Hello dear friends,
I was in Japan 4 years ago and since then I am in love with this country. Since I was there with my buddy at that time, I promised my girlfriend to travel there and show her everything. Now the time has finally come – we are planning to fly to Tokyo (Osaka, Kyoto) at the beginning of November, but I still have a few questions or concerns:
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\- I have read that many restaurants, stores and attractions have not made it throught COVID-19 Crisis and are permanently closed? Is the condition dramatic or are there still many alternatives?
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\- What are the Corona regulations locally? Our foreign office does not report anything on this. Do you need a test or proof of vaccination to get into restaurants or stores? We have only been vaccinated twice. Should we expect significant restrictions?
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\- Is there an overview or information sites that are up to date? What has changed during Corona? What should we expect?
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Many greetings and many thanks
1 comment
>I have read that many restaurants, stores and attractions have not made it throught COVID-19 Crisis and are permanently closed? Is the condition dramatic or are there still many alternatives?
Sorry, all of us living in Japan are too busy fighting for scraps of food to answer. /sarcasm
Very, very few places have closed because of Covid. Some places have closed yes, but those that did were ones who were barely surviving and should have closed 10 years ago, well before the pandemic even hit. It’s not like you’re going to show up and see entire blocks with all the store fronts closed up. In fact, you will likely see very few empty buildings and shops as you probably won’t get too far out of tourist areas to see.
Any kind of food, all the same restaurants as your previous trip, everything is open. Maybe an attraction has closed, but attractions come and go under normal circumstances.
> What are the Corona regulations locally? Our foreign office does not report anything on this. Do you need a test or proof of vaccination to get into restaurants or stores? We have only been vaccinated twice. Should we expect significant restrictions?
EDIT: There are no regulations. When COVID started, the government asked nicely for people to wear masks and distance and the population did as they were asked. There were never any mandates or other requirements. You have never needed proof of vaccination while inside of Japan. I even had to visit someone in ICU several times. It was just a verbal “I am vaccinated” and was cleared to visit.
Even after the recent recommendation that masking is not needed 98% of the population is still masking so take that hint on what you should do.
You do need the initial vaccination and at least 1 booster, or just 2 shots of Johnson and Johnson i believe. Or a within 72 hour negative test to enter Japan but that is the extent of vaccination requirement.