Japan Tourism for independent travellers

[Seat0B]

Honestly, I am a very motivated Japan traveller, but all this is doing my head in. The constant shifting ground, the lack of certainty about what you have to do to qualify, the added admin steps....I am all but ready to cancel now.

I will ultimately be guided by the cancellation dates on my various accommodations - some of which are coming up quite soon. I think it looks like a raincheck for the Seat family, and we might try again in 2024. Sad but I am actually over it. I guess it gives me another 12 months to improve my kanji!

I now really appreciate the status extension recently granted by Qantas, as my Japan J trip with DSC was needed to get me over the line to requal for WP.

 

[U-vox]

I just booked flights for Mar/Apr 2023, via Brisbane/Sydney respectively, I did see the MEL direct flight but no rewards seats available...not sure whether they pulled it or just, you know, unavailable.

There are direct flights from Mel. Rewards seats pop out occasionally. I monitored Qantas site for month and snatched rewards seats for July. Will have to cancel of no clarity by the end of December though...

 

[Buzzard]

I rang my TA today to discuss cancelling our cruise. The TA is currently on leave so our decision is on hold.

 

[rbjhan]

There are direct flights from Mel. Rewards seats pop out occasionally. I monitored Qantas site for month and snatched rewards seats for July. Will have to cancel of no clarity by the end of December though...

I dunno...
They just changed my ticketed flight in Nov to go via Sydney.

 

[Buzzard]

Today I spoke to Odyssey Travel in MEL and apparently as an authorised agent they can arrange a visa for me, $100.
I'm going to ring them back, have another chat about it and make an appointment then fly to MEL and have them process our applications.

 

[Cynicor]

Visa or ERFS? Very interested in knowing more if this is the case.

 

[drron]

The Japanese Government website says ERSF only issued by Japanese agencies in Japan.
Some Australian TAs are accredited to apply for visas but those are for group tours.
For independent travel you need an ERSF.

 

[kpc]

We were booked to go to Japan last Easter but had to cancel...we went to Malaysia instead. I love Japan and have been 5x iirc but until this nonsense is sorted out, a return visit to Japan is not on our radar...lots of other countries to go to without all this hassle!

 

[Buzzard]

Visa or ERFS? Very interested in knowing more if this is the case.

I asked about a Visa not ERFS

 

[Pele]

To get a tourist visa you need an ERFS.

 

[ketsuzei]

According to the Nikkei just now, the Kishida government is preparing to scrap the cap on daily entry numbers (currently 50,000) by October if not sooner, and will also consider returning to visa-free entry (including for independent individual tourists).

入国者数の上限撤廃検討　政府、10月までメドに判断　水際対策、個人旅行解禁も調整 - 日本経済新聞

政府は10月までをメドに新型コロナウイルスの水際対策で導入している1日あたりの入国者数の上限を撤廃する調整に入った。現在の1日5万人の制限をなくす。個人旅行客の受け入れの解禁、短期滞在での査証（ビザ）取得の免除もあわせて検討する。主要7カ国（G7）のうち新型コロナ対策で入国者数の上限を設けているのは現時点で日本のみだ。観光やビジネスなど外国人が来日しやすい環境を整え、経済の底上げにつなげる狙い

www.nikkei.com

They’ve also said explicitly “before the autumn/winter tourist season”.

Japan to remove entry cap in 'not-so-distant future,' official says

Japan is reviewing its border control policy of keeping daily entries below 50,000 and will remove it in the "not so distant future," a government spokesman said Sunday. The government will simultaneously relax other restrictions including a visa requirement and the requirement to travel on a...

japantoday.com

 

[Port Power]

According to the Nikkei just now, the Kishida government is preparing to scrap the cap on daily entry numbers (currently 50,000) by October if not sooner, and will also consider returning to visa-free entry (including for independent individual tourists).

入国者数の上限撤廃検討　政府、10月までメドに判断　水際対策、個人旅行解禁も調整 - 日本経済新聞

政府は10月までをメドに新型コロナウイルスの水際対策で導入している1日あたりの入国者数の上限を撤廃する調整に入った。現在の1日5万人の制限をなくす。個人旅行客の受け入れの解禁、短期滞在での査証（ビザ）取得の免除もあわせて検討する。主要7カ国（G7）のうち新型コロナ対策で入国者数の上限を設けているのは現時点で日本のみだ。観光やビジネスなど外国人が来日しやすい環境を整え、経済の底上げにつなげる狙い

www.nikkei.com

They’ve also said explicitly “before the autumn/winter tourist season”.

Japan to remove entry cap in 'not-so-distant future,' official says

Japan is reviewing its border control policy of keeping daily entries below 50,000 and will remove it in the "not so distant future," a government spokesman said Sunday. The government will simultaneously relax other restrictions including a visa requirement and the requirement to travel on a...

japantoday.com

The ski season will bring in so many tourists along with much needed income, so the government is obviously looking to make the best decision for Japan's economy.

