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Gabriel Grub posted:(You can already come in unguided if you are invited by family or an acquaintance) How does this work?
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Aug 24, 2022 03:10
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| # ? May 26, 2024 23:29 |
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I will bring over goons. For a price. 
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Aug 24, 2022 03:26
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Oh no I'm not falling for that again
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Aug 24, 2022 04:11
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Sounds like one of those "seize their passport and force them into sex work" things, except it's targeted at goons which makes no sense.
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Aug 24, 2022 04:24
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Jackelope cautiously unhovers his finger off the "cancel flight" button
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Aug 24, 2022 04:50
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Gabriel Grub posted:(You can already come in unguided if you are invited by family or an acquaintance) Welp that's most goons out then.
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Aug 24, 2022 05:06
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Waltzing Along posted:How does this work? You apply for a visa at a consulate. They can tell you what they need for documentation.
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Aug 24, 2022 07:58
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I assume Gab is talking about this. https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000921.html posted:A foreign national who is to acquire the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor” for the purpose of visiting a relative / an acquaintance (in a case of visiting an acquaintance, only a foreign national who have a relationship to him/her equivalent to a relative, or who is recognized his/her necessity to visit Japan.) .
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Aug 24, 2022 08:57
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Please print your posts and mail them to your nearest consultant so I can bring you over.
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Aug 24, 2022 09:50
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Word is, Japan is planning on opening to some degree next month. Apparently, they have figured out the tour group thing is a failure so are going to scrap it.
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Aug 27, 2022 19:22
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Everything I’ve seen suggests that tour groups, chaperones, and sponsors are still required. Just less restrictive than before.
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Aug 27, 2022 22:58
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It sounds like you won't need to be part a tour group but you will still need to hire a travel agency to book all your hotel and events in order for them to sponsor your visa. I guess it's all about having someone be responsible for the foreigner.
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Aug 28, 2022 00:12
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Pollyanna posted:Everything I’ve seen suggests that tour groups, chaperones, and sponsors are still required. Just less restrictive than before. Kono Taro was out there on the bird app saying the magic words, visa waiver soon. Patience, goons. You don’t want to be here now anyway, it’s still loving hot.
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Aug 28, 2022 00:52
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Lol so close. We've got flights for the 19th of October so probably another 3-4 weeks to see if its doable or otherwise book somewhere else. This is really the only time my partner and I can get time off together until next Christmas, so here's hoping something amazing happens soon!
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Aug 28, 2022 03:25
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i'm thinking i should probably book my tickets to visit the family this winter now while they're still fairly cheap
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Aug 28, 2022 08:15
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Good progress IMO. Still not in love with the set schedule bit but reports on the ground are that it's already really lax after your "official" tour is done for the day, so I wonder how much of a formality this "has to be pre-booked" thing will be. Like no one will be taking attendance at XYZ temple, so I presume that's exactly what it will be -- a formality and you might be checked on to see if you're in the vague vicinity of where you said you would be, geographically, at most.. But obviously chaos still reigns. I'm hoping we get through the virtual babysitter phase by early 2023 else I have to see if I can turn my self-booked May tickets into agent-booked somehow. And no doubt that agent booked accommodations will be more expensive than whatever I can scrounge together on airbnb or expedia.
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Aug 30, 2022 11:22
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some kinda jackal posted:I'm hoping we get through the virtual babysitter phase by early 2023 else I have to see if I can turn my self-booked May tickets into agent-booked somehow. And no doubt that agent booked accommodations will be more expensive than whatever I can scrounge together on airbnb or expedia. Like I said, Digital minister Kono Taro was on Twitter saying https://twitter.com/konotaromp/status/1562666716991086592 I don’t think he means spring 2023.
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Aug 30, 2022 18:33
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Whoops, missed that. So visa wavier essentially what we had pre-COVID?
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Aug 30, 2022 23:18
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You'd assume so. My feeling is they'll wait until cases drop a bit more before announcing anything concrete, which should be a couple more weeks, month at most.
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Aug 31, 2022 00:17
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While i'm also trying to stay positive, I think it's important to parse the 2 sentences of that tweet separately, 'next' doesn't imply any sort of time frame.
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Aug 31, 2022 00:18
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Their current timetable doesn’t make sense either. Opening it up when cases are record high. This is all in service of fixing the tourism sector, so when they realize people still aren’t flocking in due to having to deal with a travel agent (these still exist??) the they’ll just do the next thing. No toxx, but I’d bet late winter in time for spring.
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Aug 31, 2022 01:12
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How long did it take them to figure out the tour group thing was a failure? A little less than 3 months? So how long for them to realize tourists just want things as close to the way they were before and are the same for Japanese tourists going most places?
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Aug 31, 2022 01:30
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Pretty sure they already know this
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Aug 31, 2022 01:48
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some kinda jackal posted:Their current timetable doesn’t make sense either. Opening it up when cases are record high. This is all in service of fixing the tourism sector, so when they realize people still aren’t flocking in due to having to deal with a travel agent (these still exist??) the they’ll just do the next thing. No toxx, but I’d bet late winter in time for spring. They've already opened up but only in one direction. I live in (arguably) the most popular beach tourism destination in Australia and have talked to 3 families of Japanese tourists just this morning at work. It's not like it's less of a vector for covid than people going there, I'm sure as hell no one is wearing masks or social distancing here.
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Aug 31, 2022 02:03
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field balm posted:While i'm also trying to stay positive, I think it's important to parse the 2 sentences of that tweet separately, 'next' doesn't imply any sort of time frame. If you stay positive they'll never let you in!
