Japanese media: Japan reopens the country this summer, foreign tourists are still “at a distance” jqknews

Reference News Network reported on August 18 According to Japan’s “Asahi Shimbun” report, Japan reopened its doors to overseas tourists this summer, but the number of foreign tourists entering in July did not show a significant rebound. Some tourist attractions that were originally favored by foreigners are still deserted.

According to the report, Osaka’s famous “Kuromon Market” is famous for selling fresh food and seafood. Before the epidemic, the entire commercial street was crowded with tourists from all over the world, and it is no longer to see such a scene.

In Tokyo, TAS, a company specializing in tourism to Japan, received about 200 tourists from places such as Singapore and Thailand in July, which is less than one-tenth of 2019 (the same period).

The report pointed out that currently entering Japan for tourism purposes is limited to group tours, so more tourists who prefer independent travel have turned to South Korea, Thailand and Europe.

According to the report, Atsushi Hamada, a distinguished professor at Tokyo Medical University, believes that the previous relaxation of entry measures may be an important reason for the current seventh wave of the outbreak, because it was at the time of the more contagious Omicron BA.5 strain. spread globally. In the future, with the arrival of tourists, it is also possible to bring in new mutant strains.