Japan has eased entry rules, but travelers still face many hurdles

The international arrivals lobby at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 in Tokyo was eerily quiet Monday, with only a limited number of passengers from such destinations as Paris, Manila and Seattle showing up.

One of them was Barbara Tomiyama, 54, who arrived on a flight from Manila. She said she found the whole process of entering Japan — including the submission of a certificate showing a negative test for COVID-19 within 72 hours prior to departure, taking antigen saliva tests upon arrival and the need to self-isolate for 14 days — “very inconvenient.”

“It’s time-consuming,” she said, having spent about two hours passing the inspections, adding that she came back to her home in Tokyo to live with her son who has permanent residence status.