Japan has kept its door closed to most foreigners during the
pandemic, and the 26-year-old Australian is one of hundreds of thousands denied
entry to study, work or see their families.
Japan has become one of the world’s most difficult countries
to enter and some are comparing it to the locked country, or “sakoku,” policy
of xenophobic warlords who ruled Japan in the 17th to 19th centuries.
The current border rules allow in only Japanese nationals
and permanent foreign residents, and have raised the ire of foreign students
and scholars who say the measures are unfair, unscientific and force talented
visitors to go to other countries.
Critics say the rules are also hurting Japan’s international
profile and national interest.
About half a million foreigners — including academics,
researchers and others with highly skilled jobs and 150,000 foreign students —
have been affected, various statistics show.
“I think the most difficult thing for me has been this state
of living in standby,” Bressa said. He has been unable to commit himself to any
long-term plans with his family, friends or even at work. “I can’t plan that
far ahead in the future, just not knowing where I end up the next month or
two.”
Frustrated students have gathered near Japanese diplomatic
compounds around the world to protest.
In Spain’s second-largest city of Barcelona, Laura Vieta
stood outside of the Japanese Consulate last week, holding up a sign saying
“Stop Japan’s Travel Ban.”
“I gave up my job because I thought I was going to Japan in
September,” said Vieta, 25, who wants to study Japanese at a private school for
six months or longer. “As you can see, I’m still here.”
Japan plans to keep the border measures in place through the
end of February as it copes with a record surge of cases in Tokyo and other
major cities. Makoto Shimoaraiso, a Cabinet official working on Japan’s
COVID-19 response, said the situation is painful but he asked for patience,
noting much higher infection levels overseas.
Japan recently decided to let nearly 400 students enter, but
many others including those on foreign government-sponsored scholarships still
cannot get in.
A letter to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, signed by hundreds
of academics and Japan experts and submitted last month in a petition drive,
called for a relaxation of the border controls to enable educators, students
and scholars to pursue their studies and work in Japan. It said many already
have given up Japan studies, opting to focus elsewhere, such as South Korea.
“They become the bridges between Japan and other societies.
They are future policymakers, business leaders, and teachers. They are the
foundation of the U.S.-Japan alliance and other international relationships
that support Japan’s core national interests,” the letter said. “The closure is
harming Japan’s national interests and international relationships.”
Japan is not the only country imposing strict border
controls, but the policy is drawing criticism from within Kishida’s governing
party and from the business community.
Taro Kono, an outspoken lawmaker who has studied at
Georgetown University and served as foreign and defense minister, urged that
the government “reopen the country so that students and others waiting for an
entry can have a future outlook and make plans.”
Masakazu Tokura, head of Japan’s powerful business
organization Keidanren, recently said the border measures were “unrealistic”
and are disrupting business. He called for a quick end to “the locked country
situation.”
On Thursday, The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, the
European Business Council in Japan and the International Bankers Association of
Japan, in a joint statement, said the entry ban “has imposed real and
increasing economic and human costs.” They urged the government to “quickly
adopt a science-based entry policy” to accept vaccinated business travelers,
students, teachers and separated family members.
However, the border controls have wide public support. Many
Japanese tend to think troubles such as the pandemic come from outside their
island nation.
Tightening border controls quickly after omicron outbreaks
began overseas may have been unavoidable, Nippon University crisis management
professor Mitsuru Fukuda said, but the decision to exclude only foreigners
appears aimed at rallying public support. With careful preventive measures,
Japan could allow foreign visitors just as many other countries are doing, he
said.
“Crisis management is for the protection of people’s daily
lives and happiness, and people should not have to compromise their freedom and
human rights in exchange for their lives,” Fukuda said.
Japan’s coronavirus cases plunged as delta variant infections
subsided in the fall, and Kishida has said closing the border to most foreign
travelers in late November helped delay the latest surge in infections. He
contends that overreacting is better than doing too little, too late.
He was likely taking a lesson from his predecessor,
Yoshihide Suga, who stepped aside after only a year in office partly due to his
administration’s perceived weak handling of the pandemic.
Japan has just begun giving booster shots, but only 3.5% of
the population have received them, and the medical system has been inadequately
prepared for the latest huge wave of cases, leaving many sick with COVID-19 to
isolate at home.
The border closures did not keep omicron out of U.S.
military bases, where Japan has no jurisdiction, including troops that fly
directly into the country without observing Japanese quarantine requirements.
They were not tested for weeks, until Tokyo asked them to.
Clusters of cases among U.S. troops rapidly spread into
neighboring communities including those in Okinawa, home to the majority of the
50,000 American troops in Japan, beginning in late December. Infections at U.S.
bases exceeded 6,000 last month.
On Wednesday, Japan reported nearly 95,000 new confirmed
cases, a record, and Tokyo’s cases exceeded 20,000 for the first time. Some
pandemic restrictions are now in effect in much of Japan, including Tokyo and
other big cities like Osaka and Kyoto, for the first time since September.
Phillip Lipscy, a political science professor at Toronto
University in Canada who is part of the petition drive, said he was denied
entry despite his Japanese roots and his dedication to the study of Japan.
“I grew up in Japan. I am a native speaker of the language,
my mother is Japanese and she lives in Tokyo. But under the current policy I
cannot enter Japan because of the color of my passport,” Lipscy told an online
meeting.
With the outlook uncertain, many people are changing their
studies or careers, he said.
“These are fateful decisions with long term consequences,”
he said. “The border closure is depriving Japan of a generation of admirer,
friends and allies.” -AP
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