To slow the coronavirus spread, Japan now bans about a third of the world from entering.
The busy streets of Tokyo.
On April 1, Japan added new measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including denying entry to foreign nationals from a total of 73 countries and regions. The country now bans about one-third of the entire world, including the Americas and Africa.
As such, foreign nationals who have been in those parts of the world within 14 days of their arrival in Japan, will be refused entry.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the new ban will be imposed from Friday, April 3 onwards.
In addition, those with permanent residence status and their spouses (even if the spouses are Japanese), will also be subject to the measure if they return to Japan from any of the listed countries and regions.
Abe added: “We have decided to strengthen our border control measures on the back of explosive increases in infections overseas, mainly in Europe and the United States.”
Among the 49 newly added countries to the ban are Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan, Morocco, and the United States, along with most of Europe and many countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ban will also be broadened to include China and South Korea.
Starting from Friday until end-April, all incoming travelers will be required to self-quarantine and refrain from using public transportation for 14 days. Plus, all Japanese returnees will be asked to undergo virus tests, to slow the rate of imported cases.
Meanwhile, visitors from lockdown European countries such as France and Italy have already been barred from entering Japan.
The visas issued at all of the country’s embassies and consulates located in countries that are not covered by the entry ban, as well as all visa waivers—will all be suspended starting on Friday through the end of April.
Restriction areas include the following:
- Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, and Morocco
- Asia: Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
- Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican
- Latin America & the Caribbean: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, and Panama
- North America: Canada, and the United States
- Oceania: Australia, New Zealand
- Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Israel, and Turkey
