Acceptance of Foreign Tourists (in National Isolation as of 04/04/2022)

In conclusion, as of April 4th, 2022, Japan is still in seclusion and is not yet ready to receive foreign tourists.

Even the business/residence track is not in operation, according to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unfortunately, it seems that the acceptance of foreign tourists is still a long way off, and Japan will be left further and further behind the rest of the world. Probably, the number of Japanese traveling from Japan to other countries during the GW season in late April~early May will increase from last year. After these Japanese return to their home countries and see how the infected people are faring, I suspect that some sort of action will be taken.

It is said that the first step is to accept the students who have been issued VISAs so far, but it is calculated to take more than half a year to complete the process. From a business standpoint, one has to scratch one’s head and wonder if this approach is the right one. However, it is also a question of whether they are prepared to accept the students during this period.

Although we were urged upon our return and entry to Japan to insert three types of applications, we used only one during the quarantine period. We did not see any system deployment, such as reading QR codes at restaurant entrances, which is the case in other countries. Is the thinking that since waterfront measures are in place, if they can be prevented at the point of entry, it will be okay? Have they not thought about what to do in case some infectious disease spreads domestically? Vaccine passport app, what is this for? Of course, this Japanese app is completely useless overseas. I have never used it in Japan either. I am handed several sheets of paper at the airport to download a mysterious app.

The mysterious country will become more and more mysterious with this isolation. I will update you with any progress regarding the acceptance of foreign tourists. May that day come soon.

外国人観光客受け入れについて結論から言うと、2022年4月4日現在、日本は未だ鎖国中で、外国人観光客の受け入れはまだ先と思われる。

外務省の公式サイトを見ても、ビジネス・レジデンストラックですら、稼働していない。残念だが、外国人観光客の受入れはまだ先になりそうで、世界から益々取り残されていく。恐らく、4月下旬~5月上旬のGWで日本から海外へ旅行に行く日本人は昨年より増えるだろう。その日本人が帰国し、感染者の様子を見て何らかの措置が取られるのではないかと思う。

まずはこれまでにVISAを発給している学生の受入れが先とされているが、半年以上かかる計算で、この方法が正論かはビジネス的な観点から見ると首をかしげざるをえない。しかし、この間受け入れ態勢を整えているのかと言えば、その辺りも微妙である。アプリを３種類入れるよう帰国・入国の際には促されるが、使用したのは隔離期間に１種のみ。他の国である、レストラン入口でQRコードを読み込むなどのシステム展開は目にしない。水際対策はしっかりしているから、入国時に防げたら大丈夫という考えなのだろうか？国内で何らかの感染症が広がった時の対策は考えていないのだろうか？ワクチンパスポートアプリ、これは何に使うのだろうか。海外では勿論日本のこのアプリは全く使い物にならない。国内でも使用したことはない。謎のアプリをダウンロードさせるために何枚もの紙を空港で手渡される。

謎の国は、この鎖国で益々謎の国になっていくのだろう。また、外国人観光客の受入れに関して進捗があれば、情報を更新したいと思う。早くその日が訪れますように。