Japan coronavirus

As Japan reopens, a look back at its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic from the beginning.

Japan’s struggling tourism sector sees a light at the end of the tunnel as “self-guided” tours make way for full travel.

Australia, Japan, South Korea, and others have found middle ground between a full return to pre-pandemic normalcy and attempts to cling to “zero COVID.”

The government has shifted its focus from prevention to priority treatment for the severely ill amid strains on the healthcare system.

The Japan Tourism Agency says tours are being accepted from 98 countries and regions.

From Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam to Japan, the pandemic provided fertile ground for corruption from the top of health ministries to average citizens scamming the system.

Japan remains closed to international tourists and has not yet made plans to reopen despite a global trend to lift pandemic entry restrictions.

The limited reopening of borders is a welcomed relief, but the damage to Japan’s reputation could take years to repair.

The cautious easing of restrictions stirred both hope and worry for the roughly half-a-million foreigners locked out of Japan since early 2020.

Japan has put two-thirds of the country under quasi-emergency measures as it struggles to curb the latest explosion of COVID-19 infections. 

Japan is showing signs of a “sixth wave” of coronavirus infections as the highly contagious Omicron variant tears through the community.