Japan eyes limited resumption of inbound tourism from spring: report

Thanks for the worst year in living memory, China. Lives lost and livelihoods destroyed.

As your reward, we are giving you the privelege of being the first nation allowed back into Japan.

They would travel only by hired coach and would be separated from other customers at their hotel and sightseeing destinations

Here, "separated" should read "protected".

Can you please wait until after ski season? (It says "Spring" but ski season in Niseko and Hakkoda lasts into May.) I'm looking forward to some seriously wide open powder until then.

Suga's government has launched a subsidy program to revive domestic tourism, a key driver of economic growth in recent years, but the scheme has been criticized because Japan is struggling with a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Translation: GoTo has proven to be a lucrative way to get corporate socialist money into the hands of connected companies like Dentsu and JTB and we want to supercharge it.

Damn the consequences to the public.

@fighto. Fully agree with your opinion. Sadly we live in a world where economy comes before human lives. Money talks, as they say. China has the money so it can dictate to others and bully others. BOYCOTT Chinese products.

I didn't know spreading COVID-19 was so important to those in charge.

They would travel only by hired coach and would be separated from other customers at their hotel and sightseeing destinations

I seriously wonder if this separation is to prevent Japanese from getting infected by foreign tourists...

...or to prevent the foreign tourists from getting infected by Japanese.

Because for a foreign tourist to get COVID in Japan would be an international PR disaster and wreck any Olympic plans.

Until you remove the discriminatory rules for foreign residents wishing to enter Japan you have no business looking to restart tourism.

If the situation isn't bad in China and Taiwan, why on earth would they want to come to a country like Japan which is doing a lot worse? I doubt whether people from most African countries would want to come here either.

Until you remove the discriminatory rules for foreign residents wishing to enter Japan you have no business looking to restart tourism.

Too right. I can't think of any other major country that thinks its foreign residents are less immune to the virus than the natives.

Until a confirmation of ANTIDOTE is established. Nothing can be predicted.

It’s all about the money! Public health is secondary. They just don’t seem to understand that the longer they allow this virus to linger the more damage it will do economically. Australia and New Zealand have beaten the virus and are at present and are rebuilding their economies employment incentives and domestic travel. Australia is preparing to allow international travel and tourism with strict quarantine regulations. Nobody is going to travel to Japan from a country with few virus cases while Japan still has a couple of thousand new cases every day.

Two words: BAD IDEA!

Fighto: "Thanks for the worst year in living memory, China. "

Thank yourself. What did YOU do to stop it? You can't blame China for how local government's dealt with things and let it get out of control in their countries. China didn't deal with the Diamond Princess. China isn't telling Japan to open the doors while the pandemic rages, and to extend the Go To Campaign -- it's biggest vehicle for spread here. In fact, I bet you took part in the Go To or Go To Eat campaigns (or both) yourself, while blaming China.

In any case, Japan just wants to float this kind of thing before the Olympics. Forget that they are not testing in any practical capacity, and completely banking on a vaccine that'll suddenly cure everything, just as they are praying for.

And Japan is going to believe China and allow people from the origin of the pandemic to enter the country?

Unbelievable!