Japan Still Closed To Most Travelers Despite Asia Reopening

In a recent article, the novelist and Kyoto native Keiichiro Kashiwagi wrote that his Kyoto friends complained about the tourism “noise” that stifled the peace of the city, and that “the irony of the great disaster that is the corona pandemic is that; restored the lost beauty of the city.”

When the country reopens, “the country will need to rethink how it promotes itself to visitors, including taking steps to prevent overtourism,” transport minister Tetsuo Saito told Japan’s parliament in March.

Businesses worried about the return of tourists have been helped by large government subsidies, as well as the increase in domestic tourism that has come with Japanese travelers becoming reluctant to risk the complications and possible health consequences of vacationing abroad.

Toshifumi Kojima, a lawmaker from the ruling party, said that although Japanese officials want to allow more tourists as soon as possible, they are cautious until they see how the situation inside the country develops.

The country has just emerged from a national emergency declared as an Omicron variant, bringing the number of cases to record highs. However, the numbers are rising again in the Tokyo area as locals come out to enjoy the cherry blossoms. The seven-day average on Thursday rose to about 42,000 from about 20,000 a week ago.

As it is not clear how a sudden influx of tourists will affect the situation, “For now, we are hosting the domestic tourist, the Japanese tourist for warming purposes, and we are considering how to increase the number of tourists from abroad,” said Mr. Kojima.

In recent months, countries in Southeast Asia have been busy loosening restrictions on international tourism, arguing that relatively high immunization rates and their commitment to living safely with the virus and resurrecting their ailing tourism sectors guarantee a broad resumption of unrestricted travel.