Japan will this week ease strict coronavirus border controls that have been criticized as xenophobic and harmful to the economy. The new rules, however, offer only a minor improvement: 5,000 new entrants per day, instead of the current 3,500, and anywhere near the estimated 64,000 a day who were entering for longer-term visits before the pandemic.
The 5,000 daily arrivals also include Japanese nationals returning to the country, meaning hundreds of thousands of foreigners will still struggle to enter.
An estimated half a million foreign students, teachers, technical interns and workers recognized as business travelers have been laid off and waited to enter for nearly two years. Under the policy, which takes effect from Tuesday, everyone will have to wait several months before coming in.
“It’s still better than nothing,” said Jomi Kwok, who has missed almost all of her first year of postgraduate classes in atmospheric science at Hokkaido University.
Kwok was the only one in her class who had to take classes and research online while in Hong Kong. 20 of her classmates returned to campus when coronavirus infections slowed sharply late last year, before the most recent Omicron wave. “I’m pretty left out,” she said in an online interview.
She hopes to arrive in Japan before the new school year begins in April and take more classes next year to catch up as much as possible before her scheduled graduation. She can continue studying for a doctorate degree in Japan.
But he has competition. About 150,000 foreign students and scholars are awaiting admission.
Japan has banned almost all entries from non-resident foreigners since the start of the pandemic. The country announced an easing in November, but quickly reversed that decision after an Omicron variant emerged elsewhere in the world.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan would consider further easing border controls based on the scientific evaluation of the Omicron version, the level of infection inside and outside Japan and the quarantine measures of other countries.
The long wait has already hurt many people mentally and financially. Some have changed the focus of their studies, their career and their life plans.
Critics have compared Japan’s strict and prolonged border measures to the “sakoku” lock-country policy of the xenophobic warlords who ruled the country from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Some say it hurt Japan’s national interests by locking in skilled foreigners who can bring valuable ideas, businesses and work to the country.
“I want to contribute to society if I decide to stay,” Kwok said.
Japanese and foreign trade groups have also opposed the government, saying the border closures have delayed investments, trade deals, product development and distribution.
According to a recent survey conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry of German companies in Japan, 73 out of 100 respondents said they saw their project and business volume at risk because of entry restrictions, while 23 said that they have already lost business of greater value. $113 million.
According to Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, the absence of foreign students means a loss of tuition for universities and language schools, while farming, construction, nursing and convenience stores that rely on foreign workers face severe staff shortages. faced.
Kiuchi said their return under the daily entry limit of 5,000 could contribute an estimated 1.6 trillion yen ($14 billion) of annual economic benefits, or 0.2% of Japan’s GDP.
Under the sanctions, Japan could also miss out on future trading partners because foreign companies that consider border measures a risk factor may avoid trading or investing here, he said.
While Covid-19 infections are slowing, the daily death toll topped 270 last Tuesday, a record since the pandemic began, according to the health ministry. Japan has recorded more than 23,000 deaths, far fewer than in many countries. But much of Japan is still under virus-related restrictions as infections continue to burden the medical system, which is easily overwhelmed because COVID-19 treatment is limited to public or major hospitals.
Experts generally agree that Japan’s early tightening of its border in late November was good crisis management, but keeping the doors closed as Omicron infections spread within Japan was pointless.
“At this point, the losses outweigh the gains,” said Akio Mimura, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who called for further easing of the daily entry limit. Given the widespread public support for stricter border measures, Mimura urged the government to raise awareness that the policy was harming certain sections of society.
Business leaders are also calling for a revival of tourism at some point to revive the badly hit industry. Foreign tourism fell more than 90% in 2020 compared to a year earlier, wiping out the pre-pandemic inbound tourism market worth nearly 4 trillion yen ($34 billion).
Education Minister Shinsuke Sumatsu said recently that Japan is trying to admit as many foreign students as possible before the start of April of the new academic year, but “it will still take a long time for everyone to arrive.”
The new border measures will not help Stefano Piras, who is in Italy and has not been able to visit his Japanese fiancé for more than a year.
The couple met in London in late 2019, just before the pandemic. After about a year, they decided to marry, and Peirce returned to Italy to prepare for his departure to Japan.
Peirce wanted to visit his parents and get married in Japan, but to do so he would have to obtain a tourist visa, which is impossible under current border policy. Now he thinks the only way to reconnect with her in Japan is to obtain a marriage certificate and a spouse visa.
“You are born, you are married and you have a family. It is one of the three most important things in your life,” Piras said in an online interview from Sardinia. He laments that together on marriage Instead of working, she has to burden her fiancée with paperwork in Japan.
After living in Osaka for two years as a Japanese language student, Peirce was aware of Japan’s tendency to be wary of outsiders, but “it was a shock that they are still so closed… It is like saying that the Japanese are fine but we (foreigners) are not well. We bring diseases and are pure Japanese.”
Nevertheless, Piras has not lost his love for Japanese culture and people. He calls Japan “my second home”.
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