Japan to relax border controls by next month

Tourists take a selfie photograph along the Sanneizaka approach near Kiyomizu temple during Golden Week holidays in Kyoto, Japan, on Tuesday. Japan’s hospitality industry has been urging the government to reopen to more overseas visitors. (Bloomberg photo)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday he would loosen Japan’s virus-related border controls in line with other wealthy democracies next month, as he sought to boost consumer spending to fight an economic slowdown.

Kishida credited the border controls with helping the country weather the pandemic relatively well, even as he announced their relaxation on Thursday in a speech in the City of London. The premier told an audience at Guildhall that Japan would be as accessible as other Group of Seven countries by next month, when leaders of the bloc are due to meet in Germany.