Japan reverses halt of inbound flight bookings after criticism

Unexpected

Airlines just crossed someone’s palm with silver.

Good.

Serious though, what a circus...

Left hand meet right hand..... Yes a circus, but not a very enjoyable one.

The Jgov often use 'caused confusion' line when people directly understand their point but fundamentally disagree with it.

Kishida's statement only specified giving consideration to "Japanese nationals". Will foreign permanent residents, spouses, etc. also be able to make reservations for return flights to Japan, or even enter the country when they get here?

I believe this change only affects Japanese nationals. Foreign residents will be unable to return.

Flabbergasted.

Well that was quick. Good move, though.

A weak leader flip flops on decisions. When the time is right japan should open its doors, but until we know the full extent of omicron he should be cautious, Abe was far to indecisive and covid spread because of it..

I'm confusing.

Confusion remains for long-term residents of Japan as the language only mentions 'Japanese nationals'. They do not appear to matter for the last 2 years yet pay the same taxes and fudosan bribes as everyone else.

What a joke this thing called government...what will be in one minute, one hour, one day ?

Stay put and watch the "Kohaku" on NHK instead.

"Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

Crap. I was hoping to apply for Japanese citizenship to protect myself from Covid.

This isn’t the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. The right hand doesn’t even know there is a left hand.

Let the flip flopping begin..........wait, I guess it never stopped.

Let the under the table payments begin..........wait, shhhhhhh

The LDP is here to make change and forget the last 30+.............wait, we've been in charge the whole time.........

It's almost 2022!

Stay put and watch the "Kohaku" on NHK instead.

Just how are Japanese who live abroad, going to watch kohaku? And why for heavens sake would they want to anyway?

You do realize, oh wait, maybe you dont, that this is about people COMING to Japan, not leaving!

I don't mind the government's U-turning when they have not thought things through etc.

However, this U-turn and the speed of it strikes me as pandering to certain Japanese bigwigs now stuck overseas complaining that they can't get home for O-shogatsu. The policy was introduced to keep people in Japan safe from Omicron. There are several approaches to do this, but the overwhelming need to do it has not disappeared overnight. I would not be surprised if we go back to the situation of Japanese walking back in from every country in the world, but citizens of those countries, ones with permanent residency in Japan included, being stopped at the border. I bet there would have been no overnight U turn had the no-new-reservations policy targeted non-Japanese only.

Well, at least he is willing to listen. It's rare that a PM is willing to react so quickly when he saw the backlash from the world and the citizens. It's unusual because PM's rarely listen and are pretty stubborn. I am glad he is at least willing to allow those who wishes to return to now come back. Advice is to immediately make reservation to come back while things are still fine. If things turn bad in the coming days and you haven't made reservation to return, you cannot enter until next year.

Well, no one is going to be booking outbound flights now if they think they cannot get back in due to omricon surge.

Asked about Japan's ban on new entries of foreigners, Michael Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference Wednesday, "Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

Well spoken Mr Ryan.

But what you don’t understand is that the country is rules by an affiliation called Nippon Kaigi which believe in the Nihonjinron which makes it clear that they belong from a different branch of humans.

So unless the international community press them to lose face they won’t change their beliefs.

Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

the virus has jazz. It knows your girlfriend's brother is a policeman. the virus doesn't say out late after 8pm.

*stay

Oh geeze Kashida ?

You were starting to be a leader.

He really wanted to appear too strict in his contingency scenario.

How are we supposed to have faith in his announcements of future leadership if he is so easily led to change his mind.

Classic Japanese style of passive agressive dithering and meek strenth of decisions.

3500 people a day entering Japan is alot and it increases the rate of infected people arriving

Kishida is already showing signs of a weak PM. The first sign was when appointed all of Shinzo's cronies to high ranking positions.

Where is Kono when you need him?

Michael Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference Wednesday, "Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?

Sing it! Say it louder for the people in the back.

The new ban on foreign travelers does not affect the U.S. military population covered by the status of forces agreement, said Lt. Col. Brooke Brander, spokeswoman for U.S. Forces Japan at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. SOFA defines the legal status of U.S. armed forces, including military families and civilian employees, stationed in host countries.

“Japan’s recent suspension of entry of overseas travelers will not affect SOFA members’ ability to enter Japan,” Brander wrote by email Monday to Stars and Stripes.

Under the measure, Japanese citizens and foreign residents would not have been able to return until next year unless they already had reservations.

