mrwunrfl

Tour groups to start. Fine, I don't really want to go in the summer anyway. It would be mask-wearing everywhere with heat, humidity, and rain. Hopefully, they will get over the masks by mid-Oct but am starting to think about next spring.

crellston

Spoke with the travel agency we booked our flights with who are very good and seem to have an inside track as to what is going on. They suggested that we wait until June to decided on our Sept /October trip.So that is what I shall do. Judging by what has gone on with other countries that were initially very cautious and have opened up (Ams, NZ , Vietnam etc. ) it does seem that once they press the button, things do happen very quickly. If they do open up I, I can’t imagine they would get many tourists happy to go in groups The Chinese seem to be determined to stay closed and that would be their main tour group market. I expect the will insist upon vaccinated and boosted tourists only (no problem with that) , pre departure or arrival testing ( I do have a problem with this) and I really don't relish the thought of having to wear a mask everywhere.

I guess all anyone can do is just wait and see and make decisions at the time.

jacketwatch

Seems things are always in a state of flux. Our upcoming Iceland trip had required PCR testing pre arrival but they scratched that. We are supposed to arrive late June so I hope it stays that way but must check often for changes.

Good luck with your situation.

crellston

You’re right JW things are in a constant state of flux. Fortunately most countries are lifting restrictions - the European health and aviation authorities have just removed the requirement to use make in airport and on flights which will make travel a lot more bearable. Unfortunately , I chose one of the countries that is dragging its heels on reopening. That’ll teach me to jump on cheap business class flights . Fingers crossed the powers that be in Japan do get a move on and open the borders, hopefully without masking restrictions etc. It is time to move on..

Wilk67

The Gov came out just today suggesting that outdoor mask use may not be necessary as long as people continue to social distance.
Though people won't be suddenly removing their masks just yet I imagine. But maybe by July when it starts getting super hot it'll be 50%. But its a start.
Here's an article about it in English:
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/043000c

crellston

If “social distancing” means the same in Japan as it did in the UK i.e. 2 metres, I cant see how that would work in Tokyo! Given the propensity of the Japanese to wear masks even pre covid, I can see how they will continue wearing them for a very long time to come, compulsory or not. Worst case scenario for me would be if they opened up borders, removing my ability to get a refund on flights yet I am forced to wear a mask when there! I strictly adhered to all the rules throughout the pandemic, but the world really needs to move on now.

mrwunrfl

Of course, pre-covid, masks were worn only by people who were sick. And it is a good idea to wear a mask on a crowded subway or train anywhere.

Consider the possibility that you are permitted to enter Japan as a tourist and Chinese tourists are not. In that case, I would highly recommend going if you can tolerate wearing a mask at all.

crellston

I appreciate that mask were mostly worn by Japanese people because they were sick but disagree that it is "it is a good idea to wear a mask on a crowded subway or train anywhere”. I suppose I could explain why I believe that but it would likely turn out to be a pointless debate and is not really travel related. I do however agree that there are distinct advantages in visiting in the absence of the Chinese tour groups. The first time I visited Japan there were no such groups, The second time was in 2019 just as covid hit and those tour groups detracted from the experience considerably. Such appalling manners! You may have a point.

crellston

Another article /opinion on what was actually meant by the Japanese PMs comments in London

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/i...eid=3231104b4a

mrwunrfl

That Timeout article has an "According to Nikkei" link to the Nikkei Asia article I linked above which has some more detail. That link has a link to another of their articles, this one:Japan to lift entry bans on U.S., Europe while keeping visa limits - Nikkei Asia

Wilk67

Details about the group tour "trial" program have been announced. A total of 50 people from 4 countries (US, Australia, Singapore, Thailand) will be allowed in the initial test. Supposedly it will be this month, but I don't see how it is possible to arrange in 2 weeks.

Then from there the government will assess the situation and give more detailed guidelines to travel agencies for further group tours thereafter going into the summer.

Judging from the plans, I doubt individual tourists will be allowed in an unrestricted way until late summer or autumn, but there is no mention of it.

Lots of articles are out there in English reporting. Here's a few
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220517/p2g/00m/0na/033000c
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/soci...0220517-29129/
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...-opens-up.html

crellston

That doesn’t make any sense. 50 people from 4 countries is 12.5 persons per country. In one of the articles it mentions 12-15 tour groups. presumably they are all in tour groups of 1 flying in on their own private jets. I must be missing something! Lost in Translation perhaps?

mrwunrfl

Perhaps you are misunderstanding "about", as in "About 50 overseas tourists" and in "about 10 to 15 group tours". It means they don't know how many. The fact that it is slow and confusing is to be expected.

It would be easy enough to arrange one of those tours. There are plenty of people with the time and money and will to go on two weeks' notice. A single tour bus can handle 50 people if it came to that, but you just contact MK Taxi for a small group in a van or shuttle bus for groups of 5 to 12.

crellston

"Perhaps you are misunderstanding "about", as in "About 50 overseas tourists" and in "about 10 to 15 group tours”.” I think I understand what the word means, but perhaps the journalists at Japan News need a definition?