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Aug 31, 2022 02:12
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Waltzing Along posted:How long did it take them to figure out the tour group thing was a failure? A little less than 3 months? So how long for them to realize tourists just want things as close to the way they were before and are the same for Japanese tourists going most places? It was never meant to succeed. It was just a trial balloon + small giveaway to travel industry buddies.
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Aug 31, 2022 02:29
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field balm posted:They've already opened up but only in one direction. I live in (arguably) the most popular beach tourism destination in Australia and have talked to 3 families of Japanese tourists just this morning at work. It's not like it's less of a vector for covid than people going there, I'm sure as hell no one is wearing masks or social distancing here. Japanese were never restricted from travel. Non-Japanese residents of Japan were restricted from reentry, but not leaving, for 2 or 3 months in 2020.
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Aug 31, 2022 02:30
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I know anyone on a work visa had to go home, but do you mean they did that for naturalized expats too?
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Aug 31, 2022 04:31
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Pollyanna posted:I know anyone on a work visa had to go home, but do you mean they did that for naturalized expats too? No one had to go home. If you left, there was a period of a few months when you could not get back in. This applied even to permanent residents. "Naturalized" means citizen; no restriction.
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Aug 31, 2022 04:38
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Gabriel Grub posted:No one had to go home. If you left, there was a period of a few months when you could not get back in. This applied even to permanent residents. It was extremely hosed, yeah.
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Aug 31, 2022 05:26
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Japan residents just avoided international travel because there was a mandatory hotel quarantine on re-entry (lifted in early 2022) and now it's even easier that most countries lifted pre-flight PCR tests requirements.
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Aug 31, 2022 07:21
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There was definitely a period when residents were denied reentry, and there was home quarantine if you tested negative. Hotel was only for positive tests and people from certain countries considered high risk.
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Aug 31, 2022 07:50
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Gabriel Grub posted:There was definitely a period when residents were denied reentry, and there was home quarantine if you tested negative. Hotel was only for positive tests and people from certain countries considered high risk. This is also presuming said person lived in Tokyo and could get home without using public transit, no? It’s a long walk from Narita to Kyushu :/ The PCR test requirement is a big ease though. Imagine going back home and then catching covid and being unable to return to work on time etc. I wasn’t able to take that risk.
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Aug 31, 2022 11:26
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Well, speaking of weird long walks, touristchat, I have it in my head that I’m going to “walk the Yamanote” this time around. Mathematically it’s an eight hour walk by the numbers if I go my typical leisurely pace but I guess I should plan on breaking it up over two or three days so I can enjoy eating and looking at fun stuff along the way 
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Aug 31, 2022 11:48
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some kinda jackal posted:Well, speaking of weird long walks, touristchat, I have it in my head that I’m going to “walk the Yamanote” this time around. Mathematically it’s an eight hour walk by the numbers if I go my typical leisurely pace but I guess I should plan on breaking it up over two or three days so I can enjoy eating and looking at fun stuff along the way Why would you wanna do that? It’s not picturesque.
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Aug 31, 2022 13:40
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Pegnose Pete posted:This is also presuming said person lived in Tokyo and could get home without using public transit, no? It’s a long walk from Narita to Kyushu :/ Yep. My memory of COVID travel restrictions were there was a period where it was ????? for foreign residents if they left whether they'd be let back in, so few would risk it outside of things like family emergencies. And even then, they may not have been allowed back in. Outside of the one week or so in late 2020, there also was a very long period where the Japanese government wasn't allowing any new resident visas for anyone outside of the country as well. peanut posted:Japan residents just avoided international travel because there was a mandatory hotel quarantine on re-entry (lifted in early 2022) and now it's even easier that most countries lifted pre-flight PCR tests requirements. Yup. A few people braved it in 2021, but it's this year where all the foreign travel has really gotten going again - whether that's Japanese families finding out about inflation in Hawai'i, or foreigners going back to their homeland for a long-overdue visit. The step next week means Japan joins a lot of the rest of the world in not requiring PCR tests before arrival, and I still read the "visa waiver next" line to mean it's coming in weeks or months, and not quarters of the year, if that makes sense. For those not up on the terms, 'visa waiver' is how things worked normally for like Americans coming over to Japan - you get a visa, but it's just the stamp on your passport. Visa waiver travel means "because you have this passport, you get a tourist/business trip visa automatically" and that is the true game changer for all y'all goons hot to come back to Japan. It also helps somebody like me, too - I know my family could easily get the visa to come visit, but avoiding the paperwork and trip to the consulate still would be nice. some kinda jackal posted:Well, speaking of weird long walks, touristchat, I have it in my head that I’m going to “walk the Yamanote” this time around. Mathematically it’s an eight hour walk by the numbers if I go my typical leisurely pace but I guess I should plan on breaking it up over two or three days so I can enjoy eating and looking at fun stuff along the way the Yamanote walk is actually a charity thing that people do here as well, so it's not impossible. Enjoy that scenic urban day walk.
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Aug 31, 2022 13:53
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Mister Chief posted:Why would you wanna do that? It’s not picturesque. I dunno, just to say I did it? 
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Aug 31, 2022 14:23
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some kinda jackal posted:I dunno, just to say I did it? Sure. I suggest you do it next summer. Not as hot as people say. Trust me.
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Aug 31, 2022 14:48
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harperdc posted:the Yamanote walk is actually a charity thing that people do here as well, so it's not impossible. Enjoy that scenic urban day walk. Urban walks can be just as chill and grounding as nature walks, IMO. It’s still part of the world and should not be discounted - it is no better or worse than trees and rocks.
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Aug 31, 2022 14:53
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Have a drink at/near each station to make it worthwhile.
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Aug 31, 2022 15:09
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