Japan's loosening of COVID-19 entry restrictions may keep citizens wearing masks

… the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in London in September, in which Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako participated without face masks …

I hope this worldwide trend toward unmasking will help Japan residents overcome their domestic masking paranoia. In particular, if Japan residents, like the emperor, are not going to wear masks when traveling outside Japan, isn’t it rather hypocritical to expect visitors to don face masks inside Japan?

People would wear them regardless.

OK, horrible infection rate when masks are being used. If the foreigner cannot wear the mask then how can infection rate go down from now? So, let's now know that if someone who has 3 shots of the covid19 vaccine comes back to Japan they might have covid, but how can they know if no test? So, the worst covid infection must be from someone who does not have the 3 shots, so blocked because they have the test and failed! It is brilliant policy. The foreigners shall flock to Japan.

Let's face it, Japanese are going to keep wearing masks no matter what. It's been several months since Kishida went out of his way to announce they aren't necessary outdoors, yet almost all Japanese wear them anyway! Women in particular tend to go all out on makeup every time they step outside, so wearing a mask actually saves them time, and they aren't likely wanting to go back to the way it was before.

Foreigners should wear masks, it’s clearly not following the rules. If tourists are not wearing masks, certainly they are going to mask’s inside the train. They should be penalized for not wearing masks.

How does the caption writer know that the people in the photo are 'foreign visitors'?

The time has come for us to stop being dictated to by society's most afraid and illogical.

It's time for them to get their heads out of that two and a half year fear bubble and try thinking clearly and objectively for a change.

You think? I'll keep mine on thank you very much!!

Thats fine- Mask up wherever you want - collect as many vax stamps as you desire - Then pls let the incoming tourists and the rest of us get on with our lives in peace as you are already "protected". Maybe even speak up for us that its a choice.

And here the phobia will return that the citizens will be freaked out that the virus will spread quicker when in reality, cases were at its peak DURING these strict quarantine measures. News flash: it’s not because of the foreign people. Just please treat everyone with respect.

Even my Japanese wife has started to notice that solo drivers are wearing masks, it’s really weird to see a couple wearing them in their car, do they sleep in the same room wearing masks?. It would appear that the Flock of tourists just aren’t that welcome.

… mask-wearing has become a daily custom among citizens …

We see the term “custom” being used more frequently to explain Japan’s masking.

Pre-COVID, masks were mostly used as a temporary, short-term measure to address seasonal allergies or the common cold or influenza.

Japan's drastic easing of COVID-19 border controls

Drastic? You mean being the last G7 nation to normalise travel again? That drastic?

Let people wear a mask if they want. But also let people who don't want to wear one do as they please. Unfortunately, this requires admitting that masks to little to nothing to prevent infection. That will never be allowed to happen. It would leave the door open to admitting that the vaccine does little to prevent infection. Also that asymptomatic spread is a statistical non-issue. Another point that would then lead up to question PCR as a valid diagnostic tool. Too many potential questions so just please wear a mask and get your booster. Also, when it comes to Science, don't do your own research.

Let's see what have we learned from heavily-masked populations over 2022.

They prevent infection (Nope).

They prevent transmission (Nope).

They prevent deaths (Nope).

They prevent ICU admission (Nope).

They prevent hospitalization (Nope).

They are effective (Nope).

They might be safe (

Edit: They might be safe (We are currently here)

Aren’t we done with the “you gotta wear a mask to protect others” nonsense?

even the vaccine was not tested for transmission so all that “think of others” was crap as we always knew.

The irony of everything the government does here never ceases to amaze me.

They removed the requirement to get a PCR test if you have had 3 shots… and a negative PCR test is required otherwise…. So in effect the only tourists that are most likely to be bringing the virus to Japan are those who have had the 3 or more shots since they don’t need to be checked with a PCR…. Case in point,  Kishida got Covid after having had the shot 4 times. So basically Japan’s stance is… if you have had 3 or more shots… you have the right to bring Covid into Japan whilst those with 2 or less shots don’t.

Having said all that, In all likelihood it’s the tourists who have more of a chance of catching Covid whilst here from the locals than the other way around…

As to the masks… well the government guidelines say its ok to NOT wear them outdoors… so if foreign visitors don’t do so outside why should this even be a topic of conversation or have their photo splashed across a news site?

