Japan To Allow International Tourists to Enter the Country from April 2021

With visa-holding,  foreign residents recently being allowed to return, Japan is now looking at how to open its border to international tourists.

The government is aiming to have a Corona countermeasure in place for tourists by January of next year. After preparation is completed, the government has tentatively said that tourists will be allowed in April 2021. 

The countermeasures will cover visitors from their arrival until their departure. Upon entering Japan, all tourists will be required to test for Covid-19. If the results are negative, tourists must submit a follow-up self-report 14 days later from a health management app. There will be no isolated quarantine. However, downloading the app will be a requirement for all incoming tourists, and it is necessary for obtaining a pre-departure certificate that proves they are coronavirus negative. 

Those that do test positive for Corona will be required to immediately take out private health insurance. 

In order to handle incoming visitors, a separate health care center is also planned to be constructed in order to ease the burden on the Japanese health care system. It will likely be placed in Tokyo as many incoming tourists will be related to the Olympics. As of now, the Olympics are slated to begin on July 23rd regardless of the pandemic situation.