Japan reopens to British travellers – with strings attached

The UK is in Japan’s ‘blue list’ group of countries, along with the US and most of Europe

Mount Fuji, Japan, in autumn (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Japan reopens at last to international tourists today following a near-complete two-year ban on foreign arrivals.

However, only a select few may go – namely those booked on to private group tours approved by the Japanese government.

Those who are eligible must still test before travel, fill in a health form and wear masks for much of the trip. Meanwhile, individual tourists remain barred from the country.

The Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida last month confirmed that, from 10 June, international tour groups from certain “blue list” countries including the UK would be permitted entry.

The country’s daily entry cap on tourists has also been doubled to 20,000,

Today’s updated Foreign Office (FCDO) advice reads: “From 10 June, tourists will be allowed to enter from the UK and other ‘blue list’ countries provided they are sponsored and registered on the Entrants, Returnees Follow-up System (ERFS) by an approved Japanese travel agency.”

Travel hopefuls will need the assistance of a Japan specialist tour operator, since the ERFS website is entirely in Japanese.

Once booked on an approved tour, tourists must:

• Take an approved Covid-19 test within the 72 hours before their flight departure time - this can be a nucleic acid test such as an RT-PCR or LAMP test, or a “qualitative antigen test”
• Sign a written pledge that commits them to abiding by the quarantine and self-isolation rules and to a number of other requirements
• Complete an online health questionnaire and obtain a QR code

A full list of valid and invalid Covid test types are outlined here, with the clarification that rapid antigen tests and kits are not accepted.

Previously a bucket list favourite, Japan has retained some of the world’s tightest travel restrictions as the pandemic lingers on.

The country saw 32 million international tourists in 2019, a figure that slipped down to 4 million in 2020 and 0.25 million in 2021.

The government attempted to ease its travel restrictions in summer 2021, before making the decision to close its borders once more in November 2021.

Business travellers, foreign workers and visitors such as entertainers have been allowed into the country only since 1 March 2022, subject to the same strict rules as group tour arrivals.

Speaking in Tokyo in late May, Mr Kishida said: “We will resume accepting tourists on package tours with guides from the 10th of next month.

“Step by step we will aim to accept tourists as we did in normal times, taking into consideration the status of infections.”

Yesterday three of the the country’s biggest business lobbies – Japan Business Federation, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chambers of commerce of the US and other G-7 nations – published a statement urging Mr Kishida to make a more dramatic change to still-strict border rules.

The trio called on the government to restore visa waivers for business travellers, resume individual tourist travel and eliminate the cap on daily international arrivals, among other measures.

“These additional steps will help to ensure that Japan’s entry policies are better aligned with those of G-7 partners and will contribute to a more rapid recovery of Japan’s economy,” said the organisations.

Seino Satoshi, president of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), said: “Despite the pandemic, we have worked with people in inbound tourism to prepare for its recovery.

“We will welcome the return of international tourists to Japan as the first step in the recovery of inbound tourism.”

Travellers can find more practical info on entering Japan at the JNTO website.