The government on Wednesday eased its travel warning over the coronavirus pandemic for 76 countries and regions, such as Australia and Taiwan, no longer requesting that residents in Japan refrain from nonessential trips to any country due to infectious diseases.
The Foreign Ministry said it lowered the travel advisory for those areas — also including Mexico and Turkey — from the second-lowest Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling to those regions to "stay fully alert."
The ministry said the decision came "as the infection situation globally has generally been improving" and that the other Group of Seven industrialized nations have already scrapped their coronavirus travel advisories by country and area.
The 76 countries and regions comprise six in the Asia-Pacific, 11 in Latin America, 20 in Europe and 39 in the Middle East and Africa, according to the ministry.
By August, Japan had designated 125 countries and areas as Level 1.
Those who plan to travel overseas are still encouraged to get fully vaccinated to prevent COVID-19 infection, the ministry added.