Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that the daily cap on arrivals to the country will be raised from 20,000 to 50,000 on September 7.
Kishida told a press conference that tourists coming to Japan will no longer need to be on package tours with tour guides, as the country further eases its border controls, despite the nation being in the grip of the seventh wave of Covid-19 infections.
“We have seen international exchanges gaining traction in various parts of the world. We are raising the daily cap on new arrivals to 50,000 from September 7 to join the trend and make sure the benefits of the weak yen are felt,” Kishida said.
The latest easing of Japan’s Covid-19 border controls follows the government saying on August 24 that travelers coming to Japan will be exempt from taking Covid-19 tests before departure if they have received three vaccination shots.
The eased virus testing requirements will also come into effect on September 7, the government said.
Kishida also said the rollout of an Omicron variant-specific vaccine will be brought forward from October, with government sources saying inoculations could begin in late September.
