Amid the COVID-19 pandemic the Japanese government has introduced tough new restrictions blocking visitors from countries including the US, Canada, China, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Non-Japanese travellers who have even visited any of the 73 countries on the list within 14 days of arriving in Japan will also not be allowed to enter.
Japanese citizens in New Zealand have been emailed by their embassy with the new rules, which do note "special circumstances" may allow entry.
Japan has also raised the travel alert level for 49 of those countries, urging Japanese nationals to avoid any travel to them. Japanese citizens returning from any country on the list will have to undergo PCR coronavirus testing and be quarantined for 14 days when they enter Japan.
Travellers who have visited any of the following countries within 14 days of arriving in Japan will be refused entry:
Asia:
Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
Oceania:
Australia, New Zealand
North America:
Canada, United States
South America and the Caribbean:
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, Panama
Europe:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican
Middle East:
Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Turkey
Africa:
Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco
The restrictions go into force from midnight Saturday morning (Japan Standard Time) and the government has not set an end date for them.
Inbound air travel will be limited to Tokyo Narita or Osaka Kansai international airports. Ship transportation of passengers from China and the Republic of Korea will also be suspended.
