The Japanese government officially reopened tourism to international visitors, including Vietnamese citizens, on Tuesday after more than two years of isolation due to COVID-19. 

From October 11, the Japanese government officially lifted restrictions on the number of international visitors as well as on self-guided tours to Japan, Japanese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Watanabe Nobuhiro told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in a recent interview.

Accordingly, travelers from around the world are able to enter Japan if they show proof of triple vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result, Nobuhiro said.

Japan expects to continue to welcome Vietnamese tourists in the very last months of the year, a period that is also the best time to visit the East Asian country, the diplomat said.

On September 5, the Japanese National Travel Organization (JNTO) Representative Office in Vietnam announced that Vietnamese might visit Japan through tours organized by travel companies only.

Now with the full tourism reopening policy, Vietnamese tourists can travel to Japan through tours run by travel agents or take self-guided tours by themselves, the consul general said. 

Most Vietnamese tourists like taking photos of beautiful landscapes and shopping in Japan, where they are also interested in enjoying Japanese cuisine, bathing in hot springs, watching natural landscapes such as red leaves and white snow, and getting cultural experiences, Nobuhiro said, citing a JNTO survey in 2019.  

Among the total 495,000 Vietnamese travelers to Japan that year, 75 percent were first-time visitors and the rest the repeat ones, he added. 

Over the first eight months of 2022, when Japan step by step opened its tourism, more than 160,000 Vietnamese visitors entered the country, the highest among the number of international visitors to Japan in the period, the JNTO representative office said.

There will be more and more Vietnamese travelers to Japan after October 11 as Japan has fully reopened to foreign travelers, the office said.

To continue welcoming back tourists after more than two years of COVID-19 lockdown, the office launched a communication campaign with the message 'Japan Welcomes Back' with diverse promotional activities.

The Japanese government will also launch a tourism stimulus plan, including a nationwide tourism discount program.

The consul general expressed his hope that Vietnamese people will take part in various activities that will be conducted in both Japan and Vietnam in the coming time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.  

Among them will be the eighth Japan - Vietnam Festival 2022, which will take place for two days in Ho Chi Minh City starting February 25, 2023, which will offer valuable opportunities for Vietnamese to learn more about Japan, he added.

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