NHK highlighted remarks made to the press this morning by Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno, who projected that a substantial portion of the roughly 150,000 international students who have not been able to enter Japan on account of the tight COVID-19 border controls will probably be able to arrive by the end of May. The government spokesman explained that the establishment….Read more

Yomiuri wrote that as part of its measures to ease COVID-19 border controls, the GOJ is studying a plan to accept all international students hoping to enter Japan by the end of May. Prime Minister Kishida has announced a plan to raise the cap on arrivals from foreign countries to 7,000 from the current 5,000 per day starting on May….Read more

Yomiuri wrote that according to multiple GOJ sources, the government is considering establishing a separate quota for foreign students as part of its additional measures to ease border restrictions for foreign entrants. The paper wrote that although Japan raised the cap on the number of arrivals from 3,500 to 5,000 per day on Tuesday, more than 100,000 foreign students have….Read more

Nikkei reported on Saturday that concerning the GOJ’s decision to accept up to 5,000 foreign visitors per day starting in March, the GOJ has decided to simplify procedures for the entry of foreign exchange students. According to the paper, the GOJ is planning to integrate the screening procedures that involve multiple ministries and agencies and move the entire process online.….Read more

By JUN MIURA/ Staff Writer   Japan made clear it will not give preferential treatment to students stuck overseas when it relaxes its COVID-19 entry ban on nonresident foreign nationals from March 1.   Students desperate to come to Japan have been clamoring for months for a break in border restrictions, but education minister Shinsuke Suematsu said at a Feb.….Read more

TOKYO — Japan is considering ending quarantine and self-isolation requirements next month for fully vaccinated and boosted travelers arriving from countries where coronavirus cases are not rising rapidly, Nikkei has learned.   Discussions have begun on how to loosen the stringent border controls imposed during November in response to the omicron variant. The controls are now set to end in….Read more

HIROSHI ASAHINA, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Members of Japan’s ruling party on Monday crafted a resolution urging the government to allow foreign students to enter again, warning that the country will be left out of the global race to secure talent.    The documented, drawn up by the Liberal Democratic Party’s education division, calls for easing border controls imposed in response to….Read more

    By Kawasaki Yuko, staff writer   Foreign applicants clinging to hopes of studying in Japan have seen their dreams dashed again for probably another year because of Japan’s extended entry ban on travelers from abroad.   One hopeful in his 20s who lives in China has been preparing for the entrance exam for the Tokyo University of the….Read more

By Keita Nakamura   TOKYO – Singaporean Adeline Leng expected to start studying at a language school in Japan last April but is still not able to travel to the country due to its strict COVID-19 border controls.   Leng, 26, began the process of applying 16 months ago and since then it has been one long, increasingly fraught, wait.  ….Read more