Japan has eased – ever so slightly – tough coronavirus border controls that have been criticized as xenophobic and damaging to the economy. The new rules, however, provide only 5,000 new entrants per day, instead of the current 3,500, and nowhere near the estimated 64,000 a day that were entering for long-term visits before the pandemic.
The 5,000 daily arrivals also include Japanese nationals returning to the country, which means hundreds of thousands of foreigners will still struggle to enter, including a half million foreign students, teachers, workers accredited as technical interns and business travellers, who have been locked out and waiting to get in for nearly two years.
Under the policy that went into effect Tuesday, it would take several more months of patience before everyone can get in.
Japan has banned nearly all entries of non-resident foreigners since early in the pandemic. The country announced an easing in November but quickly reversed that decision after the omicron variant emerged elsewhere in the world.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will consider a further relaxation of border controls based on a scientific assessment of the omicron variant, infection levels in and outside Japan, and other countries’ quarantine measures.
Critics have compared Japan’s strict and prolonged border measures to the “sakoku” locked-country policy of the xenophobic warlords who ruled the country in the 17th to 19th centuries.
Japanese and foreign business groups have also protested to the government, saying the border closure has delayed investment, business deals, product development and deliveries.
While COVID-19 infections are slowing in Japan, daily fatalities surged above 270 last Tuesday, a record since the pandemic began, according to the health ministry. Japan has recorded more than 23,000 deaths, significantly lower than in many countries.
But most of Japan is still under virus-related restrictions as infections continue to burden the medical system, which tends to be overwhelmed easily because COVID-19 treatment is limited to public or major hospitals.
Experts generally agree that Japan’s quick tightening of its border in late November was good crisis management, but that keeping the doors shut as omicron infections spread within Japan was meaningless.
“At this point, the damage is greater than the benefit,” said Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Akio Mimura, who called for a further easing of the daily entry cap. Mimura, noting widespread public support for tough border measures, urged the government to raise awareness that the policy is harming parts of society.
Business leaders are also calling for a resumption of tourism at some point to revive the badly hurt industry. Foreign tourism fell more than 90% in 2020 from the year before, almost wiping out the pre-pandemic inbound tourism market of about 4 trillion yen (US$34 billion).