The arrivals of passengers wait for novel coronaviruses antigen tests in a quarantine area at Narita Airport in November. Asahi Shimbun file photo Japan will be able to relax restrictions on people entering the country from June 1, including waiving COVID- 19 tests and self-quarantine periods for passengers arriving from low-risk areas, the government announced on May 20.
The government will look at the infection situations in countries and regions and categorize them into three groups: red, yellow and blue.
Passengers from the red group, the riskiest category in terms of infections, will have to take the virus tests upon arrival and isolate at designated quarantine facilities for three days.
If they have received three vaccine shots, they can self-quarantine at home but still have to take the tests upon arrival.
People in the middle-risk yellow group will have to take virus tests and self-quarantine at home for three days. If they have received booster shots of the COVID- 19 vaccine, both requirements will be waived.
Even if they have not received their booster shots, those in the low-risk blue group will be exempted from the tests and quarantine rules.
The government will announce the countries and regions for each group next week.
It will increase the daily upper limit of new arrivals from 10,000 to 20,000 on June 1.
In November 2021, Japan banned entry of foreign nationals. The border restrictions were loosened due to the infection situation in the country.
The government will allow a small number of foreign tourists to enter Japan on an experimental basis this month. Foreign tourists have been denied entry into the country since early 2020.