Japan will allow visa-free, independent travel and lift the daily entry limit starting October 11.
Japan announced on Thursday that it would lift the strict corona restrictions on foreign tourists and reopen the borders after two and a half years.
This is reported by the news agency AFP.
“Finally, Japan is opening the border again,” wrote the country’s digital minister Taro Kono on Twitter.
“Visa freedom is back, no daily limit and free individual visits.”
Japan will allow visa-free, independent travel and remove the daily entry restriction from October 11, the country’s prime minister said Fumio Kishida on Thursday at the UN General Assembly in New York, they say The Japan Times and Kyodo News.
“I want to support tourism, entertainment and other industries that have struggled during the coronavirus pandemic,” Kishida said.
The daily entry ceiling has been raised gradually over the past six months. Currently, the limit is 50,000 tourists per day.
Since June, Japan has allowed tourists to visit the country in groups accompanied by guides. In September, the country’s government also allowed the entry of tourists who had booked their flights and hotels through registered travel agencies.
Japan has been one of the few countries, along with China, to continue strict restrictions on travelers even after much of the rest of the world has lifted travel restrictions. However, in Japan, like China, there are no strict restrictions on movement.
The restoration of the visa waiver program, which was suspended in March 2020, will make it significantly easier for tourists to enter Japan. According to AFP, a record 31.9 million foreign tourists visited the country thanks to the program in 2019.
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