A leaf out of Australia's book Japan would be better off not taking.

A note to Kishida, foreign residents would like to come to their home as well not only nationals but I guess it's too much asked

Bring back Abe San , now there was a leader who could make a decision.

So we have to die from omicron or at least have only a virus and LongCovid caused much lowered life expectancy, because of a few people now insist on traveling and not want to feel a little bit discriminated? Unbelievable, I have no idea to pack my opinion into civilized publishable words about such a strange decision.

According to special circumtances I can re- enter Japan because I was pregnant and departed from Japan with a re-entry permit before August 31, 2020 and I was not permitted to re-enter Japan because the validity period of the re-entry permission expired after my country was designated an area subject to denial of landing. So now I can enter Japan but my baby can't, so why? Only thing I couldnt deliver it when I was in Japan and stuck in my country with my baby, if I can enter Japan why my baby cannot enter? I was 7 mont pregnant when I leaving Japan and no one cares about this situation.

Yeah but not but yeah lol

At least he's acting swiftly even if its not approved by everyone.

Kind like he's driving chooty chooty bang bang with mary poppins as passenger

Bring back Abe San , now there was a leader who could make a decision.

I think millions would agree with you. Fascinating to see how many people have done a complete 180 over Abe, seeing him standing up toe-to-toe with Communist China regarding Taiwan.

Very weird.

Please don't heed these words and continue to close the borders, Japan!

Good decision. Japanese citizens should never be denied entry into Japan.

YubaruToday  01:40 pm JST

Stay put and watch the "Kohaku" on NHK instead.

Just how are Japanese who live abroad, going to watch kohaku? And why for heavens sake would they want to anyway?

In some countries people can watch via TV-Japan or NHK-World. In other places people can stream by going through an ip spoofing VPN. I know cause I've done it. As for why they would, that's their choice.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida admitted the transport ministry's announcement the previous day had caused public confusion, telling reporters he instructed officials to "adequately take into account" people's wishes to travel home.

Who you gonna blame?

The Transport Ministry!

> Asked about Japan's ban on new entries of foreigners, Michael Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference Wednesday, "Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

In J-Land where up is down and front is back, there is no ‘understanding’ to be …had

See you all here in 2-3 days? - More demonstrations of JGov’s unscrupulous tendency to jerk people around too often with their indecisiveness or, overreaction during the initial stages of compiling any coherent measures or policy.

- “PM Kishida admitted the announcement the previous day had caused public confusion, telling reporters he instructed officials to "adequately take into account" people's wishes to travel home.” -

Stick to your area of expertise, Ryan:

Asked about Japan's ban on new entries of foreigners, Michael Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference Wednesday, "Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

This is a red herring. There is a fact factor and a law factor at play here:

The fact factor: Viruses don't read passports, but different nationalities have different habits, which change how likely they are to get and spread the virus. For example, if your nationality happens to be one where you will file lawsuits to avoid vaccine mandates, it would be at a higher risk. Unfortunately, we are now only able to discriminate between statuses (citizen, resident, tourist ... etc) rather than nationalities, it's the lowest common denominator for the non-citizens.

The law factor: Even if everyone is more or less even, the fact is that by law citizens have more right to return to their own country than a non-citizen. Non-citizens can console themselves with the thought that they'll be a citizen of somewhere else, and have special perks there relative to residents.

it is not good when the governmnet withdrew its policy agaist Omicron variant in response to criticizm,

I thought the original full ban on new booking to inbound flight to Japan for a while is great and clever decision. that's too pitty!!

theloniusToday  01:34 pm JST

"Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

Crap. I was hoping to apply for Japanese citizenship to protect myself from Covid.

Good one! Last week, someone told me the reason COVID-19 didn't hit Japan hard was due to Japanese being 'special.'

Hahahaha! Soooo typical! Live the “Wasn’t me!” excuses, too

Its all about money and power and has nothing to do with the health and well-being of people.

The foreign powers that control Japans decision making process are in the background.

Did he ‘misspeak’? That seems to be the excuse they all use these days.

thanks for the stress all morning.

now will I be able to fly and return as planned?

@buchailldana

If you had a flight already booked it was unaffected in any case. Wish people would read these articles properly.

@William77

Well said, to these guys, nihonjiron is not only science, but science above all other science.

