Hi!
I’m Nathan and welcome back to Ninja monkey.
The place for all things related to Japan,
I do the research so that you don’t have to, and put all the readily available information
into one place.
So if you are a potential tourist or wanting to travel for any other reason, don’t miss
any future updates by making sure you Subscribe and hit the like button too
Team, it seems like the time has finally come and Japan is on its way to opening her borders
to the masses!
I am very excited to explore this week’s news stories which finally includes some official
information from the Japanese government.
However, everything is not as simple as one might hope, but there is definitely a light
at the end of the tunnel and I would say we are nearly there!
In this update I will be looking at who can actually enter the country and which tourists
will be able to enter Japan.
YES, Tourists you heard right...
It's all a little complicated but hopefully you’ll have a better idea of what’s happening
after watching this video, so make sure you watch all the way to the end to get the big
picture.
But to start with, let's very quickly summarise Japan’s booster roll out and the situation
in the country.
As from May 27th, 58.3% of the population has now received their third dose.
And encouragingly 88.9% of those aged 65 years or older have now received the booster shot
too.
Interestingly the 4th dose roll-out seems to have also started with 423 people having
received it, but this is something I am currently not looking into.
Also Tokyo’s hospital occupancy continues to slowly decline and now stands at 15.4%
of standard covid beds in use, that’s 1,113 patients admitted into hospital in Tokyo.
And, in terms of severe patients there are only 2 reported in Tokyo, meaning, only 0.4%
of the 510 beds set aside for severe patients in Tokyo are in use.
And now that we have a clearer picture of the situation in Japan let’s look at Japan's
newly updated entry requirements and also explore who can currently enter the country.
Team, in my last update, Japan announced a three-tier system for entry into the country.
Depending on the country that you are arriving from, different rules will apply.
To summarise, countries will be put into blue, yellow or red categories.
With blue countries having pretty much no entry requirements other than a negative PCR
test before arrival.
Yellow countries have some quarantine when entering and need to be tested upon arrival
unless they have a vaccination certificate.
And red countries will have all entry measures in effect, including testing on arrival and
a three-day quarantine at a government facility or a hybrid quarantine at home if a valid
vaccination certificate is presented.
Team, As mentioned in the last update, it’s pretty awesome news that many travellers will
not need to worry about their vaccine certificate and will even be able to travel if they are
unvaccinated as long as they come from a low-risk blue country!
And that list of countries has finally been announced.
So ... Who’s included in the much-coveted blue list?
I’ll try to summarise, with plenty of info on screen, so feel free to pause the screen
when needed.
Alternatively, how about heading to my website www.ninjasaru.com where you will find easy
access to all the links for easier reading.
So, currently in the blue list we find Most European Union countries in addition to The
United Kingdom, The U.S.A, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Russia, South
Korea, Ireland, Israel, Hongkong and China.
I haven’t read out all the countries so apologies if I didn’t mention yours, but
it might actually be there.
Most notable mentions for Countries in the Yellow list include Malta and Portugal (which
seem to be the only E.U countries in the yellow list) in addition to India, Egypt, Turkey,
Nepal, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and VietNam, which are all currently listed as yellow countries.
Once again, check out the full list by pausing the video or following official links.
And for the red list, there are currently 4 listed: Albania, Fiji, Pakistan and Sierra
Leone finding it hardest to enter in terms of requirements and quarantine.
Team, what category does your country fall under?
Are you happy?
Disappointed?
And if you are in the yellow or red list has this made you change any travel plans?
I’d love to know; I’ll be hanging out in the comment section reading what you have
to say.
Side note, If you find value in my content, how about showing your appreciation by becoming
part of the patreon community or making a one off donation by using YouTube’s New
Super Thanks feature that is kind of like a super chat but for normal videos.
You can also make a one off Paypal donation too?
And if you don’t want to, that perfectly fine, hitting the like button also helps!
So back to the video.
So, with the entry requirements in mind, what does this all mean for entry into Japan?
Who can enter and when and what tourists will be able to enter the country?
Let's check it out.
Tourists will be able to enter starting on June 10th, but more on that in a moment.
Currently Students, Technical interns and business travellers who have educational institutes
or companies that can host them can enter the country.
Close family members are also allowed short-term visits.
Family members qualifying include Children, parents, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren
of permanent residents, as well as long-term foreign residents in Japan.
More distant family members, such as uncles, aunties and cousins, can only enter under
exceptional circumstances, for example if they are needing to take care of a Japanese
resident who is ill, near death, having a baby or in need of support in their day-to-day
affairs.
These family members can also enter in the event of paying respects to a resident who
has died.
Unfortunately, the borders will, for now remain closed to people in relationships who are
not married, including same-sex couples, and extended family members.
And as for tourism, I guess in theory we could say that ‘Tourism has restarted’ but I’d
add ‘with terms and conditions attached’
On Thursday, Prime Minister Kishida said that Japan will resume inbound tourism from June
10 for the first time in over two years, but only for those on escorted tours.
Additionally, only tour groups from Blue listed countries will be eligible for group tourism
but they will need to follow COVID-19 guidelines which are yet to be outlined by the government.
These will likely include mask-wearing in certain places and situations.
And it is likely that these tourists will also be required to stick to the tour’s
itinerary.
“Guides will make sure tourists comply with Japan’s mask-wearing guidance.
If they are violating the rules, the transport ministry will instruct (travel agencies) to
ensure the guidelines are being followed”
Kishida said in a meeting on Friday.
So, team.
Would you consider this as tourism restarted?
Would you consider Japan’s borders open for tourism?
It certainly feels like a grey area to me anyway.
I’m not too sure how I feel about joining a group tour with very little freedom unless
the itinerary is very special indeed.
Also its important to remember that the entry cap has been raised to 20,000 daily entries
including Japanese re-entry so it will certainly be interesting to see how many group tours
can actually make it in.
There are however many unanswered questions.
Are tour groups able to travel to all cities and prefectures?
or will they come under similar conditions to the test tours?
in which some destinations were blacklisted.
Wording in the MOFA website seems to suggest that travel agencies organizing the trip will
need to in a way sponsor these tourists.
Does this mean that only certain travel agencies will be included?
Will these travel agencies need to be based in Japan?
Team, it is unlikely that for now you will be able to stay on after a group tour has
ended, however, I am hopeful that restrictions will continue to ease and perhaps we will
hear some more positive news towards mid-June.
Maybe the abolition of the entry cap, more freedoms of tour groups in July.
Or even an official roadmap?
I can only see things getting better in the coming weeks, but I wouldn’t quite bet on
independent travel quite yet.
Could this come at some point later in July or August?
We can only hope, and I will continue to keep you updated.
There is still plenty of information that needs to come to light and I look forward
to informing you of continued positive news!
So.. thanks so much for sticking with me through this journey!
Stay positive team!
(but covid negative) Till next time, I’ll continue researching and keeping an eye on
all updates until the next video!
So.. till then, Arigatou, gracias, thanks bye!