The government announced Friday it will begin accepting foreign nationals coming to the country for business trips, study abroad or technical training starting Monday.

The move represents a major policy change for Japan, since it has essentially been prohibiting arrivals by foreign nationals, except for residents re-entering the country, due to the pandemic.

The shift comes as Japan apparently seeks to boost international business exchanges now that the fifth COVID-19 wave has been stamped out and over 70% of the population is fully vaccinated.