Japan’s Kishida Pressured Over Still-Strict Border Measures

11 comments

1. Good

2. Kishida’s a goof.

3. [removed]

4. It would be nice if the international press could talk about it a bit more, and perhaps throw in some fully justified North Korea comparisons for good measure. Maybe talk about the open discrimination between Japanese citizens + permanent residents vs. foreign citizens too. Most people I speak to (in the UK) assume that Japan is already fully open. The one time I saw Japan’s border policies mentioned in the news here, it was a misleading headline giving the impression they were opening up – and many people only read the headline!

5. The chambers of commerce of the entire G7 plus EU and Keidanren is a big deal. He has to cave soon or lose all credibility with the business community.

   Does that mean LDP loses? No. It means they replace him in the party though.

6. The fact that they only expect the first tour groups to arrive at the end of June speaks volumes to me. The whole plan seems to have been purpose-built to keep tourists away for as long as possible and as close to Election Day as possible (which is Jul 10). u/Samhain27 predicted this months ago on this sub and it’s looking like he was right on the money. This is what stalling looks like if I’ve ever seen it.

7. Maybe 200 yen to $1 will make them fully open.

8. I hope they are fully open by october missus and I are planning a month long trip around then

9. Just a typical lack of political courage.
   Once the elections are secured, the country will fully reopen almost instantly.

   Remember, Kishida has been chosen because « he does not rock the boat ». Can’t expect him to shake the elder conservative voters by allowing hordes of foreign tourists enter the country.

10. I’m more curious about how actual Japanese citizens on the ground feel about the reduced number of tourists and the covid restrictions

11. Probably the Japnese diet reading this: “NO! We are Japan and we must always do things differently than the rest of the world no matter how fucking stupid it is!”