Personally I am inclined to wear a mask to protect me from infection via the coronavirus-infested Japanese citizens.

Well no, not really….

But it is pretty funny given how many Japanese people have already had it, to suggest they might be worried about getting it from us foreigners.

I do think masks are a bit old at this point, but at least I would opt to wear one on trains and the like.

And if Japanese people wanna cling to their masks, let them. Just don’t enforce any person, Japanese or foreigner, to wear one.

The kids have the "Why do I have to hang out with my folks?" look on their faces.

Ego Sum Lux Mundi

How does the caption writer know that the people in the photo are 'foreign visitors'?

She added, "I wanted the prime minister to refrain from taking steps to invite more foreigners to Japan for tourism. I'm seriously worried about infection."

Some Japanese people really do believe that we as tourists will infect them, regardless of the fact that with so few foreigners visiting Japan the infection rate is still high. We aren't the cause of Japan's high infection rates.

I think some Japanese people will never accept foreign tourists welcomingly ever again.

I must say I find it gruesomely fascinating to see how Japan is going to extricate itself from this mask dead-end.

She[Horoko-san] added, "I wanted the prime minister to refrain from taking steps to invite more foreigners to Japan for tourism. I'm seriously worried about infection."

Umm lady, you've likely already had it. Just no symtoms. The reckon almost 100% of us have had it at least once now. Just stop living in fear already.

Japan again doing what it does best, contorting itself into confusion and fear over an issue. Meanwhile the rest of the world has moved on. Just keep wearing those masks Japanese people.

Japanese will wear masks forever.

terminating its strict border controls, some of the most stringent among the world's major economies.

NO it didn't. Triple vaccine OR 72hour pre departure pcr test measures are still in place.

The majority of Japanese wearing masks are not doing so for disease control, it's now a form of social control.

"Look at me in my mask, I'm a good citizen."

On a train or in a shop fine but the moment you step out of your house? Stop it!

The fearmongering us against them rhetoric has started, I see.

All Japanese tourists here in Scandinavia are enjoying life without masks.

"Since May 20, the government has been proposing that face masks be taken off in certain circumstances, both outside and inside, but even during the harsh summer months this year, many Japanese people wore masks everywhere."

"Many", you mean 95 %, right?

Japan's drastic easing of COVID-19 border controls may bode well for the pandemic-hit domestic tourism sector, but it could raise fears that the first inflow of visa-free foreign travelers in more than two years could spread infections at home further.

Don't care!

Hiroko Tanaka, a 39-year-old housewife who lives in Tokyo, told Kyodo News, "Even if the prime minister gives a clear green light for us to take off masks inside buildings, I'll keep putting on masks until we can easily buy a drug for coronavirus at a pharmacy." She added, "I wanted the prime minister to refrain from taking steps to invite more foreigners to Japan for tourism. I'm seriously worried about infection."

Imagine saying something this incredibly misinformed and stupid.

Someone tell me, if these vaccines are so effective, why are people here still terrified?

Been vaccinated 3 times & I & the people around me were wearing masks when I contracted covid. So, not much ( no ) faith in the masks. I do wear a mask when going indoors just as to not be ridiculed by the clueless people around me. Also believe the government sends mix messages partly intentionally as to keep the people confused & afraid. Then they are easier to control.

Well done Japan! You are only six months behind the rest of the world on this one. (roll eyes)

Japanese people will continue to wear masks for the foreseeable future, not because of foreigners visiting, but because project fear continues unabated. Everywhere you go, you are still asked to wear masks, disinfect hands, sit behind plastic screens and check body temperatures. Until people just start to accept that this virus isn't going anywhere, that it is, or is at least becoming endemic and that most people will eventually be infected and will in most cases make a full recovery, then the mask-wearing obsession will continue.

I haven’t see one persons face in 3 miserable years, nor a smile or any facial expression. Was back in aust for several weeks back and people were smiling and I saw faces! Not here !

Thanks to those non mask wearing tourists, keep it up.

""Although Japan no longer has an official mask mandate, mask-wearing has become a daily custom among citizens for over two years since the outbreak raged in early 2020.""

