The government said Tuesday it will tighten border controls on travelers from Spain, Finland and the Canadian province of Ontario in response to the spread of new variants of COVID-19 detected there.
Under the new measure, people arriving from the three areas will be required to quarantine in a designated facility and retake a test for the virus that causes the disease after three days.
If the results are negative, they will be asked to leave the facility without using public transport and self-quarantine at home or other locations for 14 days.
Until now, authorities have required such people to stay at home or elsewhere for two weeks after entering the country.
At present, Japan bans all entries of nonresident foreigners except for those given approval under "special exceptional circumstances."
The latest additions join the 26 countries that have been subject to stricter quarantine measures.
They are Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, the Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.