The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Thursday that the pandemic had disrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation prosper. “But from October 11, Japan will relax its border control measures to be on par with the US, as well as resume visa-free travel and individual travel,” Kishida told the New York Stock Exchange. He is in town for the United Nations General Assembly. Japan, along with China, has continued to impose tough restrictions on visitors while much of the world has turned away from the pandemic. But unlike China, it never imposed a strict lockdown during the crisis. Tourists coming to Japan will benefit from the weak yen, which has fallen so low against the dollar that the finance ministry intervened in the foreign exchange market on Thursday for the first time since 1998. The return of the visa waiver program that was suspended in March 2020 will restore the ease of access that saw a record 31.9 million foreign visitors to the country in 2019. Since June, Japan has allowed tourists to visit in groups accompanied by tour guides, a requirement that has been further relaxed to include organized tours. The cautious approach to the reopening was intentional, said James Brady, head of Japan analysis at US-based consultancy Teneo. Kishida “took office a year ago knowing that the perceived mishandling of the pandemic was a key factor in undermining public confidence” in his predecessor’s administration, Brady said. “He was extremely careful not to repeat those mistakes.” Japan has recorded about 42,600 coronavirus deaths overall – a far lower rate than many other countries – and 90% of residents aged 65 and over have had three vaccinations. There is no law requiring people to wear masks, but they are still almost ubiquitous in public places such as trains and shops, with many Japanese willing to wear masks when sick even before the pandemic. While the return of mass tourism should provide a “slight bump” to Japan’s economy, the benefits are likely to be limited by China’s zero-Covid policy, Brady said. “Much of the economic benefit before the pandemic came from large numbers of Chinese visitors who came and spent a lot of money on technology products, cosmetics.” But “currently, Chinese citizens face their own travel restrictions at home and will not travel to Japan in large numbers,” Brady said. However, there is limited demand for travel to the country, according to Olivier Ponti, vice president of Insights for travel analytics firm ForwardKeys. “Searches for travel to Japan peaked this year at the end of August,” he said. And while flight bookings were just 16% of 2019 levels in early September, “we expect bookings to increase” when visa rules are lifted. Liz Ortiguera, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said that demand from Europe may still be subdued “due to the increase in the cost of living in Europe caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis plus rising fuel costs that increase the cost of air travel”. Meanwhile, Hong Kong announced on Friday it would end mandatory hotel quarantines, lifting some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions that have battered the economy and kept the financial hub internationally isolated. The long-awaited move will bring relief to residents and businesses who have been clamoring for the Asian business hub to rejoin the rest of the world to resume seamless travel and living alongside the coronavirus. For the past two and a half years, Hong Kong has adhered to a version of China’s strict zero-Covid rules, deepening the brain drain as competing business hubs reopen. The announcement leaves mainland China as the only major economy still requiring a lengthy quarantine for international arrivals. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the current three-day hotel quarantine will be reduced to zero for those arriving in Hong Kong from overseas and Taiwan. Travelers will undergo PCR tests on arrival and will not be able to visit restaurants and bars for the first three days under a system authorities have dubbed “0+3”. “Under this agreement, the hotel quarantine system will be cancelled,” Li told reporters.
