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Japan looking to accept foreign tourists again in June
The plan comes as Japan has begun to ease the border controls it introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The government may accept a limited number of group tours on a trial basis by the end of May, the source added.
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People walk at the Shibuya crossing in rainy Tokyo on February 13, 2022.
(AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)
J
apan is considering allowing some foreign tourists to enter the country again in June at the earliest, a government source said Friday.
The plan comes as Japan has begun to ease the border controls it introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The government may accept a limited number of group tours on a trial basis by the end of May, the source added.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during his visit to London on Thursday that Japan will review its COVID-19 measures "in stages" after consulting with public health experts, and bring them on par with other Group of Seven nations.
The government currently allows up to 10,000 people a day to enter Japan, but visitors are limited to businesspeople, technical interns and students.
It plans to raise the cap as well as the number of foreign tourists in stages in the months to come.
Japan imposed an entry ban on nonresident foreign nationals in late November to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, facing criticism at home and abroad that the measures were too strict.
Prior to the pandemic, Japan had been keen to boost tourism as a driver of economic growth, with a goal to welcome 40 million foreign visitors in 2020.
However, amid tighter COVID-19 travel restrictions, the number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2021 dropped to 245,900, the lowest since 1964 when comparable data became available.
