Hi!
I’m Nathan and welcome back to Ninja monkey.
The place for all things related to Japan,
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With Japan finally opening the borders to the rest of the world, well opening the borders
to strict guided tours anyway.
The question remains when will Japan reopen for those who want to travel independently?
In this video we will be looking at Japan’s plan to restart its domestic tourism product,
along with exploring who has actually managed to enter the country so far, and what could
an earlier than expected upper house of representative election actually mean for the future of tourism,
so watch all the way to the end so that you don’t miss a thing!
But first, I continue to believe that Japan’s booster program might be a part of the puzzle
when it comes to unlocking tourism for all.
So, let’s get straight to the nitty gritty as we always do, briefly looking at how Japan’s
booster program is doing and checking in on the situation in Tokyo and nationwide.
As from June 17th, 60.8% of the population has now received their third dose.
And 89.6% of those aged 65 years or older have now received their booster shots too.
In fact 64,255 (4th) Doses have also been administered that actually equals 0.1% of
the population.
Tokyo’s hospital occupancy now stands at 10.8% of standard covid beds in use, that’s
545 patients admitted into hospital in Tokyo.
Quite the reduction compared to the last update.
And, in terms of severe patients there are 8 reported in Tokyo, that’s only 1.9% of
the 420 beds set aside for severe patients in Tokyo.
This is also a big reduction compared to last week’s update.
And now that we have a clearer picture of the situation in Japan let’s have a look
at some important stories since the last update.
Team, Japan restarted allowing inbound “tourism” on the 10th of June.
People from certain Countries can finally visit Japan but with
the catch of ‘ being part of a package tour, However as noted by Japan’s foreign ministry
in a recent update:
“Currently, foreign nationals/people who are willing to enter Japan need a visa newly
issued by embassies or consulates or consular office of Japan,”
And for those interested in controlled tourism, where tourists are being asked to sit in groups
distanced from locals at restaurants and keep masks on while eating.
It’s likely that some Japanese embassies and consulates will have a backlog of applications
leading to the process taking longer than usual.
Visas will be required in advance and must be sponsored by a Japanese certified travel
agency.
And yes, independent travellers are still unable to enter the country.
Since the 10th of June, it has been reported that over 1,300 tourists have applied for
a visa to enter the country according to a government agency spokesperson.
Team, it certainly looks like Japan is seeing fewer visitors than expected one week after
the so called border reopening.
It’s been longer than two years since tourists could travel to
this beautiful country and it looks like very few have actually made it in.
Perhaps Japan’s reputation for uncertainty has not helped, and this might be something
that Japan must fix.
“Even right through June 10, we weren’t sure if there would be a last-minute change,”
said Andy Eastham, a spokesman at Wendy Wu Tours,
which says it’s the largest operator for tourists from the UK, Australia and New Zealand
to Japan.
“So from a commercial and product perspective, we couldn’t do anything
until we knew for sure that Japan was open again.”
At a news conference, Koichi Wada, who heads the Japan Tourism Agency, said that over
300 applications have been received for June and that around 1,000 applications were made
for July onward.
It is also interesting to note that the very first group tour arrived in Japan
on Wednesday, nearly a week after group tourism restarted, demonstrating just how slow the
roll out has actually been.
Wada went on to say that he expects entries to Japan to “rise slowly,” with most of
the arrivals coming from Southeast Asian countries,
South Korea and the United States.
The Japanese government continues to not give any clues indicating when it will begin
allowing individual travellers again.
It has simply repeatedly said that “appropriate decisions
will be made” on further relaxations based on factors including the infection situations
at home and abroad.
Team, if we break down that there have only been 300 guided tourism applications for the
month of June from the 90 plus countries in the blue list and 1000 for the month of July.
It’s easy to see that there certainly is a problem.
It’s hard to know for sure if the demand is there, tours are limited in numbers or
if the entry procedure is slowing things down but these numbers do not bode too well.
We must also remember that Japan also currently has a daily entry cap which could also be
a factor.
Actually, I had a special guest who is an industry insider on last Wednesday’s stream,
and it might be worth watching on replay as we discuss many of these issues and the insiders
perspective on group tourism and the procedures surrounding entry into Japan are certainly
interesting.
