Japan has announced it will ease COVID-19 border control requirements next month after maintaining some of the strictest border measures among major economies since the pandemic's onset.
In response to the pandemic, Japan effectively blocked entry to visitors for two years until it began a gradual reopening to tourists in June.
But on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the country would restore individual tourism and visa-waiver travel to people from countries, expected to include Australia, as long as they are vaccinated from October 11.
At the same time, Japan will also scrap a daily cap on arrivals, currently set at 50,000, and may revise regulations on hotels, allowing them to refuse guests who don't abide by infection controls, such as mask wearing, during an outbreak, domestic media reported.
Mr Kishida's announcement, made during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, follows a pledge he made in May that Japan would bring its border controls more in line with other Group of Seven nations.
"We are a nation that has flourished through the free flow of people, goods and capital," Mr Kishida said.
"COVID-19, of course, interrupted all of these benefits, but from October 11, Japan will relax border control measures to be on par with the US, as well as resume visa-free travel and individual travel."
Japan's insistence that visitors obtain visas to enter the country and then adhere to planned, package tours has been a major sticking point.
Prior to the pandemic, Japan had visa waiver agreements with nearly 70 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, and many Asian neighbours.
Business lobbies and travel companies have urged Japan to relax its border controls more swiftly, saying they were out of step with major trading partners and could cause the nation to fall behind economically.
Japan officially let in tourists in June for the first time in two years, but only about 8,000 arrived through July, compared with more than 80,000 visitors a day before the pandemic.
"We will see a significant impact on the economy," Shinichi Inoue, president of All Nippon Airways, told reporters on Friday, adding that the yen's sharp decline against the dollar is a "huge attraction" to foreigners.
Japan's currency weakened past the psychologically important level of 145 yen ($1.54) to the US dollar on Thursday, making foreign travel and purchases in the country the cheapest in decades.
Reuters
