JAPAN will ease its strict virus border rules to allow students and businessmen into the country from next month, but tourists will still be barred, said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida today.

The move comes with growing pressure on the country from academics and the business community to loosen the border rules, which are the toughest in the G7 but have broad support from Japanese voters.

Japan has barred tourists since the early days of the pandemic, and has in some cases prevented even existing foreign residents from entering the country.

The government slightly loosened the rules to allow some students and businessmen to enter in November, but swiftly reversed the plan weeks later as the Omicron strain emerged.

After an Omicron wave, Covid-19 cases in the country now appear to have peaked, said experts.

Kishida said “we will allow new visitors, except those coming for tourism” from March 1, adding that a cap on daily entrants will be raised from the current 3,500 to 5,000.

More than 400,000 people whose visas have already been approved by authorities are waiting to enter Japan as of January 4, said an immigration agency official.

Of the number, 150,000 are students and 129,000 are workers hired to take part in a technical training programme that is a key source of foreign labour for several industries in the country.

While Japan has not pursued a zero-Covid policy and avoided strict lockdowns, it has made tough border measures a centrepiece of its pandemic response.

Even citizens and returning residents able to enter have been subject to quarantines of up to two weeks, with testing before and after entering the country.

Kishida said quarantine rules will now be eased, going from seven to three days, if arrivals test negative.

He added that isolation will be removed for those with three vaccines doses coming from countries judged low-risk, without specifying particular nations.

Japan has recorded more than 20,950 Covid-19 deaths, and polls show Japanese broadly favour the tough rules, with nearly 60% of respondents backing a continued ban on entry in a recent survey by public broadcaster NHK.

Davide Rossi, an Italian entrepreneur living in Japan who campaigns for students stuck outside the country, said the news is a light at the end of the tunnel, and many now hope they can enter the country before the new semester in April.

“There is a very high sense of urgency. People are really on the verge of quitting, but now, with this announcement, they have some hope.”

But he recalled the way the border rules were tightened in November, just weeks after being eased.

“Hopefully this is a lesson, too, and the borders will not close again like they did in November, because that really hurt a lot of people… I hope things will get better from today.” – AFP, February 17, 2022.