Japan considers opening border to foreign tours groups by the end of the year.
Japan has reopened its border to business people, students and technical trainees, with changes coming into effect on Monday. These include a reduction of the quarantine period from 10 days to three, subject to certain conditions being met. The country remains effectively closed to tourists, though it is considering allowing foreign tour groups by the end of the year.
Japan’s coronavirus cases have fallen dramatically since the peak of its third wave in August, with case numbers now at their lowest since July 2020. Its success in battling the Delta strain has been largely attributed to the rise in vaccination levels, with more than 70% of its population fully vaccinated, as well as the widespread use of masks in public.
Travellers with an eye on the ski season will be hopeful that efforts to relax restrictions and open up the country continue, however there are signs that Japan’s re-opening will be gradual and calculated.
On Tuesday, The Japan Times shed light on the many hurdles business travellers now face in attempting to have their quarantine period reduced to three days, noting that “the easing of travel rules may not be as good as it sounds” and that “companies need to jump through a considerable number of hoops to be eligible for a shortened quarantine period”.
These include a detailed travel plan for days 4–10, three COVID-19 tests within the first ten days of arrival and a company report at the conclusion of the trip, detailing whether employees followed the rules or tested positive to COVID-19. In addition, business travellers are only permitted to use public transport if they have reserved seats (precluding them from using many of the local rail and bus services).
So while it’s tempting to look optimistically at the announcement from Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara that Japan is to consider a possibility of allowing foreign tour groups by the end of the year, it’s also relevant to consider what group travel might actually look like, especially considering the onerous requirements for business travel noted above.
Kihara’s announcement included an admission that the government would be looking at ways to control and monitor activities of tour groups before making any changes, so the likelihood of travel resembling anything pre-pandemic appears low, at least for now.
And with time running out before the start of the ski season, it may be that foreign travellers simply decide that it’s all too hard, and instead look to finalise their ski holiday in one of the countries making it easier for tourists.
What do you think? Are you still holding out hope for a ski holiday in Japan this winter? Let us know in the comments below.
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November 10, 2021
I’ve still got my Fingers crossed ?
November 11, 2021
Winter holiday in Japan seems really optimistic. I have ordered a spring vacation and I even feel that I am being optimistic. I ordered my trip in August and nothing has really changed from Japans site in 3 months – spring is 4 months away. Only few people are allowed to enter with insane restrictions. They really have to hurry up but they are very slow so I actually dont expect that I can go to Japan in the spring. Its more a hope. Thats why I made sure that I can reschedule my trip. They are so afraid of the epidemic that I am sure the borders will be shut as soon as they notice that foreigners are bringing corona to the country, which can not be helped. That stuff is here to be and the Oceanic region has a really hard time accepting that. Its hard to grasp their strategy cus vaccinated people get corona aswell so are they just gonna live like closed countries forever?
November 11, 2021
People will go other places to ski … seems obvious ! And quite frankly, once you experience European skiing, Japan’s offering is average at best.
November 11, 2021
Tour groups should be permanently banned from ski resorts.
Fat gaijins disregard for culture and the he effort others go to find japow.
November 11, 2021
Super frustrating, was supposed to be working over there and thought the announcement about business travel was good news but the company have decided that because processing times for the extra paper work are already at 3-5 weeks they can only apply for it for return hires, which will be about 30% of the intended workers. Hopefully they’ll face enough backlash from enough businesses that they’ll change these processes, because what is the point of reducing quarantine if you have to wait over a month to get approved? May as well quarantine for two weeks, it’d be faster and easier.
But, it’s Japan. It’s unlikely they’ll change.
November 19, 2021
We’ve made a booking for Hokkaido but we’re not that optimistic. May have to go to Canada instead.