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Japan will drop Covid-19 border controls from Oct. 11, 2022, Bloomberg reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement during a press conference in New York on Sep. 22.
Individual visitors will be allowed to enter, visa requirements will be removed for visitors from countries which were exempted prior to the pandemic, and the cap on daily arrivals will also end, he said.
Prior to Covid-19, Japan allowed visitors from 68 countries and regions, including the United States and Singapore, to stay for as long as 90 days without a visa.
The news comes as the yen is slumping to its lowest levels against the dollar in almost a quarter of a century.
Japan is now seen as an attractive destination for overseas visitors.
Discounts for domestic travel will be introduced at the same time, Kishida added.
Businesses in Japan have urged their government to speed up the reopening process.
Visitor numbers reached a record of almost 32 million in 2019, before slumping to about 246,000.
Face masks remain in almost universal use in Japan, although there is currently no legal obligation to use them.
Top photo via Unsplash