Japan Eased Entry Rules, But Hurdles Remain

Above, the arrival lobby of Narita Airport's Terminal 2 in the "good 'ol days". Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan has eased entry rules for people coming into the country, but there are still hurdles that people have to "jump" in order to enter.

The country is still closed to tourism, but some with family and business in Japan can enter.

According to The Japan Times:

The international arrivals lobby at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 in Tokyo was eerily quiet Monday, with only a limited number of passengers from such destinations as Paris, Manila and Seattle showing up.

One of them was Barbara Tomiyama, 54, who arrived on a flight from Manila. She said she found the whole process of entering Japan — including the submission of a certificate showing a negative test for COVID-19 within 72 hours prior to departure, taking antigen saliva tests upon arrival and the need to self-isolate for 14 days — “very inconvenient.”

“It’s time-consuming,” she said, having spent about two hours passing the inspections, adding that she came back to her home in Tokyo to live with her son who has permanent residence status.

She said she arranged for her brother-in-law to pick her up at the airport, as the use of public transportation is prohibited during the self-quarantine period.

Still, some others passed the inspection quickly in around an hour or so, as the saliva-based test to detect coronavirus infections can show results within 30 minutes. A 49-year-old American man who flew from Seattle for business said he found the process of entering Japan “very easy.”

“There’s very few people, almost nobody in there, so I’m happy it was pretty easy” to get through the inspection, said the man, who declined to be identified but said he works for the U.S. military.

He added that during the quarantine period of 14 days, he would have to limit his business activities to those done by phone.

Despite onerous inspections, they are still considered the lucky ones, as many foreign nationals are unable to get a coronavirus test within 72 hours prior to their departure. That, along with the two-week self-isolation requirement and other strict conditions, may explain why so few of them can come to Japan despite the eased entry rules this month.

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