Daily Times

Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists in June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago, but only for package tours for now. Beginning June 10, Japan will allow the entry of package holiday tourists from 98 countries and regions including Britain, the United States, Australia, France, Spain, Canada and Malaysia. Japan will also expand the number of airports that accept international flights to seven, adding Naha in its southern Okinawa prefecture and New Chitose near Sapporo in northern Hokkaido. All arrivals have to test negative before travel to Japan and many must be tested again on arrival, though triple-vaccinated people coming from certain countries can skip the additional test as well as a three-day quarantine required for others. Japan this week is hosting small experimental package tours from four countries – Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. That experiment, which involves only 50 people who received special visas, not tourist visas, is to end on May 31. ‘Free and active exchange of people is the foundation of economy and society, as well as that of Asia’s development,’ Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech at a Tokyo hotel on Thursday.