Le Keidanrenthe very powerful and, normally, influential Federation of Japanese Enterpriseson Monday 6 September sounded the alarm. The Japanese economy is weakening faster than it would appear due to the isolation of the archipelago. On that day, the Keidanren presented a series of proposals aimed at normalising the country's economic activity.
An urgent request at a time when encouraging results from the country's vaccination campaign. Monday, 59 % of the Japanese population had received their first dose of vaccine and 48 % were already fully vaccinated. As a reminder, on 1 July, just 12% of the Japanese population had been fully vaccinated!
" Over 80 % of the population will be fully vaccinated over the next two months. If the rate of serious cases is drastically reduced, the emphasis will have to be placed on a necessary balance between measures to prevent the spread of the virus and socio-economic activities" said Masakazu Tokura, Chairman of Keidanren and also of Sumitomo Chemicals, at a press conference.
A Japan open to all, even the non-vaccinated?
One of the group's proposals is toexempt fully vaccinated travellers from the mandatory 14-day quarantine on entering Japan.
If adopted, this proposal could increase travel to and from Japan. And thus help stimulate economic activity. The Federation would in fact like the government to review its general restrictions in response to the pandemic, including the almost total ban on entry for foreign nationals.
The Keidanren even asks do something for travellers who have not been vaccinated by reducing their mandatory quarantine from 14 to 10 days maximum. To facilitate testing, Masakazu Tokura has also asked Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to allow antigenics to be sold in pharmacies. The Prime Minister is said to be open to the idea. He is also open to the idea of making the use of a health passport more widespread for access to public areas. This vaccination passport already exists, but only for international travel.
Keidanren has already received support from the government committee of health experts in charge of monitoring the pandemic. They too want the government to relax its restrictions. Particularly when it comes to travelling from one prefecture to another.
COVID's strict controls are a real burden on the Japanese tourism. The latter had developed brilliantly over the last decade, going from 15 million to almost 32 million tourists in 2019. Last year, the number of visitors to Japan fell from 87 %, à 4.11 million.
A start has been made on easing the restrictions. The government is considering authorising restaurants to sell alcohol again. This is the "step-by-step" policy advocated by the Prime Minister. So all hope is not lost...
Japanese airlines double their fuel surcharges to Europe
It's going to be the nasty surprise of the early autumn. The two international airlines All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines are increasing the fuel surcharges on their flights. And the bill will be high...
While air traffic between Japan and the rest of the world remains anaemic in the face of a Japan stubbornly keeping its borders closed, the two Japanese giants of international aviation, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) have just taken a decision that will hardly please travellers.
From 1 October, the fuel surcharge per journey will increase. It has doubled on flights departing from Europefrom 47 US$ (JAL) or 48 US$ (ANA) to 95 dollars. This time, the surcharge is the same for both airlines. On flights to India, Indonesia or Hawaii, passengers will now pay 54 US$ instead of 28, and 41 US$ or 28 US$ - depending on the country - instead of 20 US$ or 14 US$ respectively.
In the case of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the surcharge has tripled from US$ 7 to US$ 21, while in the case of South Korea it has risen from US$ 2 to US$ 4 on JAL and from US$ 3 to US$ 5 on ANA.
