TOKYO – Japan’s government plans to eliminate tourist visa restrictions for specific nations as part of a broader relaxation of border controls to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to Fuji News Network.
According to FNN, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may decide on the loosening as soon as this week, which would also allow individual visitors to enter Japan without using travel agencies. Prior to the epidemic, Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 nations and territories.
The administration may abandon a daily quota on arrivals by October, according to the Nikkei newspaper on Sunday.
On a Sunday television program, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara stated that “a weak yen is most successful in boosting inbound tourism,” adding that further steps must be taken to attract overseas visitors.
Japan lifted the daily limit for entering visitors from 20,000 to 50,000 last week and scrapped the requirement for pre-departure COVID testing, reducing what had been among the most stringent border controls among major countries.
Source: Reuters