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Latest Coronavirus News From Japan
Last updated 18 May 2022, 00:00 GMT
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced during a conference in London that Japan will be easing border restrictions in June, in line with other G7 countries (Kyodo News). What will this mean for tourists? The government is planning to make a decision on lifting the current restrictions on international tourism by May 20th (Nikkei Asia).
One piece of good news in the meantime is that the government is planning to conduct several small-scale group tours in late May, ahead of the June reopening. These carefully-monitored tours are test tours limited to industry professionals, and will provide a chance for the government to assess the impact of tourism and ensure adequate COVID measures are in place prior to the resumption of large-scale tourism (NHK World).
While Japan temporarily closed its border to new entries in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant, entry rules for Japanese citizens and residents were eased in April as case numbers continued to drop. The daily cap on entrants contines to be relaxed - the latest announcement is for up to 20,000 new arrivals daily beginning in June. (Kyodo News)
We expect more exciting developments in the coming weeks - keep checking back to this page for the latest updates as we receive them. You can find full details relating to travel to Japan on the official Japanese Travel website – Japan Travel.
April summary
Although Japan’s borders are still closed to tourists, the overall outlook is encouraging: the Japanese government in continually relaxing border restrictions. While the arrival of the Omicron variant has meant cases were very high over January and February, severe cases continue to be very low and there are signs the peak may have been passed (NHK World).
Meanwhile, vaccinations are full steam ahead with 80.67% of Japan's population fully vaccinated. Booster shots are rolling out at an ever-increasing rate, with the government announcing on April 11 that over 50% of the general population and 86.9% of the over-65s have received theirs (Kyodo News).
At the time of writing, Japan has recorded over 8.4 million positive cases of coronavirus during the course of the pandemic. (Covid19Japan).
While foreign travel to Japan is currently not permitted except for special circumstances, the success of Japan's vaccination program and planned loosening of border restrictions means that there is a genuine prospect that travel will be possible in the near future.
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Are Japanese people being vaccinated?
Yes! As of May 2022, well over two hundred million doses of covid-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide. Japan should be commended for this effort - this has resulted in one of the fastest vaccination rates in the world per capita. To date, over 80% of the population have been fully vaccinated (Our World in Data - COVID vaccinations).
All individuals over the age of 18 are eligible for a booster shot 6 months after their second dose, with priority going to medical workers. Currently, the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines have been approved for a booster (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). Boosters are currently being distributed, with over 50% of the general population and 86.9% of the elderly having received theirs (Japan Today).
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What are Japan's coronavirus restrictions?
Compared to the strict restrictions seen across many countries since the pandemic began in 2020, Japan has gotten by with minimal restrictions on day-to-day life. The Japanese constitution prevents the government from enforcing a lockdown, which would be considered an infringement on personal freedoms. Until February 2021, its only recourse was to declare a “state of emergency” in regions where cases were rising. This meant that restrictions on movement and working hours could be suggested, but not be enforced. New laws were passed in February 2021, allowing local governments the power to impose their own restrictions to localised areas. A "quasi-state of emergency" was declared in response to the Omicron variant, but as cases declined, the restrictions were completely lifted nation-wide.
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What is life like in Japan in 2022?
For the most part, day-to-day life in Japan has changed little during the pandemic — though this has varied from region to region. Tokyo, for instance, has seen the highest numbers and stricter guidelines, while rural preferences such as Iwate have seen almost no cases and very few restrictions.
As in most of the world, there have also been some small but noticeable changes to daily life. The majority of establishments now have dedicated entrances and exits with alcohol sanitisers, and most will also check your temperature as you enter. Local train operators operate with open windows and plastic sheets and dividers are commonplace at restaurants and cafés. It’s rare to see anybody without a mask, whether inside or outside.
Though shrines and temples have remained open throughout the pandemic, major tourist sites like the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Tokyo Skytree and Ghibli Museum have been noticeably quieter across the board. Restaurants have seen near-normal numbers of visitors (though with restrictions in certain areas, such as closing by 8pm and not serving alcohol). People are still commuting to work on public transport despite some efforts to normalise working from home, and businesses are generally operating normal hours.
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How is Japan doing compared to other countries in 2022?
Due to the huge number of variables, it is notoriously difficult to draw conclusions about different national responses to the pandemic. Different countries test, record and release data in different ways, and this can easily distort statistics — sometimes wildly. The bottom line is this: take everything you hear with a big pinch of salt.
With that said, here are the official statistics: Japan has seen over 2,225,000 cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, and over 18,000 people have died following a positive test result.
On their own, these numbers don’t really tell us very much. A better way to put it in perspective is to look at the daily cases and deaths per million.
Another useful comparison is to look at “excess deaths”, which means the number of deaths above what would have been expected under “normal” conditions. This can be more revealing than just looking at deaths from Covid-19, since it takes a more holistic view of the effects of the pandemic on mortality.
For example, The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine reported that during 2020 the UK had a cumulative excess mortality rate of 10.5% above the five-year average, while the USA recorded a 12.9% increase. By contrast, countries such as South Korea, Iceland, Denmark and Norway saw reductions in excess deaths of up to -4.3% over the same period. Though Japan was not included in this study, the Japan Times reported that it, too, saw a net decrease in excess deaths between January and August 2020 compared with the previous two years.
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Why has Japan fared well over the pandemic?
What is most striking from these above statistics are the all-round low numbers. Confirmed cases, deaths, active cases and numbers tested are still low in Japan compared with other hotspots around the world. So why is this?
Numerous theories have been provided so far. These range from the more reasonable — the sheer number of vaccinations administered (BBC News), early and effective communication to avoid closed, crowded spaces with close contact, and cultural norms of mask-wearing (Japan Times) — to the more far-fetched. For example, some have argued that Japanese is spoken more delicately than other languages and therefore speakers emit fewer spit particles! (Japan Times)
Whatever the reasons for Japan’s overall success, it seems that we can be cautiously optimistic. Something they’re doing is clearly working.
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