As World Closes Borders to Stop Omicron, Japan Presents A Cautionary Story


TOKYO – With the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus late last week, countries around the world rushed to close their borders to travelers from South Africa, even with no scientific knowledge about whether such measures are necessary or likely to be effective. to stop the spread of the virus.

Japan has gone further than most other countries so far, announcing on Monday that the world’s third-largest economy will be closed to travelers from all over.

It is a familiar tactic for Japan. The country has banned tourists since the beginning of the pandemic, even as most of the rest of the world is starting to travel again. And there was only temporarily opened to business travelers and students this month, despite the registration highest vaccination rate among the world’s largest wealthy democracies and its coronavirus caseloads drop It has increased 99 percent since August.

Now, with the doors slamming again, Japan offers a serious case study of the human and economic cost of these closed borders. During the months of Japan’s isolation, thousands of life plans were put on hold, and couples, students, academic researchers and workers were left in limbo.

Ayano Hirose has not seen his fiancee for the past 19 months since he left Japan for his homeland of Indonesia, just two weeks after his parents blessed their marriage plans.

As Japan remains closed to most foreigners, Ms. Hirose and her fiancee Dery Nanda Prayoga did not see a clear path to reunion. Indonesia had begun to allow some visitors, but the logistical difficulties were overwhelming. Thus, the couple was content with multiple daily video calls. When they’ve run out of things to talk about, they play pool on Facebook Messenger or watch Japanese variety shows online together.

“We don’t want to suffer at the thought that we won’t be able to meet again in the near future,” said 21-year-old Hirose, who wrote to the foreign and justice ministries. Dery will come to Japan. That’s why we’re going to think positively and keep our hopes up,” he said.

aspect United States of America, Britain and most Europe Japan and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which reopened to vaccinated travelers in the summer and fall, have only opened their borders by a crack, even after achieving some of the world’s highest vaccination rates. Now, with the emergence of the Omicron variant, it is rapidly gaining strength again, along with Japan, Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea.

China, which has banned international tourists since the beginning of the epidemic, continues to issue visas for business or diplomatic purposes so far, although limited flight options and long quarantines have deterred travelers. Taiwan has banned nearly all non-residents from entering since the start of the pandemic. Australia, which has only just begun allowing citizens and visa holders to travel abroad, said on Monday it will delay the relaxation of border restrictions. Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand have banned all travelers from South Africa, where the variant was first reported.

While the true threat of the new variant is not yet clear, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Monday that it has decided to cancel the relaxations for business travelers and international students “to avoid the worst-case scenario”.

The government’s decision to reclose reflects its desire to preserve its successes in the fight against the virus and to avoid the kind of pressure it experienced over the summer on the health system. The outbreak of the delta variant.

Japan records just 150 coronavirus cases per dayand before the emergence of the Omicron variant, business leaders were calling for a more aggressive reopening.

“At the start of the pandemic, Japan did what most countries in the world do – we thought we needed proper border controls,” Yoshihisa Masaki, communications director for Keidanren, Japan’s largest business lobby group, said in an interview earlier this month.

But as cases dwindle, he said continued tight border restrictions threaten to stifle economic progress. “It will be like Japan falling behind in the Edo Period,” Masaki said, referring to Japan’s isolationist period between the 17th and mid-19th centuries.

Japan has long outstripped countries in Southeast Asia, where economies depend on tourism revenues and governments tiptoe to reopen. Thailand It has recently reopened to tourists from 63 countries, and Cambodia has just begun to welcome vaccinated visitors with minimal restrictions. Another countrieslike malaysia, vietnam IndonesiaThey allowed tourists from certain countries to come to restricted areas.

Richer Asian countries like Japan have resisted pressure to reopen. Japan has been cautious throughout the pandemic, except for its decision to hold the Summer Olympics. It was early to close its borders and close schools. information technology he vaccinated only after the campaign ran its own clinical trials. And in many provinces, eating and drinking hours were limited. until september.

Attorney Michael Mroczek, chairman of the European Business Council in Tokyo, said foreign companies cannot replace managers or other employees who move into the home or other international assignment.

Business travelers or new employees should be allowed entry, provided they follow strict testing and quarantine measures, the council said on Monday.

“Japan’s success on the vaccine front must be trusted,” the council said. “And Japan and its people are now in a position to reap the economic rewards.”

Business leaders said they want science to guide future decisions. “We who live and work in Japan appreciate that the government’s policies so far have significantly limited the impact of the pandemic here,” said Christopher LaFleur, former US ambassador to Malaysia and special adviser to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

However, he said, “I think we really need to look at science in the coming days” to see if a complete closure of the border is justified.

Students were also dragged into uncertainty. An estimated 140,000 or more have been accepted into universities or language schools in Japan and have been waiting for months to enter the country to begin training courses.

Carla Dittmer, 19, was hoping to move to Japan from the town of Hanstedt, south of Hamburg, Germany, to learn Japanese over the summer. Instead, she wakes up at 1 a.m. every morning to attend an online language class in Tokyo.

“Sometimes I feel anxious and frankly helpless because I have no idea when I can enter Japan and whether I can continue my education,” said Ms. Dittmer. I can understand the need for caution, but I hope Japan will address this issue with testing and immigration measures like quarantine rather than a wall covering policy.”

The closure of borders has economically flattened many regions and industries that rely on foreign tourism.

When Japan announced its reopening to business travelers and international students earlier this month, 70-year-old Tatsumasa Sakai, the fifth-generation owner of a shop selling ukiyo-e, or woodblock prints, in Tokyo’s popular tourist destination Asakusa, hoped: It was the first step towards further reopening.

“As the case numbers have dropped, I thought we could get more tourists and Asakusa could take a step towards revival,” he said. “I think this time the government is just taking precautionary measures, but it’s still very disappointing.”

Mr. Dery and Mrs. Hirose also face a long wait. Dery, who met Ms. Hirose while they were both working at an automotive parts manufacturer, returned to Indonesia in April 2020 after her Japanese work visa expired. Three months before he left, he proposed to Miss Hirose during a trip to DisneySea amusement park near Tokyo.

Ms. Hirose had booked a flight to Jakarta for that May so the couple could get married, but by then the borders in Indonesia had been closed.

“Our marriage plan fell through,” said Mr. Dery, 26, by phone from Jakarta. “There is no clarity on how long the epidemic will last,” he said.

Just last week, Mr. Dery received a passport and was hoping to fly to Japan in February or March.

He said he wasn’t surprised to hear about Japan’s renewed border closures. “I was hopeful,” he said. “But suddenly the border is about to close again.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” he added. “This epidemic seems endless.”

Hisako Ueno and Makiko Inoue from Tokyo contributed to the report; Dera Menra Sijabat in Indonesia, Jakarta; Richard C. Paddock Bangkok; John Yoon in Seoul; Raymond Zhong in Taipei, Taiwan; and Yan Zhuang in Sydney, Australia.



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