The travel guides on Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto will again be useful. Japan indeed reopened its doors to foreign tourists on Tuesday, completely lifting the restrictions in place at its borders for nearly two and a half years to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Visitors from 68 countries and territories are once again granted visa exemption for tourist stays in Japan, if they can show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test taken less than three days before the start of the trip. departure.
Restrictions eased since June
The archipelago, which had welcomed a record number of 31.9 million foreign visitors in 2019, had abruptly locked its borders in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In 2021, less than 250,000 foreign visitors were able to set foot on Japanese soil. The Japanese government had opened the door to tourists since June, but only on organized tours. This device had been lightened at the beginning of September to authorize individual stays, but still via a travel agency.
New arrivals will however have to adapt to the still very strict sanitary habits in Japan, where the wearing of a mask is systematic in transport and shops, and observed by many, including outdoors. The Japanese government also approved a legislative amendment on Friday allowing hotels to refuse customers who refuse to wear a mask or respect health precautions.
To attract tourists and participate in the revival of its economy, Japan is also counting on the decline of the yen, which has lost 25% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year. Airline ticket prices can be a deterrent, however, inflated by soaring fuel prices, heavy airline losses since 2020 and the war in Ukraine that is forcing flights from Europe to bypass Russia.