75% of Japanese Youths Support Relaxation of COVID-19 Border Restrictions: Poll
Three-fourths of young people in Japan support relaxation of border restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, according to a recent online survey conducted by The Nippon Foundation.
The poll on the subject of “Coronavirus, Travel and Inbound Tourism” was carried out from October 21 to 25, 2022, covering 1,000 Japanese aged between 17 and 19 across the country.
It found 76.4% of respondents were aware that the Japanese government has gradually relaxed COVID-19 border controls while 74.7% were in favor of encouraging more foreign tourists to come to Japan.
As reasons for agreeing to easier border measures, 63.7% said it “will lead to economic recovery,” followed by those who “want to quickly return to pre-pandemic daily life,” (36.3%) and who think more foreign tourists “will lead to regional revitalization” (35.9%).
On the other hand, 25.3% were against easier border controls, concerned that overseas travelers might bring COVID-19 or other infectious diseases into the country.
Regarding ways to stimulate demand for domestic tourism, 79.4% supported the government’s programs to distribute discount vouchers to travelers.
On the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on their travel plans, 29.5% said they have given up plans to travel or study overseas and 56.6% have dropped plans to travel or move to a new residence within Japan.
When asked about the effect of the depreciation of the yen against the dollar combined with the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, 68.2% expected the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan will increase while 30.9% expected that of Japanese tourists traveling abroad to decrease.
On December 27 or after the poll was taken, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Japan would tighten border controls against COVID-19 by requiring tests for all visitors from China starting December 29 as a temporary emergency measure against the surging infections there.
Apparently in response, Chinese authorities gave notice that they had stopped issuing all tourist and business visas to Japanese nationals.
