The Japanese government on Wednesday lifted its last remaining warnings against nonessential trips abroad over Covid-19 after downgrading its travel advisories for 76 countries and areas, including Australia and Taiwan.
The Foreign Ministry said it lowered the travel advisory for those destinations, also including New Zealand, Mexico and Turkey, from the second-lowest Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling to those regions to "stay fully alert."
The ministry said the decision came "as the infection situation globally has generally been improving" and that other Group of Seven industrialised nations have already scrapped their coronavirus travel advisories by country and area.
The 76 countries and regions comprise six from the Asia-Pacific region, 11 from Latin America, 20 from Europe, and 39 from the Middle East and Africa, according to the ministry.
By August, Japan had designated 125 countries and areas as Level 1.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliament committee session that he expects the latest decision to "further activate international exchanges such as business trips."
Those who plan to travel overseas are still encouraged to get fully vaccinated to prevent coronavirus infection, the ministry added.
Wednesday's measure came after the government scrapped last week its 50,000-person cap on daily arrivals, as the nation aims to revive its struggling inbound tourism sector by relaxing border controls that had been criticised as too strict.
Japan has also ended the requirement that tourists travel on package tours, and that visitors obtain a visa if they are citizens of one of 68 countries and regions with which Japan had a waiver agreement before the pandemic.
Japan has scrapped its classification of countries and regions by Covid risk. It now allows people to skip virus testing and isolation upon entry as long as they provide proof of either having undergone three vaccinations or returning a negative test result within 72 hours of departure.
