Japan is preparing to waive visa requirements for Vietnamese tourists.

According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Tokyo, the Japanese government and ruling coalition are proceeding with procedures aimed at completely waiving visa requirements for tourists from Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Illustrative image. (Source: kcpstudentlife.com)

The initiative—aimed at attracting more tourists from Southeast Asia, including the region's Muslim community—is being developed as Japan aims to increase its foreign visitor numbers to 20 million in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is currently advocating tourism as a key element in Japan's economic recovery strategy.

In 2013, Vietnam had 80,000 tourists visiting Japan, while Indonesia had 140,000 and the Philippines had 110,000. Among the countries requiring a visa to enter Japan, Vietnam and these two countries ranked highly in terms of tourist arrivals, second only to China.

In 2013, the number of visitors from Thailand and Malaysia increased by 61% compared to the previous year, reaching approximately 630,000, after these countries were granted visa exemptions in July 2013. This helped bring the number of first-time visitors to Japan to a record high of 10 million per year.

With visa-free entry, the number of tourists visiting Japan could increase compared to the three Southeast Asian countries due to increased demand for outbound travel in those countries driven by favorable economic growth. The overstay rate for short-term tourists from Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines in January and November 2013 was relatively low, ranging from 0.09% to 0.34%.

In terms of countries and territories, China, South Korea, and Taiwan have the highest number of tourists visiting Japan.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency (JATA), in order to achieve its goal of increasing the number of annual tourists to 20 million, Japan needs to intensify its efforts to attract more visitors from Southeast Asian countries.

Japan has waived visa requirements for short-term stays by citizens from South Korea, Taiwan, and 64 other countries and territories if their purpose of visit is sightseeing or visiting relatives. South Korea – currently a rival destination to Japan in Northeast Asia – has also relaxed its visa policy to attract more tourists.

According to Vietnam+