Japan Easing Up on Restrictions for International Travelers

As the situation with COVID-19 continues to change and develop, AllEars will be bringing you the latest relevant news that could affect a theme park visit.

Travel has been restricted in various countries around the world since the start of the global pandemic, but a lot of that has changed over the past several months.

COVID-19 health and safety signage in Disney World

The U.S. changed many of their restrictions, as did places like the U.K. Testing requirements have also changed for travel, like on cruise ships. But, there were still many countries who weren’t really letting people visit due to COVID-19 concerns. Now, one popular country is changing their travel restrictions.

Japan is about to restore visa-free travel, according to Bloomberg. Starting October 11th, 2022, Japan will abolish several of its COVID-19 border controls.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japan will reinstate visa waivers and individual visitors will be allowed to enter the country. There will also no longer be cap on daily arrivals.

The most recent wave of the pandemic is receding in Japan, and the country’s currency — the yen — is declining to its lowest levels against the dollar in almost 25 years. And, for the first time since 1998, Japan stepped in to prop up the yen.

Before the global pandemic, Japan allowed visitors from 68 countries and regions to come to the country for as long as 90 days without a visa. In 2019, Japan had almost 32 million visitors. In 2021, there were only about 246,000.

Face masks are more widely used in Japan, but there isn’t currently a legal requirement for people to wear them. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said recently that the government was considering a change to a law that would lets hotels turn away guests who refuse to comply with infection control measures.

So, it will soon be a lot easier to travel to Japan again. If you had a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort that you had to cancel over the past few years, now is your time to start planning again!