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Coronavirus impact in Japan [consolidated]

Old Mar 5, 2020, 5:17 pm
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Last edit by: CPH-Flyer
This thread is for discussion of the coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to Japan. Non-Japan-related discussion should be taken either to the most relevant forum, the Coronavirus and Travel forum, or the OMNI forums.

UPDATE FOR TOURISTS LOOKING TO VISIT JAPAN AFTER COVID-19 BORDER RESTRICTIONS EASE
Japan does currently not allow entry for general tourism purposes. Most visa waivers are suspended, and travel to Japan for non resident foreigners generally require a visa. And quarantine as described for the countries and territories below.

UPDATE FOR PEOPLE WITH VISAS THAT ALLOW ENTRY INTO JAPAN
The quarantine requirements mentioned below will generally apply to entrants in Japan. As the conditions of who can obtain a visa for entry on exceptional circumstances are not clearly listed anywhere, it is necessary to confirm entry requirements with your local Japanese diplomatic representatives

Spouses and children of foreign permanent residents or Japanese nationals, can obtain visas for short term stays (up to 90 days) by applying in person or by mail at an overseas Japanese consulate. Required documentation includes application form, letter with reason for purpose of visit, bank statement and Koseki Tohon. Processing times have been reported as on the spot to up to one week.

From March 1st, business travelers, students and technical trainees can again enter Japan. There is a need to have a receiving organisation to apply for the visa. For business travelers, there will be one point of contact with the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare. Though the full details are not published yet (as of typing on the 27th of February, please add them if you have seen them)

Business travelers must have a Japanese company or organization apply for a Certificate for Completion of Registration to the MHLW ERFS system. This is a two step process. The company must first register and then apply for the Certificate for the traveler. These can both be done online and completed in less than an hour.The website for doing this is https://entry.hco.mhlw.go.jp/.

After getting the certificate the traveler must apply for visa at the Japanese Consulate or Embassy with jurisdiction for where they reside. (They are quite strict about this. E.g. you can't apply while traveling in a foreign country.) The information on the Consulate pages state that you need Letter of Guarantee, Invitation Letter, etc when applying for the visa. In fact, however, if you have the EFRS certificate, all you need is the visa application, your passport and a photo. The Consulate will issue the visa within 5 days.

​​​​​​

UPDATE JAPANESE CITIZENS AND RETURNING FOREIGN JAPAN RESIDENTS

All people travelling to Japan has to present a negative PCR test taking no earlier than. 72 hours before departure to be able to board the flight. The certificate has to meet the information requirements and test types from the Japanese government.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000799426.pdf

From the 7th of June, passport number, nationality, signature and stamp from the doctor/medical institution are no longer required.
​​​​​
The requirement for pre-departure test will be removed for passengers on flights landing after the 7th of September 00:00 provided that they have received a full bases vaccination and a booster vaccination. Accepted vaccines are Moderna, Pfizer, Astra, Zeneca, J&J, Novavax, Covaxin.

Uploading documents in advance via the mysos app or via the mysos website is required. For details please see https://www.hco.mhlw.go.jp/en/


The arrival process is as follows. Countries will be grouped in red, yellow, and blue.
  • Group “Red”:On-arrival test is required. 3-day quarantine at a government-designated facility is required, however, those who obtain a valid vaccination certificate may have 5-day home quarantine (or 3-day home quarantine + negative result of a voluntary test) instead.
  • Group “Yellow”:On-arrival test and 5-day home quarantine (or 3-day home quarantine + negative result of a voluntary test) are required, however, those who obtain a valid vaccination certificate are not required to have on-arrival test, home quarantine and other measures.
  • Group “Blue”:Regardless of the vaccination status of the entrants/returnees, on-arrival test, home quarantine and other measures are not required.
Vaccine certificate does require three doses of vaccines.
​​​
Red countries:
Albania, Sierra Leone

Yellow countries:
Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cook Island, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Macau, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Korea, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Republic of Burundi, Republic of Congo, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Vanuatu, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Solomon, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe

Blue countries:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentine, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyz, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Western Sahara, Zambia



For updates to the lists of countries and territories and changes to the rules check the website of the ministry of foreign affairs https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html and ask in the thread for clarifications and experiences of entering Japan.
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Coronavirus impact in Japan [consolidated]

Old Feb 16, 2022, 5:02 pm
  #7681  
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Learn what? How to keep killing over 2000 people a day despite all we know about COVID in 2022?
Well…come on! When you have millions of people a day with Omi about 4 weeks ago you are bound to have a whole bunch of unvaccinated deaths eventually. If people stepped up and jabbed that would be in the low hundreds…like Japan. No one will be able to enter Japan without vax, and I’m guessing triple. Find out soon. (I think hailstorm has blocked me a while back but I still reply).
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 5:42 pm
  #7682  
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Originally Posted by wunderpit
Well…come on! When you have millions of people a day with Omi about 4 weeks ago you are bound to have a whole bunch of unvaccinated deaths eventually. If people stepped up and jabbed that would be in the low hundreds…like Japan. No one will be able to enter Japan without vax, and I’m guessing triple. Find out soon. (I think hailstorm has blocked me a while back but I still reply).
All the articles seems to indicate that inbound travellers ha e to be tripple vaxed, a bit amusing considering the state of third shot. But I guess don't do as we do but as we say...