People here wear masks for several reasons and we are not about to discuss them, COVID just happened to be one of them.

As soon as people get into hotels, izakaya, bars and restaurants they can fling the mask off, no issues. Certainly not needed outdoors.

Wearing one on trains, buses and shops is a small price to pay for harmony. Japanese will never abandon mask wearing now. Too entrenched.

I have first hand experience on multiple occasions of traveling to the USA this year and watching Japanese coworkers and tourist promptly remove their masks after arriving there. I don’t care one bit if tourists visiting Japan wear a mask or not. There is a bit too much hypocrisy around this topic and I think the media stories add to it. Just do as you wish and if you are really that worried, then don’t go to the tourist spots or restaurants.

"Many", you mean 95 %, right?

Where in Japan are you based? Around here (Kanto area) it seems closer to 99.9% masked (or 1 in 1000 maskless) on the streets at least. And perhaps 80% masked up when driving.

They're certainly scared of something. To get a feel for how out of whack it has become here, get this: I went into a restaurant the other day. Had to mask up and sanitise my hands at the door before being allowed to enter. After sitting at the table, I was allowed to demask. When finished eating, I chatted maskless for a while with my colleague (also unmasked) and then masked up, paid and left fully masked. That is insanity.

Reasons why people here love their Masks,

Keeps the nose and the cold winter air a little warmer.

Keeps the spring pollens out

Keeps the yellow sand storms sand out of the lungs.

Keeps the smoke and burning trash fumes out of the lungs.

Keeps the wet and humid air out of the lungs.

Hides all natural blemishes and skin problem.

It sends a Don't Bother me message to some men or even women.

Before COVID many young women used the mask as tool to hide their makeup or Identity.

Other than that people don't really like to wear masks but they are worried about getting infected.

Everywhere you go, you are still asked to wear masks, disinfect hands, sit behind plastic screens and check body temperatures.

Funny, at a major university hospital last week a few times and I didn’t experience that.

Tanaka-san is in for the long ride it seems. If the general public is as “smart” as her, the masks will never come off even though they are useless. Magic mask prevails in Japan.

Japan needs better mental health support.

So a foreigner gets off the plane, goes straight to asakusa, grabs an alcoholic drink and takes off his mask and starts parading around. Of course, it will get looks and comments. This is Japan.

She added, "I wanted the prime minister to refrain from taking steps to invite more foreigners to Japan for tourism. I'm seriously worried about infection."

Imagine being this ignorant, and thinking it's ok to say such things.

Idiotic.

Foreigners should wear masks, it’s clearly not following the rules.

Which rule, social pressure?

The journalist did on purpose choose a picture with no mask foreigners

I'll keep putting on masks until we can easily buy a drug for coronavirus at a pharmacy

You will cure like I did as well as over 95% without any drug. And then finally realize your over-fear

Masks don't stop infection or transmission but are terrible for the environment and children's social development.

Covid is here, is it not going away, stop blaming foreigners for it. How thick are some people?

One of the people in the photo with the foreigners isn't wearing a mask and she's Japanese.

You mean the chin-mask person? She seems to be with the foreigners so she doesn't count.

I couldn't find any other Japanese without masks but I could be wrong. Got me thinking, Japan should come out with a Where's Waldo type game where you find the person without a mask.

Was at the F1 Grand Prix on the weekend... Many Japanese were loosing the masks after mixing with gaijins that also weren't bothering... In the Paddock we were all having fun without masks and 75% of people there were Japanese.

"Japan's drastic easing of COVID-19 border controls may bode well for the pandemic-hit domestic tourism sector, but it could raise fears that the first inflow of visa-free foreign travelers in more than two years could spread infections at home further."

Enough with the xenophobia and/or outright racism, Japan. The nation was LEADING the world in new infections until even a few months back or less, when next to ZERO foreigners were coming in. When you allowed Japanese off the Diamond Princess and to go home via public transport, and the spreading started, it wasn't the foreigners still trapped on the ship.

therougou: "Got me thinking, Japan should come out with a Where's Waldo type game where you find the person without a mask."

