July 21, 2022 – After closing its borders for nearly two and a half years, Japan has finally reopened its doors for tourists, well sort of, as of June 2022. But entering Japan is not without restrictions and there are plenty of them.
Foreign tourists visiting Japan will have to wear face masks, buy travel insurance and be chaperoned during their entire stay. The days of buying a plane ticket to Japan and winging it are long gone, at least for the time being. Passengers must book a packaged tour from a government-approved travel company, obtain an entry visa and be accompanied by a guide pretty much at all times. This includes traveling between cities and going to/from the airports. In other words, independent travel in Japan is not permitted right now.
Here’s the cliff notes version of what’s required to visit Japan as a tourist:
- All passengers must enter Japan via a packaged tour serviced by an approved tour company (which Explorient is).
- All services such as hotels, transfers, tours, etc. must be arranged by that tour company.
- The program itinerary must include guiding at all times (except evenings). No half-day tours and definitely no “free” days.
- A guide must accompany passengers during airport transfers as well as traveling between cities (yes, both on trains and on flights while traveling domestically).
- Unlike pre-COVID times, all foreign travelers must now apply for a visa at your nearest embassy/consulate prior to entry. Please visit the Japanese Embassy Website for more information.
- Upon booking the trip, the tour operator registers passengers into the government system called ERFS. Once approved, the system will produce a certificate to be used to apply for a visa.
- Trip insurance covering medical expenses/quarantine in case of COVID while in Japan is required.
- Passengers must obtain a negative COVID result within 72 hours prior to departure in Japan.
- MySOS Tracking App must be installed and activated upon arrival
- Masks are required in most places in Japan
So, is it still worth going to Japan now?
While Japan is an awesome place to visit, is it worth making the trip now with all these restrictions? The short answer is “NO” Even though we’re a tour company who sells private and upscale trips to Japan (amongst many other destinations) for a living, we do NOT recommend spending thousands of dollars on precious vacation time until these rather silly restrictions and protocols are lifted. Personally, a huge part of the fun on any trip is roaming the streets, sampling mouthwatering street foods such as grilled squid and Takoyaki, mingling with locals and creating your very own version of Japan. With a chaperone watching your every move (making sure you have your masks on, exercising social distancing, checking your temperature daily, etc.), how much fun would that be? Not to mention to the additional cost to have the guide follow you around (guide fees in Japan are by no means cheap), and having to buy extra rail tickets & airport transfers to cover their transportation costs. These can add up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars depending on your itinerary.
So, as much as we’d LOVE for you to go to Japan and spend thousands of dollars with us now, we strongly recommend against it – at least until the chaperone requirement is completely lifted. On the other hand, masks are a pretty regular thing even before the pandemic so I won’t expect those to go away completely anytime soon.
On the bright side, we do expect the Japanese government to loosen things up some time in the fall of 2022. So hang on to those airline miles and vacation funds for just a little longer. But please be warned, demand for Japan travel is at an all-time high (yes, people want that forbidden fruit) so make sure you’re ready when Japan is ready for you.
