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UPDATE FOR TOURISTS LOOKING TO VISIT JAPAN AFTER COVID-19 BORDER RESTRICTIONS EASE

<From 0:00 am (JST) on April 29, 2023, about all travelers and returnees> (NEW)

• (1) All travelers and returnees will no longer be required to submit either a certificate of negative result of COVID-19 test conducted within 72 hours prior to departure, or a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate of three doses or equivalent.
• (2) Currently implemented measures including random sampling test which are provisional measures for all travelers and returnees arriving from China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) by direct flights, will be replaced to the testing on arrival required to those who show symptoms, which is the same measure applied to all other travelers and returnees.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html
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See FAQ here: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakuni...you_00016.html - most questions, including whether children need vaccination certificates, are answered here.

It was announced that the visa waiver will be reinstated from October 11th, by past logic of the government that would mean any flight landing on the 11th.
Rumours in the media is that travellers would still need to either be tripple vaxxed or show a negative PCR test before boarding. Which probably means the MySOS in advance doc check will remain. But other than that seems to be free entry.


Until and including 10th of October, see below rules
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. Quarantine is as described for the countries and territories below.

Guided and self-guided tours can be approved for a visa to enter Japan as a tourist. Not all details are clear yet for the self guided tours (see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japa...ng-up.html for discussions of the self guided tours)

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.

Business travelers, students and technical trainees can again enter Japan. There is a need to have a receiving organisation to apply for the visa.

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.

The process for guided tours and self guided tours is similar to the business visa, the travel agency will make the EFRS application. Travel insurance is required as part of the arrangement, check with the travel agency or embassy/consulate for required coverage.
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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. See https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000799426.pdf for an example. From the 7th of June, passport number, nationality, signature and stamp from the doctor/medical institution are no longer required. 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/
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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 include: Moderna, Pfizer, Astra, Zeneca, J&J, Novavax, and Covaxin.


The arrival process is as follows. Countries will be grouped in red, yellow, and blue. (See https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e....html#section3 for the latest list)

• 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.
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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.