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There are 146 countries and territories right now that are under Japan’s entry ban list. Despite the new daily records of coronavirus contractions in major cities, the government has not backtracked on what it previously said to start reopening the economy. And just most recently, the government is opening its doors again to some people.
Since April, the only exception the government has given to foreign residents who are bound for Japan is for humanitarian reasons, such as the death of a family member. Now, it looks like the easing of travel restrictions to foreigners continue.
Japan Entry Ban Lifted for Foreign Residents
In other news, the Japanese government is finally opening its borders to foreign nationals for the first time since the travel restrictions started in April. But wait, there’s a catch. Only foreign residents who were locked out since the lockdown are allowed entry.
On August 5, Japan started opening its borders to foreign residents who flew out of the country before their country of origin was listed in Japan’s entry ban back in April. According to Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, there are about 200,000 foreign residents who have been stranded overseas. However, the re-entry is still limited, which means only about 90,000 will be eligible to return.
Japan Will Lift Travel Restrictions for Foreign Teachers
Minister Motegi also announced that teachers at international schools in Japan and their families will be allowed soon. On August 4, he said that they are only accepting first-time entries and re-entries of foreign national teachers. This exception given to teachers is essential to keep children’s rights to receive education intact. Since the lockdown, Japan has been struggling to find replacements for foreign national teachers.
When Will Japan Lift Travel Ban for Others?
Universities have been calling for exceptions for foreign students and researchers from its travel restrictions. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet as to when Japan will open its borders again for them.
At the moment, Japan has eased its entry ban to a few countries only, including Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. But only business travelers were allowed to come and go. The government has been saying that foreign students will be allowed next and tourists last.
The government has begun discussions with 12 countries and territories to ease travel restrictions, including China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Mongolia.
Japan has not lifted its travel restrictions for Europe and the United States, despite the countries opened its borders for travelers from Japan. The country has been very careful with opening its borders again as it does not have the full testing capacity as of now. Nevertheless, the government is targeting to increase its coronavirus tests at major airports from 6,000 tests to 10,000 tests per day.
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