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Latest Coronavirus News From Japan
Last updated 09 May 2023, 00:00 BST
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On May 8, 2023, the Japanese government lifted the level 3 travel advisory aimed at Japanese nationals, which had warned to avoid travelling to as many as 159 nations and territories since 2020 (Kyodo News). This was in line with the World Health Organisation's announcement that the Covid-19 health emergency phase is over (BBC news).
After stating it would cease Covid-related entry requirements to the country from May 8, 2023 (Kyodo News), the Japanese government brought this date forward and officially removed entry restrictions on April 29, 2023 (Kyodo News). This measure was in line with Covid-19 being classified as a common disease. Travellers no longer need to provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test regardless of vaccination status. For more details on current travel status to Japan, you can check our Japan latest entry requirements page.
As a recap, in October 2022 the requirement to get a visa was dropped for passport holders of countries including the UK, most of Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Later, there were some minor restrictions introduced in response to the latest Covid-19 outbreak in China in December 2022, though these only related to flights coming from this country.
it's worth noting since September 2022 there was no longer a pre-departure PCR test requirement for triple vaccinated travellers (NHK News).
Vaccinations are full steam ahead with over 82% of Japan's population fully vaccinated. Booster shots are rolling out at an ever-increasing rate, with the government announcing on July 23rd that fourth vaccine shots are now available to medical staff and care home workers, besides the elderly and vulnerable (Japan Today).
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What are Japan's coronavirus restrictions?
Compared to the strict restrictions seen across many countries since the pandemic began in 2020, Japan got by with minimal restrictions on day-to-day life. The Japanese constitution prevents the government from enforcing a lockdown, which would be considered an infringement on personal freedoms. Until February 2021, its only recourse was to declare a “state of emergency” in regions where cases were rising. This meant that restrictions on movement and working hours could be suggested, but not be enforced.
Now “state of emergency” free and with borders fully open, Japan is welcoming inbound tourism back.
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What is life like in Japan in 2023?
For the most part, day-to-day life in Japan changed little during the pandemic — though this varied from region to region. Tokyo, for instance, saw the highest numbers and stricter guidelines, while rural preferences such as Iwate saw almost no cases and very few restrictions.
As in most of the world, there have also been some small but noticeable changes to daily life. Many establishments still have plastic screens, sanitisers, and stickers on the ground to illustrate social distancing - even if they are not enforced. Local train operators operate with open windows, plastic sheets and dividers in restaurants and cafés have mostly been removed from tables, but are still in place at cashiers, and whether inside or outside, you will see that many people are choosing to continue wearing masks. The diligent adherence to hygiene habits by the general public is certainly a testament to why Japan has come through well throughout the pandemic.
After borders fully opened, both the influx of international tourism and a more relaxed attitude toward internal travel have breathed life once again into major tourist sites such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Tokyo Skytree and different museums and sights along the country. Restaurants have seen near-normal numbers of visitors, and are likely to go back to pre-pandemic levels soon as overseas travellers continue to visit the country. People continue commuting to work on public transport despite past efforts to promote working from home, and businesses are generally operating normal hours.
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How is Japan doing compared to other countries in 2022?
Due to the huge number of variables, it is notoriously difficult to draw conclusions about different national responses to the pandemic. Different countries test, record and release data in different ways, and this can easily distort statistics — sometimes wildly. The bottom line is this: take everything you hear with a big pinch of salt.
With that said, here are the official statistics: Japan has seen over 13,000,000 cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, and over 32,000 people have died following a positive test result.
On their own, these numbers don’t really tell us very much. A better way to put it in perspective is to look at the daily cases and deaths per million.
Another useful comparison is to look at “excess deaths”, which means the number of deaths above what would have been expected under “normal” conditions. This can be more revealing than just looking at deaths from Covid-19, since it takes a more holistic view of the effects of the pandemic on mortality.
For example, The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine reported that during 2020 the UK had a cumulative excess mortality rate of 10.5% above the five-year average, while the USA recorded a 12.9% increase. By contrast, countries such as South Korea, Iceland, Denmark and Norway saw reductions in excess deaths of up to -4.3% over the same period. Though Japan was not included in these figures, an academic from Tokushima University published a study showing that Japan also saw a net decrease in excess deaths during 2020 compared with the previous four years.
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Why has Japan fared well over the pandemic?
What is most striking from these above statistics are the all-round low numbers. Confirmed cases, deaths, active cases and numbers tested are still low in Japan compared with other hotspots around the world (Japan Times). So why is this?
Numerous theories have been provided so far. These range from the more reasonable — the sheer number of vaccinations administered (BBC News), early and effective communication to avoid closed, crowded spaces with close contact, and cultural norms of mask-wearing (New York Times) — to the more far-fetched. For example, some have argued that Japanese is spoken more delicately than other languages and therefore speakers emit fewer spit particles! (Business Insider)
Whatever the reasons for Japan’s overall success, it seems that we can be cautiously optimistic. Something they’re doing is clearly working.
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