There has been a lot of talk and speculation that Japan could be re-opening its borders and shedding some of its strict restrictions on tourism very soon.
As it stands right now, it is not that easy to get into Japan as a tourist. Depending on what country you are from, you will likely need a visa (showing your vaccine status) and most likely have to book your trip through a tour agency, which is not how many want to explore Japan (plus they have caps on how many tourists can visit). Overall, its pretty difficult and a little frustrating to visit Japan, but per all of the reports, those restrictions could be lifting very soon.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that restrictions will be easing for tourists and the weak Yen could be a major deciding factor to help bolster a struggling Japanese economy. The Yen has been trending down for quite a while and let’s face it, safety and healthy are determining factors, but so is the economy and a major part of this all about the money.
The Japanese economy relies heavily on tourism and had major building plans in late 2019 and 2020 to build more hotels and more facilities for tourism (plus the Olympics) but the Covid pandemic put nearly all of those plans on ice. Tourists favorites like Kyoto have been quite empty and many hotels and tourism-centered businesses have struggled without the influx of people and money into these places.
I am excited to see Japan begin to re-open, as it has been one of the last countries in the world to still have such huge restrictions in place for tourism. There is still a lot time to go before it gets back to normal and with Covid numbers still high, it could be a long while before it even feels like 2019 again, but this is an important first step in the process. Let’s hope it all goes well.
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