400 more overseas students given permission to enter Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:12 JST, February 2, 2022

The government said Tuesday that 400 overseas students had been newly given permits to enter Japan, in addition to 87 students who were allowed entry in January. However, new entries by foreign students remain suspended in principle due to the novel coronavirus.

The 400 students include both government-sponsored and self-supporting university students as well as high school students. The government acknowledged that their cases are in the public interest and are urgent, so that they should receive entry permits as exceptional cases.

The decision was explained by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technologies Ministry on Tuesday at a joint meeting with Liberal Democratic Party foreign affairs division members among others.

The 87 overseas students given entry permits in January were all government-sponsored students. The 400 students given permission this time include those who will graduate or finish their courses in less than one year and those whose studies require in-person experiments or lessons. The government examined each case to decide whether or not the student in question should be given an entry permit at this time. According to the government, the 400 students will start arriving in Japan from mid-February.