 

[Pele]

The Japanese government has never made these decisions with the economy at the forefront of their minds!

With regards to the daily 50,000 tourist cap- i think this is just bureaucracy for the sake of it. When i looked up Japanese tourist numbers pre pandemic they were about 32 million in 2019. Mainland Chinese were by far the largest single market, Hong Kongers and Taiwanese were about 3rd and 4th. Together they accounted for about half of all inbound Japanese tourism. Considering those three markets would currently account for about zero tourists due to their own countries quarrantine restrictions that means there were about 16million tourists from the rest of the world in 2019. The current cap of 50,000 a day annualises to be 18.25million. Basically the cap isnt any impediment to tourism at the moment. It is all the bs and paperwork and vague government guidelines that is restricting tourism.

I think by 1 January 2023(at the latest) tourism will be like the pre pandemic days for Japan. The Japanese diplomatic network isnt set up to suddenly be capable of manually processing 18 million tourist visa's a year, especially after they have been sitting around for the last 2.5 years doing sweet FA.

 

[Seat0B]

According to the Nikkei just now, the Kishida government is preparing to scrap the cap on daily entry numbers (currently 50,000) by October if not sooner, and will also consider returning to visa-free entry (including for independent individual tourists).

入国者数の上限撤廃検討　政府、10月までメドに判断　水際対策、個人旅行解禁も調整 - 日本経済新聞

政府は10月までをメドに新型コロナウイルスの水際対策で導入している1日あたりの入国者数の上限を撤廃する調整に入った。現在の1日5万人の制限をなくす。個人旅行客の受け入れの解禁、短期滞在での査証（ビザ）取得の免除もあわせて検討する。主要7カ国（G7）のうち新型コロナ対策で入国者数の上限を設けているのは現時点で日本のみだ。観光やビジネスなど外国人が来日しやすい環境を整え、経済の底上げにつなげる狙い

www.nikkei.com

They’ve also said explicitly “before the autumn/winter tourist season”.

Japan to remove entry cap in 'not-so-distant future,' official says

Japan is reviewing its border control policy of keeping daily entries below 50,000 and will remove it in the "not so distant future," a government spokesman said Sunday. The government will simultaneously relax other restrictions including a visa requirement and the requirement to travel on a...

japantoday.com

Thank you very much for your postings @ketsuzei. They are very informative and helpful to those of us with limited Japanese.

 

[Fifa]

Things are finally looking up!
I have organised a ski trip for five - JAL flights booked and paid for for February 2023. I have also booked ski packages for 17 nights at two resorts via a Japanese TA based in Sydney (no deposit required but full payment due 2 months before travel). 3 nights in Sapporo and 3 nights in Tokyo have been booked direct with hotels with payment due at check-in.

The exchange rate is really favourable atm so once we get the go-ahead I may pay for half our package at current rates.

 

[Cynicor]

Is it the media article that gives you faith, or something else?

 

[kelvedon]

An article from the BBC reporting that Japan could lift the cap on foreign tourists to lift the economy.

Japan could lift cap on foreign tourists to lift economy

Officials are concerned at the yen's slide to its lowest level against the US dollar in 24 years.

www.bbc.com

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Is it the media article that gives you faith, or something else?

I’m in a similar boat with the bones of a trip booked and it’s both the media and the tanking yen that gives me hope… most media speculation has been pretty close to accurate and the yen is now at 9 year lows and still dropping, if they want to avoid another lost decade they’ll need to stem the tide soon

 

[encryptededdy]

FNN reporting today that individual travel is being worked on for Autumn. Given how most of the past border adjustments were all reported in the media days before announcement, I have quite high hopes that this will lead to an announcement before the end of this month.

【独自】入国者数の上限撤廃や個人旅行解禁の方向で調整　新型コロナの水際対策を大幅緩和｜FNNプライムオンライン

政府は、新型コロナウイルスの水際対策を大幅に緩和し、入国者数の上限の撤廃や個人旅行の解禁を行う方向で調整を進めていることがわかった。政府関係者によると、現在5万人の入国者数の上限を撤廃することや、旅行会社による手配に限定していた航空券や宿泊先についても、直接予約を可能とし、個人旅行を認める方向で調整を進めている。取得に時間がかかることから、外国人旅行客にとってネックとされていた観光ビザも免除する。対象として、ワクチンの3回目接種か入国前の陰性証明書の提示を義務づける方針。急速に進む円安対策とし…

www.fnn.jp

Reuters article in English based on the above FNN article: Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing, Fuji News Network reports

 

[group-of-5]

An article from the BBC reporting that Japan could lift the cap on foreign tourists to lift the economy.

Japan could lift cap on foreign tourists to lift economy

Officials are concerned at the yen's slide to its lowest level against the US dollar in 24 years.

www.bbc.com

Was listening to BBC radio show (via Radio National) very early this morning (5 AM?), and the jist of the reporting from a couple of commentators was that there would be a full opening. The way they were talking, it seemed like a done deal, although the website report above seems to be a little more circumspect.