Tourists flock to Japan after COVID restrictions lifted
TOKYO (AP) — Eager to admire colorful foliage, eat sushi and go shopping, droves of tourists from abroad began arriving in Japan on Tuesday, with the end of pandemic-fighting border restrictions that had been in place for more than two years.
"We got the news that we can finally come. We are really, really happy,” said Nadine Lackmann, a German who was among the crowd of tourists arriving at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
Travelers like Lackmann are expected to deliver a sorely needed 5 trillion yen ($35 billion) boost to the world’s third-largest economy. And the flood of visitors is expected to keep growing.
A daily limit of 50,000 arrivals is gone. Airlines have added flights in response to the full re-opening of borders. Visa-free travel is back for short-term business visits and tourism from more than 60 countries.
David Beall, a photographer based in Los Angeles who’s been to Japan 12 times, has already booked a flight, planning to go to Fukui, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. The last time he was in Japan was in October 2019. But it's everyday things the American is looking forward to, like eating Japan's popular pork cutlet dish, tonkatsu.
“As cliched as it sounds, just being back in Japan after all this time is what I am most looking forward to. That of course includes hopefully meeting new people, eating the food that I’ve missed like good tonkatsu, being in nature at that time of the year, riding the trains,” he said.
As a tip for others planning trips, he recommends getting a Japan Rail Pass and a Suica or some other pre-paid card that allows cashless payments for easy travel.
About 32 million tourists visited Japan in 2019, before COVID-19. Their return is welcome for good reason. Many will have more spending power because the Japanese yen has declined in recent months...
