Japan eases border restrictions, but it’s not enough to save the ski season

As Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio addressed the media late on Thursday evening to announce an update on border restrictions, optimists might have been hoping for some news that would give tourists a green light to visit Japan during the back half of the ski season. But it was not to be.

Kishida has predictably played it safe by introducing a phased approach to Japan’s reopening, with foreign students and business visitors the first groups to be allowed back into the country, beginning in March.

“It is just the first step. I will continue considering how much we can ease measures” on border restrictions, he said.

Tourism operators will be waiting with bated breath for the next phase of the opening, however the announcement likely spells an end to the hope of seeing foreign tourists on the ski slopes before the season concludes – typically from late March to early May, depending on the resort.

In more positive news, the quarantine period for international travellers will be reduced from seven days to three for those who have received their booster shot. Visitors coming from countries where case numbers are under control may not need to quarantine at all.

It’s been yet another frustrating season for international skiers and Japan-based business operators. There were pre-season hopes that tourists would be allowed into the country for the ski season, before a global wave of Omicron cases prompted Japan to abort all plans to reopen and enforce some of the strictest border protection measures in the world.

To make matters worse for those looking on from abroad, the conditions in most resorts across the country have been some of the best in memory. Lotte Arai resort in Japan’s Niigata prefecture has recorded almost 18 metres of cumulative snowfall to date. In a recent interview with Ski Asia, Hakuba business owner Nick Kowal noted that the snow this season had been “non-stop”, remarking that “this year, every week is the week you should be here.”