##**June 2020 – [Japan is closed to International Travel at this time.](https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html) Please wait until official Government announcements are made and protocol established before booking or rebooking any flights, hotels, or other forms of entertainment for any future trips – and be aware that we may not see this happen for places like Canada, Europe, the USA and the rest of Asia for quite awhile yet. The rate of infection for COVID-19 is still high, and every country seeing an end of the first wave needs to prepare for the second. It is unlikely Japan will allow tourism to restart in the face of a second wave.**
[**Travel Restrictions Arriving In Japan are noted here on the MOFA Website.**](https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html) As of April 3rd, many countries such as the USA, Canada, China, Korea, and most of Europe have been banned from entering Japan. As all International flights have now been rerouted to [Narita Airport](https://www.narita-airport.jp/en/news/20200117) and [Haneda Airport](https://tokyo-haneda.com/site_resource/information/pdf/Information_en.pdf), please check the official websites linked for up-to-date information on Entry and Quarantine Restrictions by country. **Note that transit between the two airports will land you with a 14 day quarantine before you can leave the country, unless you take a private cab from one to the other as public transit is not an option. This is prohibitively expensive for many (up to $400.00 USD, depending on traffic), and we would advise to call your airline to have your flight changed as soon as possible.**
[**Travel Restrictions returning FROM Japan are updated here by the IATA.**](https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm?fbclid=IwAR2WslrxafmyDs1xTrCFsdErfbjh646Bz6VypJDf-q_LZhX63nFhUOrZR7Y) [**An Interactive Map explaining restrictions is found here, and sourced from IATA information.**](https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm)
**A backup of the original thread with minor changes is found in our** [**FAQ.**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel#wiki_.22i_need_some_information_about_the_covid-19_situation_in_japan._what_do_you_know_at_this_time.3F.22)
**Please check [**here**]( https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/evs3f9/japan_travel_the_2019ncov_and_you_guidelines_on/) for the original post from when this situation began, and [**here**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/gbmb7r/japan_travel_covid19_and_you_guidelines_on_travel/) for the most recent thread from this event.**
##**CONFIRMED CASES UPDATE: 06/30**
>**As of this writing, there are 18,631 confirmed cases in Japan, 972 people have died.**
>**NHK News Japan has a graph of existing cases in Japan by prefecture** [**here.**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/data/) This breakdown is provided by NHK Japan – not the english website, and this information is culled from the Ministry of Heath in Japan.
>[**NHK World, the english subsidiary, provides further information and a link to the toll-free information lines for tourists in Japan, as well as daily updates to total infections and deaths.**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/tags/82/)
>[**The Johns Hopkins CSSE map is another source for confirmation of cases in Japan.**](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html) [This map](https://mhlw-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/0c5d0502bbb54f9a8dddebca003631b8) shows breakdown by location in Japan specifically.
##**TOURISM NEWS UPDATES**
**06/29** – [From The Japan Times – Japan Adds Cuba And 17 Other Nations To Entry Ban List Amid Pandemic](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/29/national/japan-adds-17-nations-to-coronavirus-entry-ban/#.Xvn1iyhKiUk) The countries set to be included to the entry ban list are: Guyana, Cuba, Guatemala, Grenada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Algeria, Eswatini, Cameroon, Senegal, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Iraq, Lebanon and Georgia.
**06/24** – [From Kyodo News – Travel From Japan To Vietnam To Partially Resume This Week: Motegi ](https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/06/cd172dae467b-urgent-travel-from-japan-to-vietnam-to-partially-resume-this-week-motegi.html) Three chartered flights carrying about 440 businesspeople are scheduled from Thursday through Saturday, with Vietnam agreeing to accept travelers on condition they agree to enhanced preventive measures, Motegi said at a press conference.
**06/19** – [From NHK News – Japan To Ease Entry Restrictions From Abroad.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200618_28/) The government has already started negotiating with Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand on the issue. It hopes to mutually ease entry restrictions with Vietnam late this month at the earliest.
**06/15** – [From NHK News – Abe Warns Against 2nd Wave; Vaccine Tests Underway.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200615_01/) Abe said international travel restrictions will be gradually lifted, while anti-virus measures are implemented. He said the government will cautiously study easing restrictions, taking into account the infection situations in individual countries.
**06/12** – [From the BBC – Formula 1 2020: Japan, Singapore And Azerbaijan Races Cancelled. ](https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/53020714) Formula 1 has tried to find a way to hold the races in 2020 but announced on Friday that was not possible in the uncertain global situation. The historic event at Suzuka is off as a result of Japan’s ban on many international travellers.
**06/12** – [From The Japan Times – Japan May Let In Quota Of 250 Businesspeople From Four Countries Daily.](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/11/national/japan-250-business-travelers-four-countries-daily/#.XuI2-UVKiUk) Japan plans to ease its coronavirus travel restrictions by letting in up to around 250 business travelers per day from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam, government sources said Thursday. **Please note, this does NOT apply to tourists or tourism from those areas – and as you need to apply for a Visa to enter the country to begin with, you will not be approved if your business is tourism.**
**06/10** – [From NHK News – IOC To Finalize New 2020 Olympic Plan In September.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200610_09/) The IOC now plans to discuss measures to prevent coronavirus infection and reduce costs with all international sports federations and come up with a final plan in September.
