Japan, here we come!

Hongkongers will be able to travel to Japan in group tours from June 10, regardless of their vaccination status and will not be required to undergo quarantine or take Covid-19 test upon arrival.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday announced that his country is set to allow some package-tour tourists from overseas starting June 10, ending a ban introduced about two years ago as part of the country's virus control program.

"Active exchanges between people are the foundation of the economy and society," Kishida said in a speech at the Future of Asia conference in Tokyo.

"From the 10th of next month we will restart the admission of tourists on guided package tours."

He added that preparations would begin to allow international flights to land at New Chitose airport in Hokkaido and Naha airport in Okinawa.

Tourist numbers are likely to remain limited at first. Japan has already announced it will double its cap on arrivals from overseas to 20,000 a day starting next month, though this remains far below the levels seen before the pandemic.

Japanese authorities divided countries and regions into three categories - red, yellow and blue - depending on their assessed virus risk.

From June 1, travelers arriving from countries or regions on the blue list, regardless of their vaccination status, will be able to bypass quarantine and a PCR test upon their arrival. They also do not need to show a vaccination record.

Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan are among the countries and regions in the blue list, but Macau is in the yellow list in which only travelers who possess a valid vaccination proof can be exempted from quarantine and on-arrival tests.

Vaccinated visitors from places in the red list need to take a PCR test upon their arrival and undergo home quarantine for seven days, or three-day home quarantine with a negative result of a voluntary test.

However, all travelers are still required to submit a certificate of negative Covid test result taken within 72 hours prior to their departure for Japan.

And on their return home, Hongkongers will need to show vaccination record of at least two jabs and undergo a seven-day quarantine in designated quarantine hotels, following seven days of self-monitoring.

They will also need to take a PCR test at the airport before going to the quarantine hotel.

EGL Tours executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen told The Standard that tours will only go to Tokyo and Osaka initially, and each tour will have up to seven members.

"The tour will last at least seven days as customers will have to stay in a quarantine hotel for seven days on their return so the duration of the tour will not be too short," he said.

He also said the price of the tours will be higher than pre-Covid days as only small tour groups are allowed.

It will also depend on supply of flight seats and will include the price of the quarantine hotels in Hong Kong.

Huen said agencies in Hong Kong are still waiting for further details from the Consulate-General of Japan and Japan National Tourism Organization's office in Hong Kong on how many of the 20,000 daily quota will be for the SAR.

He hopes Hong Kong will get more quota as Japan saw over two million visitors a year from the SAR before the pandemic.

Executive director of agency WWPKG, Yuen Chun-ning, said tours can only depart in August the soonest due to limited seats.

His agency plans to launch a 14-day group tour to Osaka that will cost about HK$45,000 per passenger.

Japan saw its first batch of seven foreign tourists from the United States on Tuesday after more than two years, as four countries - Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the US - have been invited to small-scale test tours to Tokyo since Tuesday.