First tourists in Japan face testing, chaperones and little free time

TOKYO • For the first time in more than two years, tourists are coming back to Japan. The few allowed in under a trial programme were subject to tight hygiene measures and monitored closely, giving a glimpse of what visiting the country would be like after next month's limited border reopening.

"We are just happy to be back," Mr Christopher Li said after arriving in Tokyo from Hawaii.

Like the rest of his small tour group, Mr Li works in the travel industry, and they are also here to see how Japan will manage its reopening. "The prevention measures in Japan are very detailed."

After landing at Narita International Airport, Mr Li and three travelling companions were given a package of masks, alcohol wipes and a disinfectant spray bottle.

They went through testing, monitoring app installations and other red tape for about two hours before leaving the airport.

They toured Ibaraki prefecture on Thursday, stopping by a shrine and fish market, before visiting a suspension bridge and waterfall in the afternoon.

Before the pandemic, Japan was at the peak of a tourism boom, with inbound visitors reaching a record in 2019. Now, it is one of the last remaining rich economies with strict border controls.

That is set to change on June 10, when package tours from overseas will bring back tourists and their spending money, and the daily entry quota doubles to 20,000.

Even so, only about half of the population is in favour of plans to ease border controls, according a poll by the Yomiuri newspaper earlier this month.

While those choosing to join the early wave of visitors will be subject to strict measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, Japan has mostly relaxed entry protocols for returning citizens, residents and visa holders. There is minimal quarantine, although time-consuming airport procedures remain in place.

For those early tourists, iti-neraries will probably be fully booked with limited free time, and with a chaperone hovering nearby. All told, about 50 travellers from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Singapore came to Japan this week as part of the trial programme.

Every morning, local tour staff will check their temperatures and health status. Each time they get on the bus, someone is at the door to spray their hands with sanitiser.

The small group has been asked to keep their masks on as much as possible, and refrain from eating on the bus. Talking in restaurants should be kept at a minimum.

For visitors from places where mask wearing is waning, or even disappearing, the strict rules might be more of a hindrance to a stress-free travel experience.

Even though Japan's seven-day average of newly confirmed cases is the third-lowest among Group of Seven nations, other countries with higher infection rates have opened their borders to tourists, many without pre-departure testing.

"It is a lot of work just to get here," said Ms Sonya Miyashiro, who works for Regal Travel in Honolulu. "You have got to go through 2½ hours of more stuff at the airport. So, finally, we got to our room, it was like, 'Let me kiss the ground. I am here.'"

The small group of visitors was vastly outnumbered by local media, who showed up to cover the first batch of tourists in two years. Photographers, TV crews and reporters followed them as they visited various spots. The local government's tourism department sent a welcoming delegation.

"We have very high expectations with the reopening in June," said Ms Sachiko Hataya, director of Ibaraki prefecture's international tourism division.

"Infection prevention is critical" for local residents to accept the influx of tourists, she said.

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