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Latest Japan Travel Updates
Last updated 23 June 2022, 09:00 BST
Summary
After more than two years of being closed to leisure travellers, Japan's borders opened to tourists on 10th June in the form of escorted package tours. This does not mean just group tours. It is any trip escorted by a guide.
Currently, the daily cap on entrants to Japan has been raised to 20,000, and quarantine restrictions have been changed for a number of low-risk countries (among which are Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Britain and most of Europe).
The first step in the resumption of tourism were monitored tours (limited to travel industry professionals) that started on 24th May. These tours were test runs to allow the government to assess how best to resume wide-scale tourism. The next step was 10th June's controlled border reopening, with what industry stakeholders hope is a gradual easing of restrictions as time goes on, though there have been no official dates or details beyond the initial reopening in June. Keep checking back to this page for more details as we receive them.
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Who is currently allowed to travel to Japan?
From 10th June, tourists are allowed to travel in Japan as members of escorted package tours arranged by an authorised travel agency. As an InsideJapan Tours is an agency authorised by the Japanese government, this includes our own small group tours and any tailormade trip which is fully escorted by a guide.
Currently, entry to Japan is open to travellers from 98 'low risk' countries. The Japanese government has separated them into 'red', 'yellow' and 'blue' categories. 'Blue' countries (which include Australia, Britain, most of Europe, the US and Canada) do not need to quarantine or test on arrival.
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What is currently required to travel to Japan?
According to the latest update from the Japanese Government (published on 7th June), in order to enter Japan tourists must:
- Be on a pre-determined, fully escorted (from arrival to departure) package tour operated by an approved tour operator. Please note that "package tour" does not just mean "group tour". And by the way, if you want to visit, InsideJapan is an approved tour operator!
- Have stayed in Group Blue countries for 14 days prior to their arrival in Japan. You can see a list of blue countries here.
- Apply for the short-term stay “special exceptional circumstances” visa. (For more information on this step you can get in touch with us.)
- Have a negative Covid test within 72 hours of your departing flight. The test center should fill out this form as proof you have tested negative. It is important to note that only specific types of Covid tests are allowed for entering Japan.
- Have a travel insurance plan that covers covid-related medical expenses and disruptions.
- This is not a requirement, but we highly recommend downloading the MySoS app and uploading the required documents to it more than 2 days before departure. It enables use of Fast Track upon arrival to Japan.
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When will it be possible to go on holiday to Japan?
It is possible to visit now if your trip is booked through an authorised agency (such as InsideJapan Tours) and is fully escorted. It does not have to be a group tour but this is likely to be the easiest and most cost effective way to visit at the present time.
For independent travel, there is still no exact date for when tourists can travel into the country. However, there are informal talks that the Japanese government could raise the cap on international arrivals from 1st July from 20,000 to 30,000 and may even scrap it entirely! We are expecting more updates from the Japanese government in the next few days and weeks and expect self-guided packages booked through authorised agenices to be possible perhaps as soon as 1st July.
The Japanese government's recent announcement of guidelines for the resumption of escorted trips in June is very good news indeed, and a massive step towards a wider reopening of the borders.
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What shall I expect when I arrive in Japan?
As of 10th June, travellers must follow a number of etiquette guidelines established by the government. Among said guidelines, tourists are expected to wear masks, be accompanied by a tour leader "from entry to departure" and exercise infection prevention measures such as hand sanitising and temperature checks. The Japanese governement put together a nice set of graphics to illustrate this.
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Is domestic travel currently allowed?
There are currently no restrictions on domestic travel for Japan residents. For tourists, as far as we know there are no restrictions on domestic travel within the country beyond the guidelines specified by the government for the June 10th controlled reopening of the country, which revolve around avoiding crowded places rather than specific parts of Japan in addition to requirements such as being escorted by a guide throughout the trip. (This may be subject to change, so please check this page for any future updates.)
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What's this I heard about subsidised travel to Japan?
Sadly, this was a case of misreporting by an over-eager press! Though numerous news outlets did report that the Japanese government was thinking about subsidising foreign trips to Japan to give the economy a boost, this was never quite true. In reality, the government was only subsidising domestic travel, and even this has now been suspended.
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More information
To learn more about how InsideJapan is preparing for when travel resumes, head to our Travel with Confidence page.
We have summarised the current government advisories of various countries below. To find out more, click on each header to visit the website for your location.
No quarantine, testing or locator forms are required for entrants to the UK, regardless of vaccination status.
U.S. Department of State - Travel.State.Gov
Japan is currently on Level 4: Do Not Travel, which essentially means that US citizens should not to travel to Japan unless it is necessary.
Australian Government - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has currently rated Japan's travel advisory as Level Three, "Exercise a High Degree of Caution". Depending on which Australian state you are travelling from, fully-vaccinated returnees will no longer need to commit to any form of quarantine and simply have to return a negative PCR test within 24hrs of their arrival back into Australia (currently applicable to travel in and out of Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory). Please note that some states will still require you to undergo either hotel or home quarantine on return regardless of vaccination status.
Government of Canada - Official Global Travel Advisories - Japan
The Canadian Government allows fully-vaccinated travellers to travel freely and avoid quarantine on return. Japan's risk level has been revised to "Exercise Normal Security Precautions" and vaccinated returnees to Canada will simply have to provide evidence of a negative PCR test within 72hrs and submit travel plans to ArriveCAN prior to their arrival. Please note that you may still be subject to random medical screenings on return to Canada.
To find out more about how specific airlines are operating their flights and their terms and conditions, visit the pages below:
British Airways - COVID-19 Travel and Service Updates
United - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates
Qantas - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Travel Updates
American Airlines - Travel Updates
Delta Air Lines - Coronavirus Updates
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Latest Coronavirus News From Japan
Find out more about coronavirus related news in Japan and hear from our Insiders on the ground.
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