(it does actually make sense to ask for tripple vax due to omicron being as infectious as it is, but it just draws attention to the failure of getting the third jab rolling in Japan)
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 5:53 pm
  #7683  
 
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
Hopefully before, but next year spring break should be good for entering Japan

Sorry we could not be bringers of better tidings.
I was able to find a HKT - ORD routing which satisfies the transit on same day from same airport requirements. Ticketed it. Now to persuade the boy.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 6:03 pm
  #7684  
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
All the articles seems to indicate that inbound travellers ha e to be tripple vaxed, a bit amusing considering the state of third shot. But I guess don't do as we do but as we say...

(it does actually make sense to ask for tripple vax due to omicron being as infectious as it is, but it just draws attention to the failure of getting the third jab rolling in Japan)
The infamous "turn on a dime" :
About 2 weeks after I received my certificate, and have already received my booster. My friend received their certificate last Friday and was able to get a reservation for this week. Of course YMMV. Each day , brings new hope..........unless you are from the United States of Outrage.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 6:14 pm
  #7685  
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Originally Posted by Q Shoe Guy
The infamous "turn on a dime" :
About 2 weeks after I received my certificate, and have already received my booster. My friend received their certificate last Friday and was able to get a reservation for this week. Of course YMMV. Each day , brings new hope..........unless you are from the United States of Outrage.
Admittedly, I have not followed up on whether Minato-Ku reduced the waiting time. But maybe I should check the website soon. If it is available, and seemingly no rush on the bookings, I might as well just get the Japanese paper work in order.....
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 6:18 pm
  #7686  
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
All the articles seems to indicate that inbound travellers ha e to be tripple vaxed, a bit amusing considering the state of third shot.
Also, a bit amusing when you consider that the government doesn't require any vax of Japanese residents, only inbound non-resident travelers. I think that's called a double standard.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 6:22 pm
  #7687  
 
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
Pre-pandemic, you could indeed get a visa to enter Japan for an overnight stay due to the connection. Right now there is an in principle denial of landing for all foreigners.
This was from Taiwan transiting overnight at NRT with US/Canada as the final destination during the pandemic. JL would sponsor and help secure a visa for staying overnight landside. I don't remember the exact details but I remember seeing it on JL's homepage or mentioned on their official FB page for the Taiwan market. IIRC I came across this around 2021 June.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 6:23 pm
  #7688  
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Originally Posted by Nagasaki Joe
Also, a bit amusing when you consider that the government doesn't require any vax of Japanese residents, only inbound non-resident travelers. I think that's called a double standard.
They may say that the eased quarantine restrictions are only for vaxed residents as well. Back in the fall 2021, they did allowed vaxxed residents and citizens off the hook easier than unvaxxed. No hotel quarantine and an option to reduce to 10 days.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 7:41 pm
  #7689  
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Japan to cut quarantine to 3 days:

https://japantoday.com/category/nati...ore-foreigners

Also mentions possibly no quarantine for those with three shots. Supposedly something official will be announced later today, according to the article.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 8:10 pm
  #7690  
 
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
They may say that the eased quarantine restrictions are only for vaxed residents as well. Back in the fall 2021, they did allowed vaxxed residents and citizens off the hook easier than unvaxxed. No hotel quarantine and an option to reduce to 10 days.
It wasn’t just citizens and residents. It applied to everyone. I came in on a short term visa and only had to do a 10 day at home quarantine.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 8:36 pm
  #7691  
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Originally Posted by Q Shoe Guy
The Prime Minister will outline details of the "re-opening" tomorrow evening Feb 17, 2022. Probably at 19:00 or so.
Originally Posted by ainternational
Japan to cut quarantine to 3 days:

https://japantoday.com/category/nati...ore-foreigners

Also mentions possibly no quarantine for those with three shots. Supposedly something official will be announced later today, according to the article.
Asleep at the wheel as usual.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 8:43 pm
  #7692  
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Originally Posted by 5khours
It wasn’t just citizens and residents. It applied to everyone. I came in on a short term visa and only had to do a 10 day at home quarantine.
2021 was so yesterday.
New year , new rules.
Fling the gates open wide, let all the pirates and grifters back in.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 10:28 pm
  #7693  
 
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Learn what? How to keep killing over 2000 people a day despite all we know about COVID in 2022?

Ok, learn from Singapore.
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 11:36 pm
  #7694  
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Originally Posted by Q Shoe Guy
Asleep at the wheel as usual.
/ignore - and to think, you taught me that!
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Old Feb 16, 2022, 11:52 pm
  #7695  
 
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
Admittedly, I have not followed up on whether Minato-Ku reduced the waiting time. But maybe I should check the website soon. If it is available, and seemingly no rush on the bookings, I might as well just get the Japanese paper work in order.....
I had my 3rd last Sunday in Minato ku, the huge hall was empty, my wife had a 11.15 appointment and mine was 12.30, we went together at 11 and they were happy to do us both immediately, in the car by 11.30.
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