COVID-19: Safe Travel in Okinawa

Take all necessary health measures and precautions to prevent infection before your trip.

Please postpone or cancel your trip if you’re suddenly feeling unwell or have concerns about your health. Passengers may be required to take their temperature at the airport, and those with fever or other symptoms may be denied boarding.

If you have underlying medical conditions or are taking prescription medications, please bring plenty of medicine and supplies with you in the event you become infected and need to prolong your stay or make changes to your itinerary.

Medical expenses can be costly for foreign visitors who get ill during their stay in Japan, so please make sure you are covered by private medical insurance. Some insurance policies do not cover infectious diseases like COVID-19, so check the details of your coverage carefully. You can find further information about international travel insurance for visitors in Japan at this link.

Read up on the New Travel Etiquette so that you are prepared to cooperate fully with Japan’s infectious disease control measures while sightseeing, shopping, riding public and private transport, visiting accommodation facilities, and dining at restaurants and bars.

You must wear a mask indoors and outdoors whenever necessary, following the guidelines for mask use. In addition, please wear it correctly to abide by Japan's New Travel Etiquette.

Japan is now allowing short-term visitors to enter the country. This includes both group travelers and individual tourists. However, you will need a valid vaccination certificate of your third dose of the COVID-19 inoculation or a COVID-19 negative test certificate (the test must be conducted within 72 hours before your scheduled departure time) to come to Japan.

Please refer to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the JNTO for the latest information.

Heat stroke can quickly occur when spending long hours under the hot sun or in hot rooms. We advise you to avoid direct sunlight for long periods, drink plenty of water, and take enough mineral salts. In addition, ultraviolet rays in Okinawa are powerful, so please limit skin exposure to reduce sunburn risk.

Many people feel unwell due to excessive alcohol consumption, with increasing cases reported of people being rushed to emergency rooms due to alcohol intoxication. So to make your trip a pleasant memory, drink moderately.

In Okinawa, you can enjoy several marine recreational activities, such as swimming, snorkeling, and diving. While most provide a harmless and wonderful experience at sea, participants can still run the risk of injury. To prevent potential hazards or emergencies, exercise water sports safety tips, such as swimming in a group, avoiding alcohol, and only entering the water when an experienced guide or lifeguard is present.

When dining or socializing with friends, please refrain from gathering in large groups or for long periods, and wear a mask indoors.
We also ask for your cooperation in the following situations:

• In the case of children gathering, adults should check that infection control measures (such as social distancing and wearing of masks) are respected.
• Dining together should be limited to no more than four people and for no more than 2 hours.
• Whenever possible, please dine out with family members already living together or regularly close company. Before attending large gatherings and events where people take off their masks, please ensure you test negative.
• When eating out, please choose "restaurants with certified infection prevention measures" and refrain from patronizing restaurants that do not have thorough infection prevention measures in place.

Okinawa Prefecture issues certified prevention of infectious diseases store stickers for businesses complying with COVID-19 guidelines. Look out for the sticker during your visit.

Stickers are only issued to businesses that strictly adhere to the industry-classified guidelines on the Cabinet Secretariat’s COVID-19 Information and Resources home page and/or the guidelines detailed on the Okinawa COVID-19 Infection Preventative Measures Accreditation (*only in Japanese) home page.

JNTO Multilingual Visitor Hotline

Multilingual Visitor Hotline (24H) [PDF: 570KB]

Okinawa COVID-19 Information Website

Latest updates on COVID-19 in Okinawa

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Advisory Information

Measures by the Government of Japan

Preventing Heatstroke

Enjoy Good Health by Adopting the New Lifestyle to Prevent Heatstroke & COVID-19 Infection [PDF: 660KB]