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.
My aim is to put all the readily available information into one easy to follow video,
so that you can make informed decisions leading to answering the question “When will Japan’s
border open?” 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 the reason for the extended state of emergency,
I’ll continue to give you an easy-to-follow recap of how the vaccination program is progressing.
Explore updates to the vaccine passport and detail what could potentially be an accurate
road map for Japan reopening for mainly business travel but also other types of travel too.
So make sure you check that out! Along with other fun and travel related stories will
also try to make sense of some viewer comments too! s
So, lets do this!
Tokyo which is already in a state of emergency has seen an increase in cases and as a result
Japan has expanded the state of emergency in Tokyo until the end of August, also adding
three additional prefectures to the list.
A government panel approved the plan to put Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, as well as Osaka,
under the state of emergency, Starting on Monday. Five other areas, including Hokkaido,
Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka, will be placed under less strict Quasy emergency type restrictions.
So, what exactly has caused this extension of state of emergency, which will run throughout
the whole of the Tokyo Olympics games and mean the Paralympics starting under them too?
Well, The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 3,300 infections on July 30th, this is the
third day in a row the 3,000 case mark has been topped. In fact, 3,865 cases were reported
on July 29th making it worryingly close to the 4000 mark on this day. This is quite an
increase if we just look at last week’s numbers, when cases were just about hitting
the 2000 positives a day mark. Nationwide numbers have also nearly doubled since last
week too!
I’ve presented on screen a few more stats for you, including nation wide cases, Tokyo’s
rising 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.
Interestingly, Olympics organisers have today reported 21 new Games-related cases.
No athletes made up the latest cases. Therefore, The latest daily coronavirus infections have
brought the total Games-linked number since July 1st to 241.
-- As we continue to see the Vaccination drive
accelerate, lets look at how it is progressing.
As of the 30th July, there have now been a total of 84,009,438
vaccinations administered. That’s actually 10,038,550 more than last week and includes
first and second doses.
So let’s break down this figure, to fully understand where these doses are actually
going:
48,862,145 Make up people who have only had one dose and 35,147,293 make up those who
have received both jabs and would therefore be fully inoculated.
That means that out of the population of around 126 million people: 38.4% have now received
one dose of the vaccine and 27.6% are fully inoculated with both doses.
In actual fact, out of those stats, 73.1% of the elderly are inoculated with both doses!
Just for your information
In additional vaccine news,
Also this week, Japan’s health ministry approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine for use in
adults above the age of 40, following the United Kingdom which previously did the same
with people under the age of 40 being given an alternative to the AstraZeneca shot, which
was developed by the University of Oxford and the British-Swedish firm.
Additionally, The health ministry panel also approved the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine
for children age 12 to 17, easing the current restriction of 18 years old and above.
I continue to believe that as a prospective traveller into Japan it is important to keep
an eye on both case numbers and the vaccine drive, as I do think that if a good balance
is achieved things will hopefully start opening up. Staying up to date with these figures
along with keeping an eye on official reports will help you make informed decisions for
any future travel plans.
So, lets dive into travel related news and information that’s come to light.
Firstly, JATA ( the Japan Association of Travel Agents ) continue to put pressure on the government
for some form of reopening. I’ll be looking specifically at business track for now but
this should also give clues to others wanting to enter too.
In an article published a few days ago, JATA published a framework with a timeline of when
they would want or hope things to start reopening. Looking at the article I believe that this
framework is directly linked with the number of vaccines administered and the percentage
of the population inoculated. The top of the info graph shows the months in which they
hope certain things will take place, making the basis of their predictions.
Please bear in mind that this is not official government information, however JATA are quite
a powerful group with information and access to a lot of data, experience and research,
which helps it be a good pressure group.
I’ve tried my best to present the most relevant information in English for your convenience
so feel free to pause the video if you need to.
The document explains what we already know, that
"The national border measures are a big barrier to the resumption of international traffic”
– (Google translate)
To summarise, the document says that with 14 days of quarantine after returning to Japan,
and for planned trips, No recovery can be expected. And gives an example of a 3 day
quarantine instead.
