TOKYO (Reuters) – Foreign tourists visiting Japan will be required to wear masks, take out private medical insurance and be chaperones for the duration of their stay, the government said on Tuesday as it is gradually reopening the country to international visitors after a two-year pandemic .
Only visitors on tour packages will be allowed to travel to Japan during the first phase of the reopening, starting June 10, the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) said, adding that travel agency guides accompanying visitors will have to ensure that they wear their mask.
“Tour guides should frequently remind tour participants of necessary infection prevention measures, including wearing and removing masks, at every stage of the tour,” the JTA said.
“Even outdoors, mask-wearing should continue in situations where people are conversing in close proximity to each other.”
Visitors have not been allowed into Japanese territory since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, during which the country imposed some of the strictest border controls in the world.
The government has recently started to relax mask-wearing guidelines for the general public, even though their use was already common before the pandemic.
Japan, whose tourism sector is an important economic pillar, welcomed 31.9 million foreign visitors in 2019, who spent 4.81 trillion yen (33.97 billion euros).
(Reportage Maki Shiraki and Rocky Swift in Tokyo, French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Kate Entringer)
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