Justifying policy because of vague ideas of habits and cleanliness is one of many examples.

this was an unnecessary flip flop. It just shows the new government doesn't have capable policy advisers instead of having a party packed with Abe loyalists and Nippon Kaigi members. Curious how many people it took to change the direction here. I bet it was more than 10

unnecessary in that the correct policy was not discovered until people complained. It means no one has a clue

A lot of talk within this thread of “left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, money shaking hands, the need for washing hands, etc”, but nothing really effective really gets done quickly in Japan.  In the meantime, there a plenty of studies, meetings and committees with lots of money & hand jobs available IF the right palms are greased ? Let’s drag things out as long as possible at the pleasure of the government.

now will I be able to fly and return as planned?

No, that will depend on the rules for people of your nationality on the day you fly. We can only speculate on what they will be. This U turn suggests that the rules are unlikely to change if you have Japanese nationality, but may change if you do not. From the past two days, we can understand that the government wants to act and do something, but will face a backlash and may U turn if that something involves Japanese people. Past experience indicates they can do things that affect permanent residents for months, but have no backlash and do no U turns.

it's just LDP continuing the messy pandemic management

The resident

but the flight might be cancelled because of low passenger numbers, caused by this seesawing.

I read the article ,

What about quarantine?

So this restriction affected Japanese too, so it was reversed. If it was only for non-Japanese, it would have remained steadfastly in place.

So a Japanese person or a non-Japanese resident can fly to Japan but a foreigner can't... are Japanese immune from the virus? Can they not carry it back home? Either ban everyone from entry, or ban no-one.

They should have convened a few meetings first =)

Reading this article one can be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that the J government plan to completely halt bookings for inbound international flight had all the hallmarks of a knee jerk reaction.

Pull the draw-bridge up!

With little or any forethought or reasoning.

Businesses/people should be concerned, when a government is seemingly headless when faced with taking informed decisions.

No government minster took a deep breath, thought how such a measure will affect Japanese citizens and foreign residents returning home.

I am work visa holder in Japan. Living in here about 5 years. My wife has finally got the visa as a dependent. Can she come to Japan in next week? This is so confusing

Prasheen Shiranga, yes, you must book the flight promptly

My wife has finally got the visa as a dependent.

This is reason enough. You need to swiftly do the ground work. Make the calls.

@itsonlyrocknroll. Thanks a lot mate. Lot of confusion here and there. Almost waited about one year because Sri Lankan Embassy was closed until November. Hopes are getting faded day by day. I wish to see her on next week.❤️

@Prasheen Shiranga

I am work visa holder in Japan. Living in here about 5 years. My wife has finally got the visa as a dependent. Can she come to Japan in next week? This is so confusing

I think your wife falls under NEW entrants if it will be her first time to enter on DEPENDENT visa. Her case is no different from those visa holders waiting to enter Japan for the first time which the Govt doesnt allow (again) from December 1. They did allow new entrants from November but now closed it again due to omicron variant.

Please make some calls, perhaps on your embassy in Japan to confirm.

It's more worrying that the decision making process over this mess has remained unclear, unaccounted for. The transport minister claims that he had been "bypassed", not received any briefing in advance by the staff.

停止要請 国交相にも事後報告

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6411305

I can't subscribe to his version of story. The abrupt suspension request is not legally grounded, which the bureaucrats in full knowledge of laws wouldn't make otherwise pressured to do so from above. It was highly political in nature.

Bring back Abe San , now there was a leader who could make a decision.

I think millions would agree with you. Fascinating to see how many people have done a complete 180 over Abe, seeing him standing up toe-to-toe with Communist China regarding Taiwan.

Quite ironic to mention Abe now, as he and his administration had never been accountable for the "cherry blossom observance party" scandal, claiming that things had been made by lower rank officials without knowledge or approval by Abe. Deja vu, eh? Blame game, or what is going on right now is very identical. One official committed suicide over the sakura scandal taking all blames under pressure. Such should never be repeated.

Sometimes Japanese politicians are brilliant. Their goal is fewer people entering Japan from dangerous gaikoku. How to achieve that goal? A ban? New laws? or make those who were going to travel voluntarily cancel by instilling doubt and extra worry. Bingo..... Their goal has been met. You have to admire them for their genius!

All decisions are made based on political popularity.

Prasheen Shiranga.

dmhondz suggestion to call your embassy should be the top priority.

https://www.japanvisa.com/visas/japan-spouse-visa.

I will check with HR, that handle all our overseas employees. If this thread is up and running I will update.

You will need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow morning.

Phone in hand

Time is your adversary .