From that publication
"About 50 overseas tourists will be allowed into Japan on group trips this month as part of a test project led by the government, it was announced Tuesday.”

"According to the Japan Tourism Agency, about 10 to 15 group tours from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Singapore are planned under the test project this month.”

and thats it. No further explanation.

I confess I didnt read the other publications until now, but they expand on the to mention expanding the tourist numbers from 10k to 20k and talk about small group tours. that makes little more sense.

Either way, the lack of clarity is not going to encourage tourists back to Japan with such uncertainty.

mrwunrfl

It is uncertain and will be that way for an uncertain period of time. I can live with that. I would not be surprised if there was still uncertainty up to the moment I sit in my seat on a Tokyo bound plane on Nov 3.

Wilk67

This is what is meant: At first, the government plans to allow small "trial group tours" from 4 countries (US, AU, Sing, Thai), and the total number of people within those tours will be about 50 people. These "tours" it seems will be wholly private with a guide/minder accompanying at all times, most likely from moment of arrival until departure out of Japan. Being that they are so focused, the "groups" will probably consist of 2 to 4 people, hence the number of groups being "10 to 15".

As far as raising the daily cap from 10,000 to 20,000 in June, this is not for "tourists". This is the total number of people who are allowed to enter Japan per day, including Japanese citizens, returning foreign residents, all new workers/students with new resident visas, and any invited foreign business people.

I expect that after the initial "trial" tours, Japan will start expanding upon the tours into the summer, but I doubt individual unrestricted tourists from all countries will be allowed before autumn.

mrwunrfl

The configuration of those group tours is irrelevant to independent travelers. Japan could open to DIY tourists in autumn, yes, or sooner. Or later. The test/trial could fail or be highly successful. Covid, or at least public attitudes toward it, could change for the better or get worse. Am already thinking of alternative destinations for autumn and maybe Japan in the spring.

crellston

Wilks re "This is what is meant" I never speculate on what journalists "meant" this just adds a further layer of confusion. In my professional life I dealt with many journalists over many years and found that having to interpret what they meant just meant that the articles they wrote were not very good in the first place. I confess this is the first time I have really read anything produce by Japanese newsfeeds - not impressed!

mrwunful - I think you are probably correct in your assumptions. In my case, unless entry restrictions are lifted by the beginning of September I will be faced with either cancelling the entire trip to Australia (at no cost ) or rescheduling the return flights which will involve very significant additional cost as fares on ANA have more than doubled since I booked.

i suppose I could take the fact that fares have risen so much as an indication that the general option is that restrictions WILL be lifted by then, but I am just not feeling that positive!

mrwunrfl

>> Japanese newsfeeds
Well, I think they accurately reported what the government said. The govt threw out some ballpark numbers (50, 10-15) and it is pretty useless to parse that info. Maybe the news media could have asked questions to drill down to more specifics. But it may have just been a news release by the govt and not a press conference. Or the govt just didn't have that info worked out yet. I don't think the word Garbage quite applies but think of the media reports as being GIGO. The list of four countries feels somewhat firm, not too squishy. Of course, that could change. I think that the rule to limit tourists to those who are fully vaccinated with a Japan-approved vax (Moderna, Pfizer, Astra-Zeneca) is firm and will last for awhile (I hope so, anyway).

The Japanese are going to do things the Japanese Way. That means consultation, consensus, and caution are all involved. Just because PM Kishida said in London that Japan would reopen soon didn't mean it was going to happen. I think he might do well with his "trust in Kishida" message.

They said that they were going to look at the effect of Golden Week on Japan covid before discussing reopening at the end of the month. I haven't looked for any report on that, if there was a report. FAIK they might not have analyzed covid numbers, or they were too small (would be about Japanese traveling to other countries during GW and maybe bringing back covid).

They said they would make a decision about foreign tourists by the end of May. That did not mean that the decision would actually be made at that time. And it did not mean that if a reopening decision was made that it would stick.

Maybe the post-GW numbers were ok and the trial tour groups will work well (i.e. they didn't bring in covid, behaved themselves (masking, e.g.) and spent a lot of money and said good things about Japan and the Japanese).

They def want to reopen in November, which is a popular time for visiting, I think Japan could reopen sooner than that. It would probably be after the week around Obon (Aug 13-15) I would wager that the reopening date will be September 1, the day after the end of the summer break - most kids will be going back to school that day,

There is the beginning of a movement towards not wearing masks outside. The govt could say, at some point that it is ok if you are not sick, but a lot of people will ignore that. They never had a mandate (am pretty sure).

The two travel agencies that I have used are JTB (jtbusa.com) and H.I.S. Travel for lodging reservations, JR Pass, and info. Also agoda for lodging. I just signed up for the JTBUSA newsletter via email.

JTB would be the first place to go if interested in a group tour.

mrwunrfl

wow, that was a lot. Also wanted to mention that fares may be up and award seats down, but that could change when they open up more landing slots for international flights. Airlines should be adding capacity at some point.