The Japanese government is expected to reopen international borders to transient business travellers and visitors arriving for education and technical training as soon as this month.

Tourists will be excluded in the initial immigration policy change, which has been in place since January 2021 to curb the spread of more-contagious coronavirus variants.

The quarantine requirement for short-term business travellers will be reduced from 10 days to just three, although companies and organisations will be required to monitor the activities of their foreign guests.

The shorter quarantine requirement will also apply to Japanese nationals returning from business trips abroad.

According to Nikkei, Tokyo is prepared to reimpose tighter controls quickly if new variants emerge overseas.