Japan's opening to tourism, is it just an illusion?
It is reported that 252 tourists entered Japan in June 2022
Japan
A disaster perhaps foretold, as we said a few articles ago, for the Japan and for its evidence of openness to tourism. If one can speak of "openness," given the stringent requirements and demands of the Japanese government.
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In short, we are witnessing a not-so-happy time for the nation of the Rising Sun following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A dark time, therefore, for tourism as well, which it is apparent they do not really want to revive, as communicated at the end of June.
In fact, there is no new news regarding the possible entry of solo tourists and no group tours.
A mode of entry into Japan that is currently unconvincing
The mode of entry by small groups, controlled by a guide present h24, caused quite a lot of discontent. This, both for Japan enthusiasts who were planning to return just like us, and for those who would like to visit the country in serenity for the first time.
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So although there has been a cautious loosening for small groups accompanied by tour operators and agencies, there is no big news for other forms of international tourism.
In addition, there is also a visa to be applied for, prior to departure (whereas until 2020 one received a tourist visa directly upon entering the country, which gave the opportunity to stay for up to 90 days).
To stay informed about the rules of the day before planning a trip to Japan, always consult the Travel Safe. Usually, it seems to be the agency you rely on that takes care of it, along with all the translated vaccination certificates. (In fact, remember that the 3 vaccinations against Covid-19 are required to enter the country.)
NB: You can enter Japan instead on a normal study or work visa. This means that. if you are planning to study Japanese or have found a work sponsor in Japan, you can still enter the country.
If you want to travel for business and thus for personal working business, there is no problem. You will be able to do so in a relaxed manner, as long as there is documentation to prove your condition.
Let's take a detailed look at how the tourist entry situation in Japan is evolving through the tour operator and authorized agencies.
How many entries have there been in Japan since June 2022?
The boom in inquiries for interested agencies and tour operators was expected, but this was not quite the case: 252 tourists are reported to have entered on group visas, a number that official sources expected to be much larger, despite the kind of trip proposed.
It must be remembered, however, that in order to participate in group tours in July or for the following months, there were as many as 15,000 applications
The outlook for the future of tourism in Japan, continuing with these tour-like measures typical of nations that have a dictatorship (such as North Korea), is certainly not the best.
There is talk of a Estimated loss to the tourism sector around 85% compared with previous years. The year with which the comparison is made is 2019, when international tourism reached its peak with so many entries.
Japan projected that tourism by 2030, would skyrocket with high peaks of up to 60 million. Considerations also inferred from the increase from 2009 to 2019 of tourism in the country, which tripled in a decade.
However, what we can understand from statistics provided by Nikkei Asia is that travelers for the most part come from China, which is responsible for 1/3 of Japanese tourism.
Why is Japan not really interested in reopening to tourism?
Japan is not a country with a strong interest in tourism, as it has no such tradition, like many of the European nations for example. Tourism in Japan is actually very recent, precisely because for many centuries it was closed to foreigners.
The Japanese, moreover, think that tourists are only interested in the cities that are considered to be top cities and do not go beyond them. Of course, we can say that this is very unfair reasoning, as it is normal that when visiting Japan, one first wants to discover the most popular places. Especially when one has little funds or trivially few days to spare.
We think that the idea of tourism is a bit to be revised, especially for the Japanese government. If we were to look for and hypothesize reasons why Japan has not yet reopened like other nations of the world, we might perhaps give credence to the rumors about the pandemic terrorizing the Japanese the most.
Does Japan's failure to open up to tourists depend on Covid-19?
Well, the numbers are growing in the country but this is due to the many young people not yet vaccinated. Therefore, it is not at all dependent on tourism, as one might imagine, given the very few admissions.
However, we must remember that the Japanese were already allowed to move out of the country for tourism and thus were able, as some Tiktokers attest, to travel freely around Europe. Upon return, however, they have to go through quarantine.
This is quite unfair from a tourism point of view, but it is undoubtedly proof that Japan remains a country that is very closed to international entry.
So the trial of opening to groups of tourists for small tours and a few days, has definitely not worked. Although we can say that even from Italy, the first groups of people are starting to leave.
In fact, we know that Japan welcomed the first Italians last July 19 with the program proposed by Mistral Tour - Quality Group. The latter allowed 11 Italians from different regions to travel to Japan. The tour includes mandatory stops for those who have never visited Japan such as Kyoto.
Concluding
We can say that certainly the issue of restarting international tourism to Japan through small groups with h24 guide certainly did not work.
In spite of this, we want to be hopeful for the future, hoping for a reopening as indeed all other countries apart from China have done. In any case, there are ways to visit countries perhaps unknown to most, such as the Malaysia, saving a great deal of money. Read our article about it!
