[UPDATED 27th May 2022]

More great news for you today: According to The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan will now allow foreign tourists to enter the country via package tours from June 10 (Friday) ahead of a full resumption of inbound tourism. International flights will also be expanded to cover Sapporo's New Chitose Airport and Okinawa's Naha Airport ?

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Foreign Tourists Can Now Travel To Japan

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Japan has already begun accepting a limited number of tourists on a trial basis from four countries - the US, Australia, Thailand and Singapore. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, travellers from these four countries will be allowed to enter Japan as long as they have received three Covid-19 vaccinations and are part of a government-approved tour group with a fixed itinerary ?

In addition to reopening borders to tourists, the government is also set to double its daily entry cap from 10,000 to 20,000 people in June, according to Timeout. Other entry rules to Japan that has been eased including exempting some people from testing on arrival and quarantine rules – depending on the country or region they are coming from!

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To be exempt from arrival testing and quarantine procedures, countries and regions will be divided into three groups depending on their current Covid-19 situation: blue, yellow or red.

Travellers from areas such as Singapore and Malaysia with the lowest infection rate will be designated as blue (from 36 countries) and will be exempt from arrival testing and quarantine – regardless of vaccination status.

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Travellers from the yellow group will be exempt from arrival testing and quarantine if they have a vaccination certificate. However, on-arrival testing and quarantine still applies to those who cannot provide a valid vaccination certificate, or are not fully vaccinated. Countries and regions designated as red will still be required to do an arrival PCR test and self-isolate.

However, travellers from all three groups must still provide a proof of a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours prior to their departure for Japan. Nevertheless, this sound exciting for us fans of all things Japanese! ? For a full list of countries and more information, you can check it out via this link!

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Since tours are only accepted for now, here are some options of tour agencies you can check out in Singapore (Chan Brothers & EU Holidays) and Malaysia (Sedunia Travel & Golden Tropics Travel)!