Japan to relax border control for passengers from China on March 1

That's good gesture from Japan, in fact Japan who really need China tourist after pandemic so if Japan make things harder it will hurts itself.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-29/china-resumes-visa-issuance-for-japan-ending-covid-retaliation

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/01/28/national/japan-foreign-entries-covid/

I don't know if that is good news.

First, in China cumulative deaths since December have topped 345,000, and are expected to reach 1.7 million by the end of April, Airfinity say. The virus is still running rampant it seems, if the news is to be trusted

But, the Japanese government seems confident enough to let travellers arrive with a negative pre-departure test.

Let's say I will still remain cautious and advise others to do the same until the dust settles.

Japan needs Chinese money...simple as that whether we like it or not .

Japanese need a visa to enter China my student said ...who is visiting this year for a trade fair.

I don't know if that is good news.

It isn't

First, in China cumulative deaths since December have topped 345,000,

they topped 600,000 in the first few weeks after they dropped the 0 covid policy.

The CCP reported 60,000 deaths officially BUT both Hubei (where Wuhan is) and Hebei province reported in excess of 100,000 deaths EACH, before quickly retracting those numbers. BUT didn't stop DW News from reporting on them.

Japan indeed does want money from anywhere including China.

Is this a mistake?

My bet is yes.

Japan should wait it out for a few more months to be sure of the new variants floating around the country.

But the good old boys in Japan are in need of as much money as they can get no matter what the cost is to the general public.

Wear those masks!

Chinese tourists made only for roughly 0.4% of Japan's GDP.

So on a cost benefit analysis - to ensure quality of life for locals, emissions issues etc - it seems clear that tourism from abroad should be limited to 'sustainable' levels.

Japan does not "need" Chinese money. Especially from tourism. No country "needs" China. The world is moving away from China manufacturing at a breathtaking pace. CCP supporters still think it's pre-Covid days.

Airlines are reporting large profits now, but still have a lot to make up. There are 'some' ok airfares to be found,especially if you can fly midweek/midweek. Not only the price of fuel, but increased staff costs, staff shortages - as many did NOT want to return to airport work post Pandemic make a return to airfares of 2019 very unlikely, if ever. If you want to fly to Europe, then Putin has only complicated matters as flights are now routed via the Polar Route or Southern Route only adding further vast costs.

The only bright spot on the Horizon is when the Chinese Airlines are running full schedules again and transit for those on a budget will return. That may push down airfares on the premium carriers as more space stays open. Thats my personal hope anyway.

I lost count. Will this result in the 8th or 9th wave?

ifd66Today  08:28 am JST

Chinese tourists made only for roughly 0.4% of Japan's GDP.

So on a cost benefit analysis - to ensure quality of life for locals, emissions issues etc - it seems clear that tourism from abroad should be limited to 'sustainable' levels.

Having experienced pre-pandemic Kyoto, then even the amount from China which generated that 0.4% is too large.

Not a wise move.

We simply don't know the extent of covid still in China. Is it still out of control? Or just very bad? Is the testing being done over there to be trusted?

Japan has coped just fine without mass Chinese tourism the past 3 years.

Japan does not "need" Chinese money. Especially from tourism.

Japan does not need money from the west either. Especially from tourism. Foreigner tourism is less than 1% of Japan's GDP.

I don't know if that is good news.

Funny comment. Did you say the same thing when Japan opened the border to tourists from the west?

Funny comment. Did you say the same thing when Japan opened the border to tourists from the west?

No. why would I? The west has been vaccinated and open about their infections. Can China say the same??

I don't know if that is good news.

It isn't

And that is what the Japanese said when the border was opened to tourists from the west.

No they didn't at all. And neither would YOU if you had been a martial artist whose dojo needs foreign students cause the Japanese don't care about Budo anymore.

Or if your family owned a ryokan where martial artists from the west stayed.

You don't speak for all Japanese

Simply put, Japan needs Chinese money so podding off the Chinese just sends them to other countries like Thailand where there is a huge influx of Chinese tourists at the moment

Excellent..

It is better to move those good relations between China and Japan, instead of continuing to listen to the laments and geopolitical hysteria of the US and the anti-China brigade of whiners..

Japan indeed does want money from anywhere including China.

Is this a mistake?

My bet is yes.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!...

Excellent..

It is better to move those good relations between China and Japan, instead of continuing to listen to the laments and geopolitical hysteria of the US and the anti-China brigade of whiners..

No it isn't. Its better to stuff China into the dustbins of history. China is going to be irrelevant in the next ten years as its population and power declines. That's why that Xi-male is behaving like a fat bully on the playground.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!...

Off topic.

I wouldn’t have relaxed anything for china at least until next century!

but why according to many covid is just the flu

Japan indeed does want money from anywhere including China.

well considering the rebound in tourism is basically what saved Japan from recession last quarter, it seems Japan needs that money more than they make out

That some posters criticize the government is reasonable. That some posters denigrate a nation's people is bumping up against the racism barrier.

Of course Japanese businesses of every kind welcome Chinese travelers who on average spend much more that Westerners.

Japan's factory production is down, the population is in decline and many Japanese companies are not nearly as competitive worldwide as they were 20 and 30 years ago. The rest of the world has grown significantly while Japan has stagnated for over 30 years now. My point... Japan needs tourism. In fact, going forward, per capita Japan may become one of the most profitable tourist countries in the world. Japan has everything a tourist wants. Polite, very clean and extremely safe along with very, very little theft. Amazing public transportation. Some of the best and least expensive food establishments in the world and no need to tip. Japan has 4 seasons with some of the best skiing in Asia if not the best. Beautiful mountains with great hiking trails everywhere. And the Yen is weak. Hotels and Inns are very reasonable. Japan is poised to become the most visited country in the world but the Govt. needs to get on board.

