Japan has decided to cancel visa requirements of visitors from Southeast Asian neighbors in order to boost its tourism sector which has been greatly damaged following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident as well as strained relations between Japan and China.

Effective July 2, Japan will waive visa requirements for tourists from Thailand and Malaysia, while offering multiple-entry visa to Filipino and Vietnamese travelers.

Japan's Foreign Ministry, however, noted the visa waiver is only applicable to those who possess an IC-equipped passport.

Japan Cancels Visa Requirement for Southeast Asian Neighbors to Boost Damaged Tourism

The details of the revised visa waiver, as follows:

  • Applicable to Thai travelers to Japan whose stay is less than 15 days;
  • Tourists from Malaysia whose length of visit is no more than three months;
  • Multiple-entry visa for Filipino and Vietnamese travelers will enable them to visit Japan several times within a period of three years. Maximum stay per visit is 15 days;
  • Maximum stay for multiple-entry visas for Indonesian travelers will be extended from the current 15 to 30 days.

"I hope that (the measures) will further develop relationships between these countries, such as an increase of travelers from these nations and improvement of convenience in the business (environment)," Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

For its tourism strategy, Japan wants to focus on Southeast Asia as a chief "market of growth" which proved to be indeed a steady source based on the latest figures released by the Japan National Tourism Organisation last week. Between January and May, the number of tourists from six countries in the Southeast Asian region jumped 36 per cent to 437,500 from a year ago.

Of the nations in that region, the most number of visitors came from Thailand, up from 118,500 people to 181,300 in the period. Second came from Indonesia, with 50,300 visitors, 16,000 more than the previous year.

Overall, Japan wants to attract a million visitors from the region by end of 2013, from about 780,000 in 2012, and further wants to grow this to two million in 2016.