Japan (Travel Restrictions, COVID Tests & Quarantine Requirements)

This page was updated on January 2023.

Table of Contents

Is Japan open for visitors?

Yes, Japan is open for visitors. However, the Japanese government will slightly tighten entry requirements for international travelers from Macau effective Jan. 12 amid rising COVID-19 activity. Under the new directives, all inbound travelers from Macau must present a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to departure and undergo another test upon arrival. Authorities may amend travel restrictions at short notice.

Moreover, Japan has now resumed its visa-free services on 11 October 2022, allowing travellers from 68 eligible nationalities to visit Japan without the need for a visa. The daily limit of 50,000 arrivals from the covid-19 pandemic regulation has also been lifted, and airlines have increased flying capacity in response to the full reopening of borders.

Japan Visa Free Travel 2023: Which Countries Can Enter Japan Without Visa?

Please note that UAE nationals with regular passports will be able to enter Japan without a visa from November 1, 2022. They will be able to enter the country without a visa as long as their stay does not exceed 30 days.

Is Japan open to international tourism?

Yes, effective 11 October 2022, Japan is now fully open to international tourism.

Moreover, for all travellers and returnees to Japan from countries or regions where the Omicron variant becomes dominant (all countries/regions except for those where COVID-19 variants other than the Omicron variant become dominant), requirements like on-arrival testing at the quarantine facility, self-quarantine in places such as their own residence or accommodations, and refraining from the use of public transportation have been lifted.

Furthermore, Japan has now resumed its visa-free services on 11 October 2022, allowing travellers from 68 eligible nationalities to visit Japan without the need for a visa.

The suspension of visa validity under the border measures was also lifted resuming the validity of single-entry visas and multiple-entry visas which were issued by Embassies, Consulate-Generals and Consulates of Japan in all countries/regions and whose validity was temporarily suspended.

Please visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan page for more details.

What are Japan’s vaccine requirements?

Although the majority of the entry restrictions to Japan have been lifted, travellers are still required to provide either a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a certificate of the negative result of a pre-departure COVID-19 test conducted within 72 hours prior to departing from the original country/region.

Japan-approved vaccines are as follows:

Pfizer/BioNTech
AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria
Moderna
Janssen
Covaxin
Nuvaxovid
Covishield
Sinopharm
Sinovac
CanSino

Please note that:

For the vaccine certificate to be considered valid, applicants must take 3 doses of vaccines on the Emergency Use List of the World Health Organization (WHO), as mentioned above
For the Janssen and CanSino Biologics vaccine, only in the case of the primary series, one dose is considered equivalent to two doses.
Mix-and-match vaccines are also considered valid.

Source: Japan – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mofa.go.jp)

What are Japan’s entry requirements?

Testing requirements

The following type of pre-departure COVID-19 tests will be allowed:

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)
LAMP (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification)
TMA (Transcription Mediated Amplification)
TRC (Transcription Reverse-transcription Concerted reaction)
Smart Amp (Smart Amplification process)
NEAR (Nicking Enzyme Amplification Reaction)
Next Generation Sequence

Please note that without a valid vaccination certificate or the Covid-19 pre-departure test certificate, travellers will NOT be allowed to enter Japan.

For more details refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mofa.go.jp) page.

Quarantine requirements

Japan has now scrapped its quarantine requirements.

For all travellers and returnees to Japan from countries or regions where the Omicron variant becomes dominant (all countries/regions except for those where COVID-19 variants other than the Omicron variant become dominant), requirements like on-arrival testing at the quarantine facility, self-quarantine in places such as their own residence or accommodations are no longer required.

Additional requirements

Arrivals to Japan can head to the ‘Visit Japan Web‘ to conveniently register information for immigration and customs procedures. Travellers to Japan can also install the MySOS smartphone app to confirm their accommodation, location and health condition. Travellers can also link their COVID-19 negative test certificates with this mobile app.