Japan reopens its borders to tourists more than two years after the start of the Covid

Foreign travelers land at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday, October 11, 2022. REUTERS - ISSEI KATO

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Japan is reopening its borders on Tuesday, October 11 to foreign tourists traveling individually after having closed them since the start of the pandemic, almost two and a half years ago.

The country is lifting all its health restrictions and is banking on the weak yen to revive tourism.

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With our correspondent in Tokyo,

Wearing a mask, even if it is not compulsory, remains compulsory, hotels have the right to dismiss customers who refuse to wear it.

But other than that, foreign tourists coming to Japan will feel like they're rolling in gold.

Even more so if, before their departure, they buy a Japanese rail pass to travel from one end of the archipelago to the other, at very good cost.

The yen has lost 25% of its value

since the start of the year.

Japan hopes that the depreciation of its currency will attract foreign tourists, which will allow it to offset the decline in domestic consumption.

The prices of plane tickets remain, alas, high.

It is necessary to count between 1,500 and 2,000 euros for a direct return flight Paris-Tokyo.

Chinese make up a third of foreign visitors

However, until China reopens its borders, foreign tourist arrivals to Japan will not return to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, Chinese accounted for a third of the 32 million foreign visitors to Japan.

No more visa requirements for individual visitors from 68 countries, including the European Union and the United States.

All you have to do is present a vaccination certificate against Covid-19 or a negative test.

Taking into account the reluctance of its population, at the beginning of June, the Japanese government had authorized the first foreign tourists to enter the country, but within

under close surveillance.

Almost no one had come.

Now Japan is truly opening up to foreign visitors.

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• Japan

• Tourism

• Coronavirus