BREAK --
The now nearly forgotten Go to travel scheme looks like it is about to make a fresh rebranded
comeback in the month of July and could potentially be the stepping stone needed to get Japan’s
tourism industry ready for independent tourism for the masses.
Prime Minister Kishida said that the government will expand the region-specific tourism campaign
to cover all prefectures in Japan during the first half of July in order to help the economy.
In 2020 the original Go to Travel campaign was cancelled due to a rise in infections,
possibly as a result of the campaign itself, so it will certainly be interesting to see
what effect this new scheme has.
The campaign has been rebranded to — Kenminwari, which means “Discount for prefecture residents”.
“In the first half of July, once it’s proven that the infection situation has improved,
we will begin taking steps to stimulate the tourism demand throughout the country, providing
regional tourism with greater support,” Kishida said.
Team, it’s also important to note that Kishida said that the government needs to monitor
the eased border controls, keeping an eye on any potential risks concerning new variants
or other transmissible diseases such as the spread of monkeypox overseas.
The mention of monkeypox does make me a little nervous but I’m hopeful that things will
continue opening up with hopefully no additional delay.
Kishida’s announcement comes ahead of the Upper House election on July 10, with his
ruling LDP Party hoping to win the support of local businesses and the tourism industry
affected by the pandemic.
The government will allocate around ¥2 trillion to the plan.
The conditions for eligibility will vary by prefecture, but normally applicants must have
received three COVID-19 vaccine doses or produce a negative test result.
Team, I must actually admit that I had given up on the idea of the Go to campaign going
ahead and had optimistically hoped that the borders would have opened for all foreign
tourists by now, and that there would be no need for it.
However, I have in many previous updates mentioned my belief that this domestic campaign would
likely happen just before mass tourism returns.
It will help the tourism industry in Japan get itself ready for the influx of international
travellers.
With many hotels, stores, restaurants and other tourist based businesses struggling
and perhaps even closing down or downsizing their operations during the pandemic, this
push will help them get back on their feet and initially feel safe doing so.
The real question will be how long will this campaign go on for and could it co-exist with
international tourism?
What are your thoughts on this one team?
How long do you think this scheme will go on for and do you agree with me in regards
to this being a positive thing that will better prepare the industry for the return of international
travellers?
I look forward to reading your comments!
--
There is an election round the corner stated to happen on July 10th and Prime Minister
Kishida appears to be walking a cautious path when it comes to inbound tourism.
The cabinet’s approval rating has risen to 59% from 55% last month, according to a
poll by NHK conducted June 10 to 12.
When asked about the government’s moves of doubling the daily limit for inbound tourists,
47% of participants said the measures are appropriate, whilst 23% said it should further
ease restrictions and 20% answered the restrictions should not have been eased.
Rumours had always stated that these elections would happen later on in July (around the
27th) however, could this new earlier date in July mean a potential earlier reopening
for individual tourism sometime shortly after, maybe towards the end of July or the month
of August?
The country’s domestic and international business community continue to urge the government
to open up further, including “rapidly resuming” individual tourist travel and bringing Japan
in line with other G7 nations.
Japan’s largest business lobby continues to petition for further easing for tourism
and Prime Minister Kishida has to strike a balance.
Japan must convince the public to be a little less cautious themselves, Tokyo’s entertainment
district is still down almost 40% from 2019.
Japan’s restart of the newly branded go-to campaign will hopefully also help to shift
Japan’s public attitude and lead to making the country more accepting of international
tourists
What are your thoughts on this one?
Do you feel that having the elections done with will mean the reopening of individual
tourism?
Do you feel that the elections are even important in this area?
- I’d love to know what you think.
I for one think the sooner the elections happen the better.
Anyway team, Do you think this has been a positive update?
Let me know!
As always I look forward to reading thoughts and questions in the comment section and hopefully
seeing you in the chat section of a future live stream where we not only discuss Japan’s
border situation but also talk about Japan related topics too!
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also helps!
Anyway Team, thanks so much for sticking with me through this journey!
And if you’ve watched all the way to the end then thanks a million!
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!
How about checking out this livestream replay, or.... have you seen my travel tips?
Perhaps you have some to add to my list?