Hi!
I’m Nathan and welcome back to Ninja monkey.
The place for all things related to Japan, where I help you stay updated with current
affairs regarding entry and put together videos to help YOU plan potential future trips.
I do the research so that you don’t have to, and put all the readily available information
into one place.
So don’t miss any future updates by making sure you Subscribe and hit the like button
too.
Team, please excuse the fact that there wasn’t an update last week but I was in London and
mostly away from social media but there is actually A LOT to report on regarding indicators
and news segments pointing towards Japan’s eventual reopening for tourism..
This could be a BIG one including some HUGE news indicating potential positive changes
coming in June!
So, make sure you watch the whole video so that you get the whole picture!
Anyway Let’s quickly start off by briefly diving into the vaccination drive, specifically
looking at booster shots.
As from the 6th May 53.6% of the population has now received their third dose finally
breaking the 50% mark.
And very promisingly and most importantly 87.7% of those aged 65 years or older have
now received the booster shot too.
Also Tokyo’s hospitals stand at 16.2% of standard covid beds in use, that’s 1,168
patients admitted into hospital in Tokyo.
And, in terms of severe patients there are 8, meaning, only 1.6% of the 510 beds set
aside for severe patients in Tokyo are in use.
Team, Once again in terms of the situation in Japan everything is looking very promising,
the fact that the government has many times been quoted as saying that they will be keeping
an eye on the situation at home and abroad and cases are actually on the decline in Japan’s
main cities and actually nationwide is very promising.
As golden week comes to a close, I believe the next two weeks will be crucial.
Golden week has seen people in Japan enjoying their first spring holidays in three years
with no restrictions in place and as a result popular tourist spots have come back to life,
An example being "Dogo Onsen " a popular Onsen hot spring where visitors had to wait around
6 hours to enter!
By the way check out my trip to Dogo Onsen if you’re interested in seeing what I thought
of the area!
Domestic travellers have also crowded train stations and airports across Japan during
this time, as departure flights of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways were almost fully booked,
according to the airlines.
It’s also promising to know that at the airport, all four security checkpoints of
Terminal 2 were open for the first time in about two years.
And According to JR, reservations for shinkansen bullet trains increased by 56 to 284 percent
in the period compared to a year ago.
So, it will certainly be interesting to see what sort of effect this sort of mass mixing
will have in terms of Covid in the next few weeks, in essence I see it sort of like a
trial run for what would happen if tourism restarts and as we will see later on in the
video, I believe the Japanese government is very much focused on this too.
A quick side note Team, have you watched my latest video?
“12 ESSENTIAL JAPAN PLANNING TIPS for the PERFECT trip”?
It’s actually the first in a series that will help you plan and navigate through Japan
with confidence and ease and it would mean a lot if you showed it some love too!
or maybe even share with someone who’s planning a trip to Japan .. anyway, let’s get straight
into the nitty-gritty.
In the last few days there have been several tourism-based stories or articles that could
give an indicator regarding what’s happening in this area.
From Discussions starting shortly to review Japan’s response to the Pandemic with a
report expected as early as June, to pressure mounting by some members of a government panel
calling for Japan to normalize its travel controls for foreign nationals as soon as
possible and the "Tourism Nation Promotion Council", with the top 100 tourism-related
organizations attending, also pressurising the government to resume international traffic
and remove the daily limit and even testing on arrival.
And only in the last 48 hours even bigger announcements or articles regarding easing
of border restrictions have come to light
And I do wonder if it is this pressure that has indeed, pushed for the potential change
we have all been waiting for, or perhaps the fact that the Japanese economy needs strengthening
is part of the reason for any sort of loosening of measures.
What do you think team?
Anyway, Out of all places, it all started in London, where Prime minister Kishida delivered
a speech to the City of London, calling for investment in Japan.
Saying in part of his speech:
“At the end of last year, Japan strengthened its border control measures in response to
the global spread of the Omicron variant.
It was an essential public-health step to delay the variant's entry into the country.
This allowed us to fortify our healthcare system and promote vaccinations.
I hope it is not too boastful to say that Japan's response to COVID-19 has been one
of the most successful in the world.
We have now eased border control measures significantly, with the next easing taking
place in June, when Japan will introduce a smoother entry process similar to that of
other G7 members”.
Team, we must be cautious with these words, as initially there is no mention of tourism,
and I would guess that when referring to smoother entry process this might mean the removal
of the entry cap or at least doubling it, and perhaps a relaxation of testing for those
with entry visas but we will have to wait and see.
This scenario isn’t necessarily a bad one, as it would give airports, hotels and other
tourism-based industries time to adjust for the eventual reopening of mass tourism.
What are your thoughts on the prime ministers’ words?
how would you interpret them?
Although no mention of tourism from Prime minister Kishida himself, there has since
been plenty of articles mentioning the potential restart of tourism, as early as THIS MONTH!
but... perhaps in very Japanese slow and restricted manor to begin with as we will discuss.
Fuji News Network reported on Friday that Japan is set to experiment with opening its
borders to small groups of vaccinated foreign tourists.
Stating that those visiting the country must have three vaccination shots and be part of
a package tour with a fixed itinerary.
This limited restart of inbound tourism will be treated as an experiment and, if infections
do not spread, the program will then be expanded.
Additionally, there is also mention that an announcement on accepting overseas tourists
as from June might be made at the end of this month, with the Nikkei newspaper, citing unnamed
sources.
Team, from my experience these sorts of reports usually become true, especially when Nikkei
and The Japan times are reporting.
This is great news and although it could initially only be open for package tours, it’s important
to note that according to reports, this could start this month!
And the sooner this gets underway the quicker a full reopening will come!
As for June it is still unknown in what capacity tourists will be able to enter the country.
Team, are you interested in entering Japan in a packaged tour this month? is this something
that you would be happy to do as long as you can enter the country?
I’m becoming more confident that tourism will reopen for all, or at least those vaccinated
before the end of the year, and I am hopeful for some sort of bigger relaxation in the
summer, perhaps coming in July?
Obviously, we will have to wait and see, but now that these news stories have come to light,
I wonder if you think Japan will reopen in the summer, after the elections or sometime
after September?
have you changed your mind?
I’d love to know your thoughts on this one!
It is important to note however, that Kishida added a note of caution, telling reporters
he needed to look at the state of infections after the Golden Week holiday period, so I
would suggest we closely keep an eye on some sort of announcement around the 20th of May
and case numbers are certainly something I will closely be monitoring until then.
Anyway team, the fact that there is tourism chatter, articles highlighting the return
of tourists, pressure mounting, and the yen is weak points to hopefully some very promising
news coming soon!
So, make sure you’re notifications are turned on and if you are not part of the discord
group then check it out to keep updated and connect with a group of likeminded people
too!
Also team, if you really find value in my content and wish to support me financially,
all proceeds go back into the channel so that I can create better content!
Patreon is a great way to support and even get early access to my videos depending on
the membership level!
There is also a PayPal link for a one-off donation if that’s something you are interested
in, and if not, hitting that like button will also show your appreciation!
So.. that’s all for now,
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!