the coming weeks as I continue to report
on not necessarily sports related news but anything of interest that comes from the Olympics.
Once again the topic of Japan’s Vaccine passport is in the news. Japan has been seeking approval
of its vaccine passport, negotiating with other nations around the world. However for now any
agreements will not be reciprocal, as Japan does not currently intend to reduce or remove
quarantine for vaccinated forigners. Something that has already caused outcry for unfairness.
So far Residents of Japan who have received a COVID-19 vaccine will be exempted from
entry or quarantine procedures in five European countries if they have a vaccine passport.
These being Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Estonia which currently doesn’t have
any quarantine requirement. With Italy and Turkey posed to accept Japan’s vaccine passport soon too.
However Japan has begun surveying overseas arrivals about their vaccine
status as it explores the feasibility of exempting those vaccinated from abroad,
from the countries strict entry restrictions.
As part of its feasibility study, the Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare has been asking overseas arrivals quarantining at facilities
to fill in voluntary questionnaires since early July, the sources said.
The government plans to use the responses to its survey in conjunction with other data, such as
each vaccine's efficacy, to determine whether border measures can be eased in the future.
According to the Immigration Services Agency,
around 43,000 Japanese nationals and 17,000 foreigners entered the country in June.
The need for arrivals to quarantine in accommodation facilities has become a
huge burden for them and health authorities,
with some officials of the opinion that it "cannot continue indefinitely."
Now looking at the current travel scene, something that is always interesting to look at
as it will certainly have an affect on everyone’s future travel into Japan.
Japan airlines has started using facial recognition to speed up air travel. The
facial recognition technology is been used to verify the identity of passengers
when traveling via Haneda and Narita airports, eliminating the need for passengers to show their
passports and boarding passes when going through security checkpoints and boarding gates. This
reduces contact with the airport staff whilst at the same time speeding up the boarding process.
And yes, Passengers must take off face masks when facing the cameras!
This next story is not specifically Japan related
but is of interest because it could mean a change in the way visiting tourist spots is done.
Tourists for the Eiffel tower in Paris, France will now need to present their COVID pass,
proving that they are either vaccinated, have a negative test
or prove they have recently recovered from COVID.
Sightseers will need to prove their status at museums and cinemas too.
How do you, Team Ninja monkey feel about these requirements? - Do you think Japan
will follow once open to foregners? Does your country have anything similar in place?
I would love to know your thoughts, so let me know in the comment section.
I don’t like to spread or talk too much about rumours,
however it is being reported that in the same way that the now delayed to
the end of the year travel bubble between Australia and Singapore,
which will exempt travellers from quarantine and allow free travel between the countries.
It is rumoured that the same or similar arrangement is set to come for travel
between Australia and Japan, with the Australian
government reportedly in talks to open similar bubbles with other countries.
I’ll leave a disclaimer that I’ve only come across
few articles mentioning the Japan and Australia travel bubble,
without me being able to fully verify the sources or know if these websites are reputable.
However this does open up the question of weather or not there will indeed
be future travel bubbles between different countries and Japan dependent on Covid cases?
What do you think Team? Is this likely to happen? How would you feel if only
some countries are allowed entry in to japan? Or do you think this is
a logical step and should be dependent on the situation of each country individually?
Thanks so much for watching this far and staying tuned.. Every week I like
to answer or highlight a comment, so if you have something you’d like me to answer or
just my opinion on then start sending in the questions and I might select yours to feature!
Viewer riyad s says:
Keep up the positive forward steam! I think the Olympics going forward will give Japan
the confidence to open up sooner rather than later. Having many more visitors, by virtue of
necessity, will allow refinement of procedures, training of personnel, and ramp up of positive
public opinion. All these (+ vaccination progress) are essential components, in my view, for easing
of international travel restrictions. all cases, we wish Japan and Japanese all the best!
Wow, I really enjoyed reading this comment because it really made me question
and think about things slightly differently.
I may have perhaps had a slightly negative view of the Olympics, or maybe I’m just tired of
everything currently being very Olympic centric. This comment however makes some very good points,
Perhaps, Japan will gain confidence to open up sooner rather than later as a result
of the experience of some travellers entering the country. And yes, we are
already seeing refinement of procedures which will benefit all entering Japan in the future.
However I do worry about the impact the virus brought in by athletes and Olympics personnel
will have on public opinion after the Olympics end, if there are further spikes as a result.
So, I pass on the question to you. Do you think that the Olympics will give Japan the
confidence to open up sooner rather than later? Can the Olympics reverse public
opinion now that they have started? - Let me know in the comment section.
If you’ve watched this far then hopefully it means that you liked the video! So please support me by
liking the video as it tells YouTube that you are interested in this type of content.
As always, lets get a conversation started in the comment section.
I do try to respond to as many as I can! I’d love to know your thoughts!
Till next time. Arigatou, gracias, thanks, Bye!