avirus disease pandemic in Narita, east of Tokyo, Japan, on Nov 30, 2021.TOKYO - Japan will ease border controls imposed to counter the pandemic, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday , softening measures that have been among the strictest imposed by wealthy nations and have been slammed by business and educators.
"We will permit the entrance of foreigners except for tourists," he said. Measures would be eased gradually and depend on a number of conditions, including the infection rates in other nations, Kishida said. Japan, which has effectively been sealed off to non-residents for two years, briefly eased its border controls late in 2021 but tightened them again just weeks later as the Omicron variant emerged overseas.Japan currently designates 82 nations as "high risk" and requires a week of quarantine, including three or six days at a hotel, for many. Two weeks of quarantine were required until mid-January.
For Kishida, who faces a crucial election in July, deciding when and how to change the measures has been tricky, said political analyst Atsuo Ito.
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