Looking further at the road map, We can see that the vaccination progress is more or less
on track for 50% of the population to be vaccinated by the end of September and 80% or more , on
course for November / December, with herd immunity coming sometime in December. This
is quite realistic if the current vaccine drive continues at this current rate.
According to the JATA roadmap their recommendation or prediction is for business track to start
anytime around or between September and November with planned reductions in quarantine and
increase in foreign entry numbers coming shortly after.
I’ve tried my best to present the most relevant information in English for your convenience
so feel free to pause the video if you need to.
The document also shows opening of travel using a digital health path, this would actually
come into effect towards the end of the year with small tour groups.
So, remembering that this information is not official, but hopeful nonetheless for what
could be a good timeline for mainly business track travellers but also tourists and maybe
even students. (but I’m still hopeful that students will be able to enter sooner) How
do you feel about this timeframe? Do you think a 3 day quarantine and freedom of movement
after a further negative test would be acceptable?
I’d love to know your thoughts in the comment section, so lets get a conversation started!
--
Continuing with more interesting info or news,
In what could become a blueprint for other countries,
Singapore is aiming for a feat no country has achieved so far: reopen to the world and
emerge from the pandemic with a death toll still in the double digits. In a plan laid
out by officials this week, Singapore is eyeing the resumption of some international travel
by September.
To do that, it is trying to reach reach a vaccination level of 80% with the government
saying this will put Singapore in a position where it can live alongside the virus.
Taking into account that Japan is hoping to reach the same 80% immunisation by November,
this is certainly a very interesting space to look at.
To keep you briefly updated on the progress of the Japanese Vaccine passport:
Japan has started accepting applications for its version of the vaccine passport, for people
who have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 to travel internationally.
According to the Japanese government, Italy, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria and Poland have
agreed to ease Covid-19 quarantine rules for the holders of the Japanese certificates,
and South Korea will accept them as one of the documents required to exempt holders from
quarantine requirements.
However, the Japanese government is currently negotiating with other countries to expand
the use of its vaccine passports with some countries such as France currently refusing
if there is no similar deal for French citizens.
Last week I mentioned that France now requires vaccine certification or negative test for
most tourist hotspots including museums and cinemas. And Just day’s after Italy has
followed suite by launching a similar scheme by expanding the digital COVID-19 certificate
so that it's required for access to cultural, wellness and entertainment venues in the country.
already, if you are Australian and want to travel on Qantas airways, Vaccination will
be compulsory for all stepping onto most international Qantas flights when those flights resume.
Therefore this is an area that I will certainly keep you updated on and keep an eye on.
And in todays last story, and perhaps looking into the future but making a fun topic to
talk about as if it becomes a reality it might potentially become another reason or thing
that tourists might want to see.
The flying car, once the stuff of science fiction movies, is becoming more and more
of a reality. The Japanese government has set a goal of realizing a flight with passengers
on board by 2025, and venture companies are leading the development of the vehicles. Major
automakers are also eyeing the huge related market.
Currently flight time limited Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive, talks about the path to practical
use, saying,
"We will start with flights to and from specific points and gradually expand the range of flight”
The Osaka Kansai Expo in 2025 is targeted as an intermediate goal for the spread of
the technology. The Japanese government has a plan to use flying cars as a means of transportation
between Kansai International Airport and the Expo site, which is nearly 30 kilometers away.
Cool huh! What are your thoughts on this? Would you want to fly in one of these so called
flying cars? I know that I certainly would!
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 Sk ajimul Rahaman says: ‘How about indian new visa entry’
Firstly thank you so much for your comment and question, I really appreaciate everyone
who takes the time to write even if its to say hello!
I wanted to tackle this question because like your’s I receive many similar questions.
And unfortunately I am unable to answer them or feel that I can or should because nothing
has changed in regards to any country being able to enter Japan let alone India.
I understand how frustrating it is for everyone wanting to enter, however now that the state
of emergency has been extended until the end of August it is unlikely for any major changes
to come into effect until at least September.
The road map by JATA that I feature in this video will hopefully guide you to make an
educated guess as to when things might change. However I will as always keep an eye on the
situation for all visitors and update accordingly.
I hope this makes sense and you understand.
So, 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!