It's actually on the table with the EU sometime in August and I'm going to laugh my a## off if this stubborn government actually allows it to happen. Apparently the EU has a reciprocity rule on visa free entry with a 2 year compliance deadline. From what I've heard this kicks in in August or September because Germany filed the objection in one of those months in 2020. From what I understand if that kicks in then Japanese passport holders will have to get visas for a minimum of 12 months while this government either decides to comply or lives with a visa policy.

We need a few more shocks in the system to get the local population into an uproar about the current policies. The (current) voters aren't the ones who travel overseas, so maybe it's the tipping point we really need to instigate change. It started after Golden Week when a lot of people actually did travel overseas and were subjected to the absurd arrivals process we had until May 31st, hence the sudden removal of arrival tests this week. Need to make more Japanese citizens feel some pain to get things pushed faster.

Korea apparently is still requiring visas for Japanese citizens. There was a run on the embassy in Tokyo this past week when visa issuance opened up, while the rest of the world has been able to travel to Korea fairly freely for the past month. That's a tit for tat move that I applaud them for. If / when the other countries in the region start doing the same thing then there will be an immense amount of pressure to open sooner than later. The people who used to travel abroad during holidays are definitely tired of being couped up here.