"Japan's 'Business Track Resumption' Likely Difficult Even After Lifting COVID-19 State of Emergency"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Even if Japan's COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted, it is unlikely that the 'Business Track' travel with countries like Korea and China will resume easily, according to evaluations from Japan.

In the four countries targeted by Japan for Business Track operations?Korea, China, Singapore, and Vietnam?variant viruses have been detected, making it difficult to prioritize lifting entry restrictions on them even if the state of emergency is lifted, reported Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) on the 7th.

According to the report, if the Japanese government lifts the state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas as scheduled on the 21st, entry restrictions will continue for the time being while the government looks for countries to exempt; however, Korea and others are unlikely to be included due to variant viruses.

Japan had recognized special entry measures such as the Business Track for short-term business travelers and the 'Residence Track' for mid- to long-term residents like expatriates for Korea and others, but these were suspended following the declaration of the state of emergency, and early resumption prospects appear low.

The Japanese government is also promoting measures to strengthen quarantine for entrants to block the inflow of variant viruses. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced at a press conference on the 5th that, in addition to using mobile phone location information for Japanese nationals returning from overseas and foreigners re-entering Japan, the system will be organized to confirm the two-week self-quarantine status through daily video calls.

The quarantine required by the Japanese government for entrants had been considerably looser than Korea's, but due to growing concerns about variant viruses, it appears they are changing the system to manage more thoroughly.