Whether they like it or not, the Japanese and Chinese are two peas in a pod.

I wish they'd get along

If it were lao bai jing (everyday people) coming it would be one thing. But these are CCP/PLA officials, their family, or friends. They are the only ones who can get papers to travel outside China. That is why everywhere they go they have such entitlement and rudeness. Please reconsider allowing these cretins in.

Japan is poised to become the most visited country in the world

Big advocate of J-tourism - but this statement simply isn't true.

The peace and quiet was nice while it lasted.

Covid is over. Even Hing Kong - the strictest place in the world for masks - will drop all mandates tomorrow.

When are they dropping PCR negative/3x vaccination confirmation requirements, an utterly absurd tactic only practiced by Japan and China?

lao bai xing 老百姓. What's wrong with money spent by CCP officials, family and friends? What's wrong with developing positive memories and feelings between Chinese and Japanese? As Taro Kono said a couple of months ago, China has been a neighbor of Japan for 1,500 years and it's not going away anytime soon.

We simply don't know the extent of covid still in China. Is it still out of control? Or just very bad? Is the testing being done over there to be trusted?

Covid is still out of control in Japan as it is in every other country - but nobody cares anymore, and rightly so. There is no point even testing anymore.

"What's wrong with money spent by CCP officials, family and friends? "

Because the average citizen is barred from travel overseas. Giving special privileges to Party offcials is a slap in the face of the very people that pay their salaries. The CCP/PLA money is tainted with blood, corruption, and bribes.

"What's wrong with developing positive memories and feelings between Chinese and Japanese?"

Because that is not what happens, and you know it, Mr. Wumao. Thay come to show off their wealth for the masses back home. To show off how priviledged they are. To buy up consumer goods by the palate to sell back home on Baidu at inflated prices.

"As Taro Kono said a couple of months ago, China has been a neighbor of Japan for 1,500 years and it's not going away anytime soon."

And Taro Kono speaks for himself. He couldn't even garner 10% of LDP when he ran for PM last year. Just because China is a neighbor does not mean they have the best inyerest of Japan and the Japanese people at heart. They don't even care about the Chinese people.

China reported zero infections and death the last week. Ok, we know that is all BS, but then, since when did anyone care about real numbers?

It is funny to see US propaganda-ists on this thread, considering US is no. 1 world wide, both on infections and deaths.

@Roy - Hong Kong is part of China. The article is about China and Covid restrictions. I pointed out a salient fact about why strict measures are being dropped everywhere. What’s your point?

@SaikoPhyscoToday

Japan is poised to become the most visited country in the world but the Govt. needs to get on board.

I think it is quite unlikely. Pre pandemic (in 2019) France, the most visited country in the world, had 86 Mio tourists Japan 31 mio. Most Japanese not benefiting directly from the tourist industry were complaining to have so many tourists and were perfectly happy when there were none during the pandemic (especially in very touristic places like Kyoto) so I cannot imagine Japanese being happy with more than 86 Mio. I think 50 Mio would be the max. Above that Japanese may become much less welcoming!

Japan, be careful. Everyone wants Chinese money, but no one wants Chinese problems.

China should be placed under quarantine until it has a more transparent government. Covid is a mystery and will remain a mystery until China is more honest and forthcoming. One thing we know for sure, China was the epicenter of the coronavirus which was responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the globe.

Come on! Have a heart and be honest so we can be better prepared the next time.

Japan's future is a playground for rich Chinese tourists.

Better get used to it or plan to move out.

Welcome back Happy Shoppers. We missed you!

"Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that  80% of people have been infected." The statement was made at the end of January 2023.

I find that hard to believe that China went from them saying they beat COVID to having more than 1.1 billion people who caught COVID.

@Crash It's kind of crazy, but from one perspective the Chinese Zero Covid strategy worked. China locked down when needed and did zero COVID until the virus was less lethal and most Chinese were vaccinated. Once it was unleashed a majority of Chinese caught it quickly and recovered, now with more immunity.

and most Chinese were vaccinated

That's the rub. Most Chinese weren't vaccinated! And the ones that were mainly got the substandard domestic produce. A complete disgrace.

A large multi-country Phase 3 trial has shown that 2 doses, administered at an interval of 21 days, have an efficacy of 79% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection 14 or more days after the second dose. Vaccine efficacy against hospitalization was 79%. https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-sinopharm-covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know

China's vaccination policy

Overall, China says more than 90% of the population has been fully vaccinated. 

However, around the time its zero-Covid policy was lifted, less than half of people aged 80 and over had received three doses of vaccine.

The authorities now say they require local health services to "strengthen immunization of the whole population, particularly the elderly".

There are doubts over whether the main vaccines used in China - Sinovac and Sinopharm - are effective against Omicron, the most widespread strain.

China has refused to use Western vaccines widely.

The government has given no official explanation. However, national pride may be a factor according to Dr Yu Jie, Senior Research Fellow on China at the international affairs think tank Chatham House.

Blah blah blah

https://www.bbc.com/news/59882774.amp

If people are wearing masks it is very difficult to say what nationality they are. More than one million Chinese died during the lockdowns.

@wallace I can tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese faces easily. While it can be difference to distinguish Chinese and Japanese with face masks, if you look at them closely then it can be done, and the mannerisms are totally different.

BTW:

Chinese people tend to buy luxury goods such as those owned by western companies.

European people tend to buy experiences and hence all the money staying in Japan.

So western consumers tend to bring in more money to Japan.

And generally speaking it is bad that so many Chinese people are coming to Japan but I dislike too many tourists generally.