**06/08** – [From The Japan Times – Getting The Wheels Back On Japan’s Travel Industry.](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2020/06/06/travel/tourism-industry-coronavirus/#.XtxepEVKiUk)
**06/08** – [From Japan Today – ‘It’s 2021 Or Never For Tokyo’ Confirms Senior Olympic Official.](https://japantoday.com/category/2020-tokyo-olympics/it’s-2021-or-never-for-tokyo-confirms-senior-olympic-official) High-ranking Olympic official Pierre-Olivier Beckers on Saturday made plain that the delayed Tokyo Olympics “will be held in 2021 or not at all”. “It’s unthinkable to keep such a project on the go for any longer considering the enormous costs and all the thousands of people involved.”
**06/06** [From NHK News – Japan To Ban Entry From Another 18 Countries.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200605_27/) The 18, including Cuba and Lebanon, will be added to Japan’s entry ban list. The addition will expand the list from 111 countries and territories, such as the United States, Brazil and Russia, to 129.
**06/03** – [From NHK News – Tokyo On Alert As New Infections Spike.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200603_09/) The increase comes one week after the central government lifted the state of emergency for the Tokyo Metropolitan area.
**06/01** – [From NHK News – Tokyo Moves To Step 2 In Virus Recovery Plan.](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200601_11/) The metropolitan government plans to relax restrictions in phases at two-week intervals, while evaluating the extent of the infection. It may move to the next step earlier than planned if the number of infections remains low.
Officials also plan to issue a “Tokyo alert” to urge people to exercise vigilance if there is a resurgence in cases.
##**MONTHLY SUMMARY**
>**May 2020**
>[**The State of Emergency that began in April was extended in May**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200504_01/) due to the strain presented on the medical system, even though daily infections were seeing a downturn. A mere 10 days later, [**it was revealed the SOE would be lifted in 39 prefectures**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200514_17/), but remain in places like Tokyo, Hokkaido and Osaka to further alleviate concerns with the health care system. [**12 more countries were added to the Travel Ban list**](https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/05/0225fba263cd-japan-expands-entry-ban-to-mexico-12-other-countries.html) in the meantime. [**The SOE was later lifted for the areas still covered, such as Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200524_15/) after consultation with the COVID-19 panel. It was also revealed that [**if the Tokyo Olympics could not go on in 2021 due to COVID-19 spread, they would be cancelled outright,**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200521_25/) although the IOC advised they are doing their best to plan for as many possible outcomes as they could. [**Kitakyushu, newly reopened, began to see a rise in the spread of infections**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200528_21/) and immediately began closing attractions to curb the spread. The current round of closures is expected to last until at least June 18th. Finally, after widespread confusion, [**Japan quelled rumours it would pay for half of tourists’ expenses**](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/27/national/japan-wont-pay-half-visitors-expenses/#.XtCSwDpKiUk) as a poorly sourced article had indicated. This article was clarified in english to state that the credit would only apply to local, domestic tourism within the country – and as there is no indication the borders will reopen any time soon it is prudent to advise this will not apply to International tourists at all. As new cases begin to surface again in Tokyo, the Minister in charge of the virus response says there are [**no plans in place to revive the State Of Emergency for Tokyo or Kitakyushu.**](https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200531/p2g/00m/0na/044000c)
>**April 2020 Summary**
>With the virus increasing in spread [**Japan began increasing travel restrictions into the country on April 3rd,**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200401_35/) including Canada, the UK, Greece and most of Europe. As travel restrictions increased and flights were getting scarce, [**foreigners were given an automatic Visa Renewal of 3 months**](https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/04/504b65db2f19-foreigners-given-extra-3-months-to-renew-stay-due-to-coronavirus.html), no application necessary. A State of Emergency was declared, initially for only 7 prefectures, but it was then [**shifted nationwide on April 16th**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200416_38/) further restricting movement to, from, and within the country. On April 29th, [**Japan added 14 more countries to the ban list**](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200427_14/), barring citizens or those who had traveled to many parts of Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.
>**March 2020 Summary**
>The reality of the pandemic spread began to set in worldwide and countries began issuing Travel Advisories to their citizens and urging them to return home immediately. 14 day quarantine on arrival for some countries was requested by officials, and towards the end of the month, Japan posted travel bans for citizens from China, Korea, the USA and parts of Europe that were already seeing a large increase in the spread of the virus. [**The Tokyo Olympics were postponed officially, with a re-start date of July 23rd, 2021 being selected.**](http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13254665) Trains in Japan began to set slower schedules, due to the lack of tourists and locals traveling in order to curb the spread of the virus.
>**January 2020**
>**01/31** – The NHK has published an article reporting that JNTO has a phone number to call should tourists *currently in Japan* require assistance. We have reprinted the information below, and ask that you check the JNTO’s official website for any further information.
>”The Japan National Tourism Organization is offering phone consultation services for foreign tourists who are concerned about the new strain of coronavirus.”
>”The Japan Visitor Hotline offers 24-hour services in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. The hotline can refer callers who may be infected with the virus to the nearest medical institution. It also provides information on measures to prevent infection such as hand washing and gargling. The organization encourages foreign tourists to call if they have any concerns.”
>”The hotline number is 050-3816-2787.”
>Calling from Overseas? Use: +81-50-3816-2787