I guess it'd be that one page in the odd book where EVERYONE in the pic is waldo, because out of every single person I saw walking outside or saw inside today, maybe 5% were wearing their masks properly, and most not wearing one at all. This was just on the news earlier, with the Foreign Minister being asked why inbound foreign tourists were being required to wear masks when Japanese were not, and he answered that most Japanese do, except when there are places with partitions that they can take them off and talk at. It's a ridiculous answer for a number of reasons. 1) it's a lie. 2) a partition with an airborne virus is about as useful as one side of a restaurant being non-smoking and the other smoking (with no wall and the latter not being an enclosed space).

Who are we kidding!?

Tourists or not nothing has changed, everywhere I go masks are mandatory as is having to use disinfectant and often temperature.

The mask is one thing but everywhere in the world they stopped the disinfectant as it clearly is overkill and does nothing.

The same for taking temperature.

I was in OK store and watching people walking in grab a first full of paper towels pump a load of disinfectant and wipe down the shopping cart!

The restaurant as we ate get told not to talk without masks.

This has been the situation without tourists, so please stop, it seems that the Japanese public and businesses are not ready and may never be ready to stop these things, even my cardiologist clinic has me take my temperature and use disinfectant just to renew my prescription.

I keep wondering what will I due if I have a cold and need my heart meds or treatment at the same time.

If I have a fever are they going to tell me to leave.

Time to stop the stupidity, we are mostly vaccinated and with that will mostly not get seriously ill at this point no different than influenza.

Time to live normally

Wear a mask if you want and respect someone else's choice to not wear one.

How does the caption writer know that the people in the photo are 'foreign visitors'?

She doesn’t know unless she asked. That aside, she likely had a hunch. Me, too.

For these reasons which are just hunches:

(1) Four white gaijin walking together in a famous Tokyo attraction.

(2) Man wearing a day pack.

(3) Man carrying a drink while walking.*

(4) Companions (probably family) looking tired and bored after being dragged to the 5th temple of the day.

My Nihonjin spouse would not allow me to drink or eat while walking in such a public place. She’s very traditional.

As far as being unmasked… masking up is torture on a warm day. Maybe they all have had 4 jabs and both feel safe and no threat to those around them. Logical. Science-based. But nothing about the mask up campaign since 2020 was actually science based.

Me, I remove my mask the first chance I get, but I don’t travel in crowds.

I agree with Antique, it’s all daft and looks terribly silly to the rest of the world. Not so strict in Osaka as Tokyo it seems, haven’t worn a mask at all for a few weeks and had no comments yet. Mind you I am wearing one now, on a flight up North with my partner for a well earned break.

Go ahead and mask up if you are afraid, not my business to say take it off. But some of these rules to me just don't make any logical sense. For example, whenever you go to a public bathhouse, everyone takes off their mask and starts talking in close proximity around the changing rooms and bathing areas. As soon as they get out of the changing room, it's masks on again. Probably not a good idea to re-use a bacteria infested mask that you previously wore before going in again after bathing.

For any tourist coming to Japan please note - There are no laws regarding mask usage but hotels can now refuse you entry if an outbreak is occuring and they choose to discriminate against the fresh-air breathing types that don't want a useless mask that is harmful to our environment and children.

If they choose to discriminate, please feel free to tell trip advisor or social media so people can discriminate against visting their businesses too.

It only fair.

Government might have to start implementing mask bans to put an end to it alll!

falseflagsteve

Today 07:54 pm JST

Kyoto last week and it was wall to wall masks with the exception of Gion where restaurants all masked up bars nothing.

Tokyo it is masks nearly everywhere!

What a joke! People from countries with fewer cases than Japan had this year have to be feared now because they are foreigners.

Of the 3 countries visited in the last year ,Japan was where I caught Covid.

However, having been for several months and socializing on many occasions sans mask, I have yet to contract it again-lucky or immune?

She added, "I wanted the prime minister to refrain from taking steps to invite more foreigners to Japan for tourism. I'm seriously worried about infection."

Seriously is she from Tokyo??? Sounds more like a provincial bumpkin.

Thank god the naughty "foreigners" are coming to make Japan wake up!

