Japan passport strength falls to 3rd place; Singapore grabs top spot

Japan passport strength falls to 3rd place;

Many measurement of ranking for Japan is falling, gender gap, global digital competitiveness etc.

Passport strength is only one of them.

Japan passport strength falls to 3rd place

More like tied for fifth place since there are four countries (Singapore, Germany, Italy, and Spain) ahead of Japan.

This is just an illusion really. It's not like the government is going to "powerfully" back it's citizens up in case something happens to them while travelling abroad.

"Powerful" is just another part of the "image" propaganda!

Japan had been considered the most powerful passport since 2018, but its holders can now access 189 locations visa-free or visa-on-arrival, while Singaporean passport holders can visit 192 destinations visa-free.

Whatever. I'm of the opinion that countries which fingerprint foreign nationals entering their countries should NOT have visa free travel to countries that don't do that.

Whatever. I'm of the opinion that countries which fingerprint foreign nationals entering their countries should NOT have visa free travel to countries that don't do that.

It's all a part of the "image" Japan wants to project. Never mind the details!

It's all a part of the "image" Japan wants to project. Never mind the details!

Same as everything else. I hear you!

will not be switching my citizenship any time soon

Considering how so few Japanese people travel abroad or even hold passports, it was a waste anyway to have such accessibility go about unused.

That’s more a theoretical and useless ranking. Maybe those slight shiftings in the top places are due to the Russia-Ukraine war , South Sudan conflict and similar such. Then you might need a visa to visit rivals or war areas, but in practice or reality you would never have a need to go there with a passport of any high or low strength.

From Ocotober, Japanese might need to have a visa for entering Brazil if Japan still requires visa for Brazilians. The same will apply for US, Canada and Australia citizens if I am not wrong

Project 5150 NumbskullToday 11:18 am JST

Interesting the USA passport wasn't mentioned in the article at all

We know there are stinkpot countries making life difficult for Americans. It's tough being #1.

More like tied for fifth place since there are four countries (Singapore, Germany, Italy, and Spain) ahead of Japan.

I have never seen any ranking anywhere, where a tie is given the bottom possible score. Are we supposed to pretend you're not just hating on Japan here and not point it out?

I can’t get a Russian visa and my NK visa was cancelled because I live in Japan. Not vaccinated so my world travel aspirations are extremely limited. Why I can’t have a Japanese passport and voting rights. Been here for a long time.

many of japanese never left their own country

Guam and Hawaii.

50% of yanks don’t have passports.

I can’t get a Russian visa and my NK visa was cancelled because I live in Japan. Not vaccinated so my world travel aspirations are extremely limited. Why I can’t have a Japanese passport and voting rights. Been here for a long time.

Might I suggest changing the comedy school you are attending? Or at least get your money back.

Rodney

I can’t get a Russian visa and my NK visa was cancelled because I live in Japan. Not vaccinated so my world travel aspirations are extremely limited. Why I can’t have a Japanese passport and voting rights. Been here for a long time.

You have a British passport. You can apply for Japanese citizenship and if you pass the requirements you can surrender your British passport and citizenship and have a Japanese one instead.

Goodlucktoyou.

The "Strength" basically means you're not or allowed to travel to:

Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, all those lovely countries the rest of us can't go to because of the passport we hold....no thanks.

@Strangerland

I have never seen any ranking anywhere, where a tie is given the bottom possible score. Are we supposed to pretend you're not just hating on Japan here and not point it out?

Well, I guess you don’t know much about much.

Here’s a FTSE ranking of Women on Boards and in Leadership. Notice that two companies are tied for 14th. The next company is ranked 16th.

https://ftsewomenleaders.com/company-rankings/

Ever watch the Olympics? If two athletes tie for Gold, the next athlete receives Bronze. If two athletes tie for Silver, a Bronze is not awarded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ties_for_medals_at_the_Olympics

With all the top passports you can travel to more visa-free countries than you are ever likely to visit.

Well, I guess you don’t know much about much.

Here’s a FTSE ranking of Women on Boards and in Leadership. Notice that two companies are tied for 14th. The next company is ranked 16th.

You proved my point - they were tied for the higher score - 14th, not the lower score, 15th. You logic above was that because there was a three way tie for 3rd, it should be counted as 5th. Nowhere does that.

So which of us doesn't know about much hmm?

And are we still trying to pretend you weren't just trying to hate on Japan?

People who come from countries where visa free access to desirable tourist destinations is easy won't understand what it's like to have a more limiting passport. The visa fees, applications, interviews, proof of money can become very tiring, draining and expensive - and even then there's no guarantee you'll get a visa to travel to said country.

Japan falling to third place isn't the worst thing in the long run because the Japanese can still visit a lot of countries without ever having to need a visa.

Passport privilege is something rarely discussed.

Powerful is a very subjective word. The Japanese can still travel visa free to a few more countries than the Americans can. Not sure they are places any normal person would want to visit though. But again, in my experience American passport holders are treated much more kindly than their Japanese counterparts while traveling abroad.

wallaceToday 02:18 pm JST

With all the top passports you can travel to more visa-free countries than you are ever likely to visit.

Well said. My Canadian passport allows me to visit only 185 countries according to the consultancy's new list. How many years and how much money would that take? I think this has to be one of the stupidest 'polls' I've ever seen. It's easy to visit the Canadian government's website and see what countries require a visa and which don't.

Don't sweat the small stuff, people (and it's all small stuff).

The American passport wasn’t mentioned because it was knocked out of the top ten for visa free travel. Not that most people would want to visit any of the places that Americans are not allowed to visit visa free.

You proved my point - they were tied for the higher score - 14th, not the lower score, 15th. You logic above was that because there was a three way tie for 3rd, it should be counted as 5th. Nowhere does that.

So which of us doesn't know about much hmm?

No, I proved my point. After two companies tie at 14, the next ranking spot would be 16, not 15 as you claim.

This might help. The World University Rankings.

Cambridge and Stanford tied for third. MIT is next in fifth place, not fourth.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023/world-ranking

Only a little less than 20% of Japan's total population possesses passports, and most of them are used for business trips abroad.

The majority of Japanese people don't care about how many countries they can go to or not.

@Strangerland

You logic above was that because there was a three way tie for 3rd, it should be counted as 5th. Nowhere does that.

My logic: Four countries ranked higher than Japan. Japan is fifth, not third.

And are we still trying to pretend you weren't just trying to hate on Japan?

I love Japan! But I don’t allow my love for the country to cloud my views, or my ability to count.

Only 24 percent of Japanese have passports and of that 24 percent only 16 percent travel. The remaining 8 percent have it for identification purposes. A lot of Japanese aren't interested in overseas travel I discovered before I found out the statistics.