Japan: Visa exemption for a number of ASEAN countries

The Japanese government has exempted citizens of some Southeast Asian countries from visa to develop the nation’s tourism industry and to strengthen the relationship with ASEAN countries.

According to Japanese Foreign Ministry’s declaration, this new visa policy has been effective after July 1. The Ministry of the Land of the Rising Sun underlined that this decision was adopted to celebrate “40th year of ASEAN – Japan Friendship and Cooperation”. It noted that the visa exemption is only valid for short-term tourists (less than 15 days), if they want to stay longer, they still need a visa.

However, only citizens of Thailand and Malaysia are officially exempted from visa after July 1. The citizens of other ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Philippines will obtain the Issuance of Multiple Entry Visas (for short time visit no longer than 15 days).

World Bulletin Newspaper said that the political tensions related to Senkaku/Diaoyu islands lowered the number of Chinese travelers to Japan. This severely affects its tourism industry, especially when Chinese tourists boycott the tour to Japan. In that situation, Tokyo decided to turn its eyes to lucrative Southeast Asian market with the goal of attracting 1 million tourists from the region this year, and 2 million next year.