The Haneda Airport in Tokyo and Kansai International Airport in Osaka are set to introduce e-gates this year for faster entry to the country.
As the Japanese authorities have revealed, the e-gates will process immigration and customs information, thus significantly shortening the control time, VisaGuide.World reports.
Currently, the waiting time for controls at these two airports is some minutes long due to the high number of passengers.
With the e-gates, the authorities aim to shorten the entry time to less than a minute, enhancing passengers’ travel experience and reducing the burden of border control officers who currently have to check all the documents.
The checking of passengers’ documents through electronic terminals is expected to begin in several other Japanese airports, but the authorities have not yet given a specific date for when this will happen.
Passengers arriving at these two airports currently have to present their passports twice. They have to present their passports at immigration and customs, adding to their entry time to Japan.
Information Needs to Be Registered Before Entry to Japan
As Nikkei Asia explains, as soon as the e-gates are launched, passengers who arrive in Japan will be required to provide information about their passport number and items they are bringing into the country, among others, on the Visit Japan website.
All the information is registered on the government’s website, and then passengers will be issued a unique QR code. This QR code will then be used for entry to the country.
Since all the information will be registered online, passengers will no longer have to fill out any other additional forms.
The e-gates are expected to be installed during the 2024 fiscal year, and if they prove to be effective at the Haneda Airport and Kansai International Airport, Japan will expand the same program at additional airports throughout the country.
With this move, Japan is set to become an even more attractive destination as travelers will no longer have to worry about the long waiting times just to undergo checks.
The number of international visitors choosing to visit Japan has already increased, with travelers from all over the world planning trips for this year.
Visitor numbers fell during the COVID-19 pandemic and the years after due to restrictions that continued to remain in place.
Now that unrestricted travel is possible again, it is expected that Japan will see a high number of visitors, especially during spring and summer, surpassing the 2019 levels.