Japan looks like it may finally open its borders and end its splendid isolation. The key question is: Can it learn to love foreign tourists again?

After a series of head fake border re-openings this year which promised more than they delivered, a report Monday that Japan would scrap most restrictions on tourists was the big one. If realized, the plans — which include restoring the visa waiver for those with three shots, dumping a daily cap on arrival numbers and allowing tourists to book without going through a travel agent — would make ease of entry into Japan look more like it did in 2019.

It’s a pragmatic, if long overdue decision from the often cautious Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Japan has a window of opportunity that won’t come again soon to normalize its border controls. The current wave of Covid cases and the punishing summer heat are both subsiding, paving the way for an autumn where both natural and vaccine immunity should mean a respite from the disease.

More pressingly, the weak yen is also providing impetus, with the currency still trading close to a 24-year low against the greenback. With inflation relatively benign, tourists paying in dollars can expect some jaw-droppingly cheap prices in a country where dining out was already a reasonable option.

Having pledged in May to gradually make entry into Japan as easy as for other G-7 countries, Kishida should be given credit for a bold and potentially unpopular decision, at a time when his approval ratings are tanking. An Asahi poll Sunday showed those disapproving of his cabinet outweighing those who back him, 47% to 41%.

Kishida explicitly mentioned making use of the weak yen in an earlier decision to relax border controls this summer. The move to restore the visa waiver, which could be announced this week, may also exert some influence on the currency; more yen buyers could provide support to stop its slide. ...continue reading