Japan Will Reopen to Tourists
Listen to the article (American accent)
On the same day, Japan will also allow visa-free travel for residents of some countries.
Japan’s measures to control the spread of coronavirus have been criticized. Tourism, entertainment and some other industries in Japan and abroad say that the measures are too strict.
Prime Minister Kishida announced the plans in New York after attending an event at the United Nations (U.N.)
Kishida says that Japan will ease its border controls to make entry for visitors as easy as in other Group of Seven nations (G7).
Japan wants to boost its economy which was hurt by closed borders and few tourists since COVID-19 started to spread. Japan has the third largest economy in the world.
In 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic started, a record 31.9 million tourists visited Japan, more than 2 million visitors each month. The Japan National Tourism Organization estimates that 169,800 visitors came to the country this past August.
Kishida also says that the government will try to boost domestic tourism. A subsidized travel program for residents of Japan will also start on October 11.
The prime minister says that he hopes people will travel and use the program to support the tourism and entertainment industries in Japan.
Vocabulary18 words
- Prime minister
- the head or leader of an elected government
- Ease
- to make less serious; to make something happen more easily; soften
- Border
- the line that separates two countries; the edge or outside part of an area
- Cap
- limit; maximum
- Abroad
- outside of the country; another country
- Visa-free travel
- a visa is not required to enter a country for vacation
- Resident
- a person who has permission to live somewhere for a long time
- Measure
- plan; procedure; an action; a step
- Spread
- to open out; to extend over an area; to move apart to cover a bigger area
- Criticize
- to judge; to find mistakes or problems with something
- Industry
- business field; area of work or business; type of business
- Strict
- severe; harsh; no flexibility; exact; strong
- Announce
- share information openly; to tell the public; to make a statement; to report
- Boost
- to help increase; to improve; to push up
- Pandemic
- when a disease or sickness goes all over the country or world
- Record
- the most or least ever; the highest level ever; achieved for the first time
- Domestic
- inside the country; not foreign;
- Subsidize
- to support financially; to pay for some of the expenses
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