The Japanese government was expected to make some decisions this week regarding easing restrictions for some foreign residents stranded abroad due to Japan’s strict entry restrictions.

I know people have been waiting for the government’s announcement but they may not make any.

The thing is some officials have leaked such information about some arrangements regarding exceptions for those who cannot return but they never said how and if they would announce it officially. I would rather expect an PDF file hidden on the Justice Ministry’s website.

Yesterday, I asked my colleague @SatoshiJournal to ask Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga when legal residents with an abode in Japan unable to return will be able to do so.

His response was as expected: people with long-term residency and spouses who left before the ban can return.

In an evasive answer to another question about why not allow those foreigners return under conditions equal to those under which Japanese nationals enter Japan, Suga said that they “want to consider it earnestly.”

From the government’s perspective, the problem doesn’t exist.

I’m aware it does and it keeps affecting many people who had both left Japan before the worry ban was imposed and those who had to leave after their destination was added to the list of 129 banned countries.

Now that Japanese nationals can travel freely, even if all foreign residents stuck abroad returned within one day, their number most likely would still be much lower than of Japanese travelers from abroad. So it’s not about testing capacity. It’s about equal treatment.

Is there anyone who thinks that Japan’s entry ban targeting only foreigners without differentiating long-term residents (who live, pay taxes, pay for their health insurance, pay their bills in Japan and support it’s economy) from tourists is fair? Because I don’t.