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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 dlvoire, 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 May 11, 2022, 6:27 pm
  #8536  
 
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Originally Posted by musehead
Encourage use of N95 (or better) masks where they may come into contact with people. Staying in a normal hotel with judicious mask use should be fine too.

Isolation isn't really an issue in Europe anymore, it doesn't need to be in Japan either.
Anything that isn't a strictly enforced rule is basically useless, because many Westerners can't be trusted to care about anyone other than themselves. Case in point, I've taken 2 flights recently where incessant coughing came from individuals that were decidedly European or North American, and of course they basically did not mask for the duration of the flight. This was on SQ.
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Old May 11, 2022, 6:41 pm
  #8537  
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
The seven day average, a favorite among some posters here, has ticked up 100% over the previous week in Tokyo, indicating increasing cases.

However, if we just wipe out the previous week as an anamoly of Golden Week and check against two weeks ago, the numbers are still down slightly.

So plenty of room for everyone to continue seeing things in the way that they want to see them.

Okinawa is looking pretty rough though, with another all-time reported high for daily cases today, and their hospitals are starting to feel the pinch. Best of luck to everyone that needs medical care out there.
If you look at Tokyo moving average on the 29th, and again on the 11th, it is down 24%, so Golden Week has yet to produce a boom in new cases....

Okinawa on the is showing quite an uptick in cases, though that started before GW and just accelerated through GW. Are the visitors more careful than the locals?
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Old May 11, 2022, 7:16 pm
  #8538  
 
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
If you look at Tokyo moving average on the 29th, and again on the 11th, it is down 24%, so Golden Week has yet to produce a boom in new cases....

Okinawa on the is showing quite an uptick in cases, though that started before GW and just accelerated through GW. Are the visitors more careful than the locals?
Okinawa tests way more per capita than Tokyo, both before and after (and even during) GW. (average daily testing now is about 1 test per 450 people in Okinawa, but 1 test per 1,200 people in Tokyo).

And when the positive rate is around 40-50% or more (as it has been for both places), then the more you test, the more you find.
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Old May 11, 2022, 7:20 pm
  #8539  
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
If you look at Tokyo moving average on the 29th, and again on the 11th, it is down 24%, so Golden Week has yet to produce a boom in new cases....
There's two ways to interpret this: either a gradual decrease in cases has continued over the past two weeks, or a sharp downturn over the past week has violently jolted us back upwards again. The next week's worth of data should make the picture clearer.

Going forward, the good news for easing the burden on hospitals is that almost 90% of all senior citizens are now fully vaccinated and boosted. The bad news for stemming transmission is that the percentage of those in their 20's and 30's that are fully boosted remains under 40%. As I recall, pretty much everyone that wished to be vaccinated could have done so by the end of last October, after which more than six months have now passed, so pretty much everyone that wishes to be boosted could do so by now. So it seems that quite a few of the younger generation have opted out of getting additional shots.
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Old May 11, 2022, 8:21 pm
  #8540  
 
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Originally Posted by BRITINJAPAN4
If it provides some empathy to the hotel, staff , and other customers then it is certainly not useless. And why if you actually found you had a fever ??
I can see how it shows respect and courtesy for the rules your host puts out to follow them- which is why I would comply- but I dont buy that it shows empathy.

From an actual diagnostic perspective there are many issues. Does the equipment work? Infrared gun thermometers are usually junk. Are the operators trained properly? If its honor system, are people actually doing it? Not to mention a fever in and of itself is neither sensitive nor specific enough on its own to rule in or out COVID. People without a fever may be infectious. People with one may not have COVID.

Im a bit of curmudgeon when it comes to things like this as it distracts from things that actually work such as policies that promote indoor usage of good quality masks, ventilation, and vaccination.
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Old May 11, 2022, 8:25 pm
  #8541  
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
There's two ways to interpret this: either a gradual decrease in cases has continued over the past two weeks, or a sharp downturn over the past week has violently jolted us back upwards again. The next week's worth of data should make the picture clearer.

Going forward, the good news for easing the burden on hospitals is that almost 90% of all senior citizens are now fully vaccinated and boosted. The bad news for stemming transmission is that the percentage of those in their 20's and 30's that are fully boosted remains under 40%. As I recall, pretty much everyone that wished to be vaccinated could have done so by the end of last October, after which more than six months have now passed, so pretty much everyone that wishes to be boosted could do so by now. So it seems that quite a few of the younger generation have opted out of getting additional shots.
Yeah, but we from GW21, new year 20 and 21, obon 20 and 21, and a number of long weekends, and the general behaviour on weekends we know that the reported results drop in these periods. So to assume that the true numbers dropped during golden week and suddenly had a surge again is probably rather unlikely. Just the usual drop in testing and reporting.
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Old May 11, 2022, 8:34 pm
  #8542  
 
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Originally Posted by sameruval
while I probably would have followed the request as I tend to be rules following type, this is very likely an ineffective intervention (as opposed to say, indoor masking or high quality air filtration) thats essentially like the hygiene theatre seen earlier in the pandemic.

