Japan reopening to FITs

PM Fumio Kishida announces reopening of Japan to mass tourism

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in NYC on Friday, Mr. Kishida said that on October 11 Japan will relax border controls to be "on a par with the US" and "resume visa-free and individual travel."

Currently Japan limits daily entry by tourists to 50,000 people, all of whom must be on organized tours. Under those conditions, only about 8000 foreign tourists visited Japan in July 2022.

Although winter is a popular season for visiting Japan, restrictions on outbound travel from China and limited air connectivity that needs to be rebuilt will likely present challenges for Japan inbound for the rest of this year.