Japan is preparing to lift Covid-19 entry restrictions on individual international travelers visiting outside of an authorized tour group. Japan is getting ready to join other top Asia-Pacific destinations in fully reopening to tourism. But the region’s beaches, shopping meccas and cultural sites are finding the return to pre-Covid prosperity is slower than in the U.S. and Europe, in part because would-be Chinese tourists are still largely stuck at home. Government officials in Tokyo said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was preparing soon to lift entry restrictions and put Japan on par with the U.S. and European nations that generally allow short-term tourists to visit freely without Covid-19 tests. Currently, Japan bars individual tourists.

---