I also find this response interesting juxtaposed to your violins reply to the hypothetical foreigner experiencing a major as opposed to a minor inconvenience.
yah. Hard to follow theatre devoid of any scientific basis as you look out your window and see locals pretending their theatre matters as they eat ramen in small spaces thinking covid will be blocked by plexiglass...or get wasted in cramped izakaya and again, really on plexiglass to protect them from an airborne virus. You are debating with someone you should block. Kind of like ignoring stupid rules.
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Old May 11, 2022, 8:55 pm
  #8543  
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Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
Yeah, but we from GW21, new year 20 and 21, obon 20 and 21, and a number of long weekends, and the general behaviour on weekends we know that the reported results drop in these periods. So to assume that the true numbers dropped during golden week and suddenly had a surge again is probably rather unlikely. Just the usual drop in testing and reporting.
You're as impatient as our resident Sloth. Just wait another week, and all will become clear.
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Old May 11, 2022, 8:56 pm
  #8544  
 
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Going forward, the good news for easing the burden on hospitals is that almost 90% of all senior citizens are now fully vaccinated and boosted. The bad news for stemming transmission is that the percentage of those in their 20's and 30's that are fully boosted remains under 40%. As I recall, pretty much everyone that wished to be vaccinated could have done so by the end of last October, after which more than six months have now passed, so pretty much everyone that wishes to be boosted could do so by now. So it seems that quite a few of the younger generation have opted out of getting additional shots.
This is a false belief.

Vaccines are distributed by local govs in Japan, and my wife and I could not get vaccinated until late October last year since we were under 60 and that was just the schedule for our city. Some people I know had to wait till late November.

We finally got the application for our boosters in the mail in mid-April (no online reservations here). The 3 days they offered for getting shots in May weren't possible for us (though this is assuming all the slots in May weren't already full), so we had to ask for the next dates, and therefore we won't be able to get boosted until mid-June. I already know of one neighbor who won't be able to get his until July since he sent it in later than us and the date he requested for June was full.

So please, do not claim that people aren't boosted only due to opting out of it. Many many people in smaller cities and towns have literally been not allowed to get them yet. The national government already announced months ago that the booster program is to run until mid/late July.

(and before you start claiming I can go somewhere else since where you happen to live they give out boosters willy-nilly, yes this may be possible for me if I wanted to deal with the arrangements, annoying paperwork, and travel burden, but it is not a realistic option for the millions of others across the country who are in my same situation)
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Old May 11, 2022, 9:18 pm
  #8545  
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Originally Posted by alan11
This is a false belief.

Vaccines are distributed by local govs in Japan, and my wife and I could not get vaccinated until late October last year since we were under 60 and that was just the schedule for our city. Some people I know had to wait till late November.

We finally got the application for our boosters in the mail in mid-April (no online reservations here). The 3 days they offered for getting shots in May weren't possible for us (though this is assuming all the slots in May weren't already full), so we had to ask for the next dates, and therefore we won't be able to get boosted until mid-June. I already know of one neighbor who won't be able to get his until July since he sent it in later than us and the date he requested for June was full.

So please, do not claim that people aren't boosted only due to opting out of it. Many many people in smaller cities and towns have literally been not allowed to get them yet. The national government already announced months ago that the booster program is to run until mid/late July.
Thank you for the singular data point, but the big picture doesn't bear this out:




The vast majority of people who got vaccinated did so before November, and the number of people getting their third shot has already plateaued.
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Old May 11, 2022, 9:42 pm
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Thank you for the singular data point, but the big picture doesn't bear this out:

The vast majority of people who got vaccinated did so before November, and the number of people getting their third shot has already plateaued.
I guess I'm just a lone anomaly, so thank you for dismissing the reality of my family's and neighbor's lives and situation (that is not by our choosing) as a "singular data point".

And my apologies for being a wrench in the system of your assumptions. But unfortunately, all your wonderful stats and government talking points still won't give us the availability to a booster anytime sooner.
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Old May 11, 2022, 9:51 pm
  #8547  
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Originally Posted by alan11
I guess I'm just a lone anomaly, so thank you for dismissing the reality of my family's and neighbor's lives and situation (that is not by our choosing) as a "singular data point".

And my apologies for being a wrench in the system of your assumptions. But unfortunately, all your wonderful stats and government talking points still won't give us the availability to a booster anytime sooner.
Well what else can I say, your singular experience is irrelevant for the point being made that the vast majority of people that will get a booster shot have already done so, and that the limited number of people that have chosen to do so means that transmission will remain an issue.

But of course, that remains an issue in every country. All will have to assess the risk levels and decide their way forward, although quite a few of them have already done that.
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Old May 11, 2022, 10:10 pm
  #8548  
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A baby step forward on mask recommendations:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/202...622491000.html

It will be recommended that, especially during periods of high heat and humidity, masks may be removed when outdoors and over 2 meters of separation between others can be secured.

However, "The infection route of the new corona is flying eyelids, inhalation of aerosols, and contact infection, and we recognize that wearing a mask, including children, is very important as a basic preventive measure for infection."

Thanks Google Translate!
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Old May 12, 2022, 2:30 am
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Doing what was asked would have been a courtesy for societal reasons more than anything else. An acknowledgement that "I know things are hard for you and your industry, so I won't cause you any unnecessary trouble".
I'm pretty sure I did my part by actually staying and paying them for a couple of weeks. How about the hotels don't make unnecessary trouble for their customers by not making up arbitrary rules? I now remember what made me certain that the whole theater in the first hotel were foreigerns only, they also wanted to see a PCR test from me. Neither hotel writes anything about these measures on their homepage. I'm also super curious behind the rational that someone staying 7 days doesn't need to track their temperatures (@ hotel #2), but someone staying 8 days, should do it every day. This is just theater to the max, someone came up with the rule, but nobody believes or even cares about it.

Originally Posted by CPH-Flyer
What hotels was that? I have a lot of hotel nights throughout the pandemic in Japan, and I have never had that.
I PMed you the hotel names, both are 4 star hotels in Osaka.
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Old May 12, 2022, 2:47 am
  #8550  
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Originally Posted by freakazoid
I PMed you the hotel names, both are 4 star hotels in Osaka.
Why is this information a secret? Wouldn't you want to help others avoid the undue burden of writing down numbers a couple times a day?
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