Last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that "the total number of visas issued at all the Embassies, Consulates and Consular offices of Japan in 2021 was 90,306, a decrease of approximately 92% from 2020." This decrease was due to the border control measures against the spread of COVID-19, which resulted in many critics calling the measures "Sakoku 2.0". 40% of the total number of visas were issued to Vietnamese, Chinese, and American applicants, in order of most to least.
This announcement came at the same time that Japan opened its borders (slightly) to welcome in small tour groups in limited amounts. As of June 17, more than 1,300 people have applied to travel to Japan in one of these guided tours. The head of the Japan Tourism Agency said at a press conference that over 300 applications were received for Juen, with around 1,000 from July onward.
Tour participants are required to wear masks during the course of their stay and to also take out medical insurance in case they contract COVID-19. Participants are also warned that they may not be able to travel if they are unable to follow the guidelines.
Currently, nationals of 98 countries are eligible to apply for these tour packages, including people from the United States, the UK, China, and South Korea. The 98 countries were chosen due to their low-risk status for COVID-19 transmission.
As with other major changes in policy, this change to allow tour groups isn't without criticism, but others say they are happy that the country is reopening. Although the concept of "returning to normal" is different for whoever is asked, it is important to reduce risk of coronavirus transmission in whatever government policies are made.
