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Tokyo, Feb. 12 (BNA): Japan is considering easing its strict border controls amid growing criticism that the measures, which have barred most foreign arrivals including students and business travelers, are hurting the country’s economy and international standing.
“I plan to consider easing border controls,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
Kishida did not provide a timeline or other details and said he would make a decision based on a scientific assessment of the omicron variant, infection levels inside and outside Japan, and quarantine measures in other countries.
Right now, most parts of Japan are under virus restrictions, but infections have shown little sign of slowing. Nationwide, Japan reported nearly 100,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, including 18,660 in Tokyo.
The current border measures are set to remain in place until the end of February.
Japan has become one of the world’s most difficult countries to enter, and critics compare it to the policy of the closed state, or “sako,” pursued by the xenophobic warlords who ruled Japan in the 17th and 19th centuries.
Current border rules only allow Japanese citizens and foreign permanent residents, and have angered foreign students and scholars who say the procedures are unfair and unscientific and force talented visitors to go to other countries. Hundreds of thousands of them have been affected, and critics say the rules also harm Japan’s national interests.
Frustrated students began gathering outside Japanese diplomatic compounds around the world to protest.
Japanese and foreign trade groups also protested the government, saying the prolonged border closure affected investment, business deals, product development and delivery. Experts also say that the border policy is further delaying the recovery in the epidemic-stricken Japanese economy.
Kishida revealed his plan to consider easing border controls Saturday after visiting Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, where he observed quarantine areas and job-site vaccination launches for airline workers.
The Kishida government is scrambling to speed up the COVID-19 booster shots, after facing criticism over a delayed decision to cut the intervals between the first two shots and a third to six months from the eight initially planned. Only about 8% of the population of Japan received their third stroke. Kishida has set a goal of giving 1 million doses per day by the end of February.
The government has also faced criticism for failing to keep Omicron out of US military bases, where Japan has no jurisdiction. US forces are flying directly into the country without observing Japan’s quarantine requirements and have not been tested for weeks, until Tokyo asked them to.
However, many of the Japanese public support tighter border controls because they believe problems like the pandemic are coming from outside their island nation. Kishida’s strict border controls are widely seen as political motives to win popular support for his ruling party in the upcoming parliamentary elections in July.
Kishida took a lesson from his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who stepped aside after just one year in the job, in part due to his administration’s perceived poor handling of the pandemic.
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