Japan says it will ‘lift entry ban on 106 countries,’ but tourists still can’t enter

A government statement late Wednesday said that Japan will “lift the entry ban on 106 countries,” causing confusion on social media and giving false hope that tourists would soon be allowed into the country.

In fact, there will be no change to the status quo.

“In reality, there will be no change to who can enter Japan,” said a Justice Ministry official when asked to clarify the statement. “There won’t be anyone new who will be able to enter Japan as a result of this change.”

Foreign students, researchers and business travelers who have been allowed into Japan since March 1 will continue to be able to enter the country, but tourists remain barred from entering.

The latest case illustrates how hard it is to navigate Japan’s bureaucratic wording on entry restrictions, which have caused confusion among foreign nationals throughout the pandemic.

In the statement sent by the Cabinet Office’s National Security Bureau, which was also posted on the Foreign Ministry website, the government said it will lift the ban on 106 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, from Friday.

The Justice Ministry bans the entry of people arriving from countries where the Foreign Ministry has issued travel alerts over the spread of an infectious disease, except for “special cases,” such as the spouse of a Japanese national. The alerts range from level 1 (low) to 4 (high). If the country is designated as level 3 or higher, the Justice Ministry automatically bans arrivals from those countries, and vice versa.

According to the official, the latest revision was based on the Foreign Ministry lowering the alert level of those 106 countries on April 1. But since the Foreign Ministry is still limiting the issuance of visas at embassies overseas, Japan will continue to restrict who can enter the country.

Japan closed its borders to foreign tourists in April 2020, and has only recently reopened to foreign students, academics and workers. Currently, there is a daily limit of 7,000 arrivals from overseas in place, although the government plans to lift this to 10,000 a day from Monday.