Mask up against the barbarians! Seriously? Science has shown paper masks do nothing against Corona. Get with it people. Nothing much has changed in Japan since I lived there in the 80s, other than they have cell phones now,

What a spurious claim considering that Japan has been free of tourists for years and the virus has been rampant!

How many tourists will go home with Covid having picked it up in Japan?

@kurisupisu

Agree. Japan got hit hard despite no tourists and universal vaccination and mask use.

Remember "follow the science"? Funny, no one mentions it now. Mask use indoors has little, if any, effect- they're totally useless outdoors.

Masks aren't going anywhere until the elementary/jr high/high schools stop enforcing them. Then it'll filter through the rest of the community. Next April (next academic year's start) would be a good time to put an end to it once and for all.

I run my own eikaiwa, and I'd love to just be done with masks come April, by which the next inevitable corona wave from the tourists dies down.

I hope government don’t work at ‘the speed of science’ like Pfizer do. We don’t need any deception in case the tourists lose trust and don’t come here. Vaccine and PCR requirements are meaningless for visitors unless they are also required for daily life for the countries population.

Japan's loosening of COVID-19 entry restrictions may keep citizens wearing masks

So What? Does that bother you ?

@Jay - that list was a copy-paste from why the vaccinations don't work, even Pfizer exec admitted it doesn't stop transmission - one of the great lies of this decade.

Japanese people feel comfortable wearing face-masks as it leads to a greater sense of security within an environment that has the potential of transmissibility of an infection. Even one of the women I used to see wandering around out local shops during the height of the Pandemic without a face-mask, is now wearing one. Sure, they may not be 100% effective, but would you rather that we all walk around in Biohazard suits instead ?

Opening the borders to Foreigners has become a necessity rather than a nicety. Along with that decision comes consequences, one of which will be, a resurgence of infections - we just have to put up with it. Thankfully, Hospitals should not be better prepared in dealing with these infections and not simply turning patients away, indeed it's becoming harder to distinguish COVID from other common ailments - such as the Common Cold.

Along with that decision comes consequences, one of which will be, a resurgence of infections

Are you sure? So the 8th wave will be blamed on foreigners, even if there is no evidence?

The rules are rules if you don't like it then don't come . Typical westerners forcing what they want on others.

This "safety" of masks has further embedded a fear of co-mingling with others.

Every single aspect of human life in public has been made unbearably and unnecessarily isolating and bleak...

Welcome your dollars, foreigners, but don't interrupt our delusions, if you please...

Japan's loosening of COVID-19 entry restrictions may keep citizens wearing masks

Japanese citizens are wearing masks anyway.

They were wearing them, on the advice of medical professionals, even when the WHO agency advised that people not wear masks unless sick.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/world/coronavirus-who-masks-recommendation-trnd/index.html

They were wearing them, on the advice of medical professionals, even when the WHO agency advised that people not wear masks unless sick.

Japanese people wore masks when symptomatic, which goes completely along the recommendations done by Japanese experts as well as international health authorities like the WHO.

This is completely justified because it was what was supported by evidence, and specially with the important scarcity of masks that also happened in Japan and that made it necessary to prioritize their use exactly when their effect was already proved, which is in hospitals and dealing with symptomatic patients.

Just had some visitors from my hometown of Perth to our kids karate dojo here in Fukui and the Aussies couldn't believe kids were all wearing masks during training. They were right to wonder too, enough is enough.

Just sent out a memo to the parents saying masks are no longer necessary during training and that the choice is theirs to take them off or not. If someone doesn't get the ball rolling the blasted things will stay on forever here. Breaking the fear takes a bit of courage, but kids shouldn't have to suffer. ( poor little things stick to the 'rules' too ) and it's been horrible watching them panting and struggling to breathe. Time is now to get them off.

Toru Hashimoto, a former Osaka governor and now a political commentator, said in a TV program on Monday that Kishida "has totally lost a chance" to urge the public to take off face masks as he called on foreign guests to wear them at the state funeral for Abe.

Hashimoto knows whats what.

"...face masks, regarded as one of the good tools to combat the coronavirus in Japan," Really? And how's that working out?

The rules are rules if you don't like it then don't come . Typical westerners forcing what they want on others.

Read the article again. It clearly says that there is no government mask mandate so what exactly are westerners "forcing" on others?