Japan reopened its doors to foreign tourists on Tuesday, completely lifting restrictions on its borders in place for nearly two and a half years to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am happy to be in Tokyo, it is a very, very old dream come true,” said Adi Bromshtine, 69, interviewed at Tokyo-Haneda International Airport on Tuesday morning upon arrival from Tokyo.
“We were planning this trip even before the pandemic and we wait, we wait,” added this retiree.
Trips postponed three times
Visitors from 68 countries and territories have again been granted a visa waiver for tourist stays in Japan from Tuesday, if they can provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test taken less than three days before departure.
The archipelago, which received a record number of 31.9 million foreign visitors in 2019, abruptly closed its borders in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In 2021, less than 250,000 foreign visitors were able to set foot on Japanese soil.
“We bought our tickets more than two years ago, but we had to postpone this trip three times,” said Ngoc Hieu Nguyen, 57, who arrived with his wife from Toulon via Munich on Tuesday.
The Japanese government had opened the door to tourists since June, but only as part of package tours. This device had been lightened at the beginning of September to authorize individual stays, but still through a travel agency.
Source: BFM TV