Hahaha soft as. If you’re going to go…go hard!

@dmhondz an itsonlyrockandroll, I will do it for sure. Please keep me posted. Different sources are giving different informations. I am still confused

Most unfortunate. International travel - a ban on foreigners entering Japan would have had a positive impact on preventing the introduction of the Omicron variant.

The posts on JT reflect a very 'foreign' bias and queer understanding of SARSCoV-2. Many respond as if government policy was a personal slight with the additional weirdness of deeming it prejudice or a violation of their status as alien residents - that somehow, paying taxes should grant full status equal to a native of Japan.

Japan is approaching an 80% vaccination rate. Tourists and foreign nationals should be banned from entering Japan thru-ought the winter.

They should have the balls to stand by their decision making process! Daily flip flopping causes more confusions and makes people wonder if something exchanged hands under the table for a complete turn around!

Good for business

What we will have to accept is that COVID-19 is not going away and will always be with us. Mutations will occur on a regular basis. Long-term, we can't function like this - all we can do is get vaccinated and keep up to date with our vaccinations. I appreciate that while this is still a novel virus, we may make some knee-jerk reactions, but these new mutations are going to appear every year, quite possibly for eternity, unless the virus mutates to becoming harmless.

Japan cannot block international travel every year for ever - we just need to adapt.

I thought Kishida said his government can't be "reactive"? This is exactly the opposite of what he said. He has no integrity, next PM please.

"I changed my mind" should be more adopted and acceptable globally. Accepting that in a changing situation, decisions are made quickly and also can be reversed just as quickly. Unfortunately there will be some stressful situations for many people who were denied travel in the past days. I am sure they will see the bright side now they are allowed to enter Japan.

Hi Prasheen Shiranga,

You will need to contact your consular, confirm the details of your wife visa/ and right to travel.

Also request full confirmation of country Covid travel restrictions.

If you have method of recording the call, for referral, that would be a bonus.

If not, have a pen and note pad ready to detail the bullet points.

If given the "ok" obtain flight details, whether the flight is indirect, then choose a route and airline.

Be aware timing is of the essence.

Here is a heads up.

Border enforcement measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html

Pay particular attention to...3. Quarantine measures (New)

Best of luck

KIshida sann should not have changed the first measure. we know japan has still now a weak and not effective quantine system, so it was a better option to stop all people from foreign countries for a while to lower the risk of briinging the omiron variant.

@itsonlyrockandroll Thanks a lot for your detailed response. but I am worrying about this:

"From 0:00 am (JST) December 2, 2021 to December 31, 2021, as emergency precautionary measure from a preventive perspective, entry of foreign nationals with other special exceptional circumstances was changed."

And there is not English translated pdf about special circumstance.

How is no one reporting that they are still not allowing anyone (residents or citizens) to book any flights in December. They “rescinded” the ban but nothing has changed. Airlines are still enforcing it.

"The Law Factor." Permanent residency is a matter of law and not ceremony. PR have certain privilages and certain responsibilities.

Outside of that letting Japanese on to go home and not allowing non-Japanese to back to our home is discrimination. End of discussion.

@Kazuaki ShimazakiI have read many of your post an your logical reasoning seems to be out of this world but on a distant planet. Viruses don't read passports but people and scanning machines do. Your habit example was very illogical beyond reasoning! I question if you know the difference between an apple or and orange which are both fruit but because they came from a different tree one may be poison, thats your logic!!! I'm confused, I read your post just to get a laugh!! Total gibberish

Stick to your area of expertise, Ryan:

Asked about Japan's ban on new entries of foreigners, Michael Ryan, head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference Wednesday, "Epidemiologically, I find it hard to understand the principle there. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you are legally resident?"

This is a red herring. There is a fact factor and a law factor at play here:

The fact factor: Viruses don't read passports, but different nationalities have different habits, which change how likely they are to get and spread the virus. For example, if your nationality happens to be one where you will file lawsuits to avoid vaccine mandates, it would be at a higher risk. Unfortunately, we are now only able to discriminate between statuses (citizen, resident, tourist ... etc) rather than nationalities, it's the lowest common denominator for the non-citizens.

The law factor: Even if everyone is more or less even, the fact is that by law citizens have more right to return to their own country than a non-citizen. Non-citizens can console themselves with the thought that they'll be a citizen of somewhere else, and have special perks there relative to residents.

As long as it helps japanese, it's Okay!