Covid-19 coronavirus has dwindled international travel to the bare minimum. Currently, people from 159 nations and regions are affected by Japan’s entry ban. However, things have improved for Japan’s foreign residents, who can now travel in and out of the country.
Additionally, on September 8, Japan announced a travel bubble with five regions in Asia – Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Taiwan – which will be joining Thailand and Vietnam on Japan’s travel bubble list. This travel bubble, however, is currently limited to residents in the respective countries/regions. Separately, Japan and Singapore have also agreed to a travel corridor for short-term business travellers starting September 18.
Planning on jumping in the travel bubble? The process is pretty complicated. Here are the necessary steps in broad overview.
If you are departing Japan:
- Monitor health for 14 days prior to departure.
- Obtain a testing result certificate to present at the airport.
- Take a Covid-19 test at the airport upon arrival at your destination and follow the pre-stipulated quarantine measures.
- Check with your nation's embassy for specific entry rules and additional documents.
If you are entering Japan, you’ll have to apply for visa or re-entry confirmation at Japan’s overseas establishment, do the steps mentioned above as well as those listed below:
- Submit a written pledge to follow self-quarantine procedures after arrival.
- Submit testing certificate at the airport.
- Get tested upon arrival at the airport.
- Install the Covid-19 tracing app.
- Self-quarantine and avoid public transportation for 14 days.
Those departing from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia or Taiwan must also submit a ‘re-entry confirmation letter’ and a certificate of Covid-19 test taken 72 hours before departure.
You can find detailed information for Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam here while the information for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar is here. The nations/regions are divided into two separate pages because they are at different warning levels (which only applies to Japanese nationals).
As the situation with the pandemic is rather volatile, please see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and your nation’s embassy for the latest travel advisory and information on required documents and procedures.
Follow live updates on the Covid-19 coronavirus situation in Japan here.
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