Japan is set to double its daily entry cap on overseas arrivals from 10,000 to 20,000 people in June, Kyodo News reports. The news follows Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s recent pledge to further ease Japan's border restrictions starting next month in line with other G7 countries.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Japan has imposed a ban on non-resident foreign nationals. However, rules were relaxed in March to accept business travellers, technical interns and foreign students. The country remains off-limits to tourists.
There is hope on the horizon, however, with reports that Japan will begin accepting vaccinated tourists who have received a Covid-19 booster on a trial basis as early as this month. According to Bloomberg, the country will first reopen to small tour groups with fixed itineraries before resuming general tourism.
Nikkei reports that Japan will make a final decision on lifting the ban on tourist visas within the next two weeks, after the government reviews the number of Covid-19 cases that arose during the Golden Week holidays.
For more information, see our breakdown of Japan's current border rules.
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