Went To Japan Post-Covid: Here's What Happened
Safe to say, traveling abroad when the world is recovering from a pandemic is a challenge in its own right. Due to each country’s rules and regulations, a lot of research needs to be done so you won’t be sent back home after a long flight. Luckily for me that didn’t happen, so here is my experience traveling to Japan post-covid.
The Prep Work
When I was researching about any travel requirements to Japan, I discovered that the main requirement was a form that ensures the state of your health. In order to properly fill it out, I had to take a covid test from an established health clinic three days prior to my flight and if I tested negative then the health clinic would fill out the form that informs all Japanese officials that I do not have covid.
In addition, I had to be vaccinated from the approved list of vaccines, which were Pfizer, Moderna, and Astrazenec or take a booster shot from one of those three. On the day of my flight, everything was normal as usual for anyone who has ever flown internationally, with the exception of the form being checked before going through TSA.
Arriving
After a ten hour flight or five movies later, I arrived at Tokyo Haneda airport and when I got off the plane, I was directed through a series of checkpoints and completed a variety of tasks from receiving/giving paperwork to downloading a bunch of apps to spitting in test tubes. This roughly took about two hours, and I was surprised at the fact that they sectioned off a large portion of the airport to make room for all of these checkpoints.
As one would imagine, I was literally running around in a giant circle while carrying my stuff. At a certain point I wanted to measure how many steps I took, because it was that long.
After being questioned about the same exact thing through endless paperwork and being constantly checked that the apps I downloaded works properly. I was directed to a section where I had to wait for my spit tube to be tested for covid. When my number was called up, I was escorted with a group of people to collect my luggage from baggage claim and from there I was directed to a bus where they took me a hotel to quarantine for three days.
I didn’t know anything about the hotel or where it was, and when I asked the staff about it, they said they had to keep it a secret, because there were some trouble with travelers who threw tantrums about being told where they were being sent for quarantine. Considering how long and tedious the process was, I can kind of understand why some people would be bitchy.
The 3 Day Quarantine
The bus took me to the APA Hotel & Resort Yokohama Bay Tower located in you guessed it, Yokohama. The hotel was right across from the Yokohama Cosmoworld, a family theme park that my inner child would have killed to ride. After being dropped off, I was handed a thermometer and was told to report my temperature to the front desk by phone every morning, and to answer/reply to any prompts that pops up from the app I downloaded at the airport.
When I finally got to my room, the first thing I was shocked by was how small it was. There was a bed, bathroom, and a desk all cramped in what I believe is barely a 150 square foot room. I cannot put enough emphasis how small it was, like there was barely enough room to walk around. Throughout the first night, I kept bumping into the walls and corners, cursing the room and my wide existence.
Despite the size of the room, I got lucky and got a room that had a good view of the theme park and Mt. Fuji (depending on weather). If I'm being completely honest, the view made such a difference during my stay. Whenever I was feeling a little dazed from jetlag or a little claustrophobic from the room , I would sometimes stare outside the window and just take in the view.
For three days, I would not be able to leave the room and they would provide me three meals a day so I wouldn’t be forced to eat my leg. The hotel staff left the meals hanging on the doorknob at certain times throughout the day and once I was finished with the meal I would place it outside along with any other trash wrapped up in a plastic bag.
Additionally, if I needed extra water or anything else I can just call the front desk and someone would bring it up. This of course was all free and government funded, so if anyone was worried, don’t worry you won’t get slapped with a fat bill at the end.
Quarantine Meal Review
Not going to lie, I was a little surprised how the meals varied in sizes. I know that portion sizes in Japan are naturally smaller compared to America, but after spending several hours of running around the airport, you would think they would expect that some people would have built up an appetite, especially on the first night.
The bento meals consisted of a variety of meat, fish, and vegetables and was different everyday with the exceptions of salad and rice. They all varied in taste and was alright for the most part, the main thing that sucked was that they were all cold especially the main entre and the rice. There were no options to have a hot meal, but luckily the room had an electric water kettle and I packed some cup noodles before I came.
Throughout the three days, I noticed that the portion size did get better around lunch time, but I believe that was to counter breakfast which was hilariously small as I would finish it within ten bites. Out of all of the meals my favorite was the cold noodle bento with the assortment of tempura and vegetables, because out of all of them that one was meant to be served cold.
The End Of Three Days
At the end of the three day quarantine, I was instructed to spit in a test tube again to see if I tested positive for covid. Luckily, I passed with flying colors, however someone on my flight tested positive and Japan has this rule where if one person on your flight tests positive then everyone has to extend their quarantine from three days to two weeks.
After trying to find a corner to impossibly wallow in after hearing this news, I was told that I would move to another hotel farther inland to finish up the rest of my quarantine. After a three hour drive through traffic and getting stuck in an endlessly long tunnel in Chuo, I arrived at a Toyoko Inn in Saitama.
Quarantine Round Two
When I arrived in at the Toyoko Inn, I checked in with the staff and was instructed with the quarantine procedures which were practically the same as the last one. The main takeaways that were different was that I had to log into the quarantine apps and check in twice a day, and if I wanted any extra drinks or utensils they would be available in a designated room on the floor I was staying in. When I first got into my room, I was relieved at the fact that it was a normal sized room. While my view wasn’t as grand as the first hotel, it was a fair trade off as I could actually turn around and not bump into every corner.
Quarantine Meal Review Round 2
When I finally got a chance to relax in a normal size room, I had a feeling things would be the different compared to the first hotel. I was glad to see that this feeling was spot on, as the bento meals from the Toyoko Inn were bigger and better.
I laughed in sheer disbelief when I first saw it and while meals were still cold, I would rather take a big cold meal than a small one any day of the week. The best one out of this bunch was the ham and cheese breakfast sandwich with a mini fried chicken wrap paired with an assortment of vegetables and potatoes.
The following couple of days, the meals continued to be big and it got to the point where I was getting full starting each meal. Believe it or not when all you do is eat, sleep, and watch netflix, you don’t get hungry. I often went out to the designated room just to stretch my legs, but the hallway was so cold, I actually think they purposely put on the AC just to keep people from going outside their rooms. However, that didn’t stop me from putting on three layers and making multiple trips to pick up some orange juice, coke, and water.
Getting Out
Three days and several complaints later (from the other guests), the hotel staff offered everyone who tested negative to finish up their quarantine with their family/friends as long as we continued to check in through the quarantine apps and ‘promised’ to stay in one place. Naturally, everyone took this opportunity and the following night we were all instructed to spit into another test tube in our rooms and leave it hanging on the door knob outside.
Once the staff collected the sample and processed it, people were let go one at a time. However, before each person left they had to take everything they used and shove it into a black container bin that was inside everyone’s room. This included bed sheets, towels, thermometers, tissue boxes, and even the instructions manual of how to use the quarantine apps.
Once that was all finished, I went outside for the first time in a week and while the air was cold and windy, just feeling the sun shine on me felt amazing. The staff then told me that the train station is right behind the hotel and so I could just walk and take whatever train I needed to go wherever.
Verdict: Quarantine Was Alright, But Definitely Not Built For Everyone.
To sum it up, my quarantine lasted one week in two different hotels, and every covid test I took came out to be negative. While Japan requires an excessive amount of paperwork and verification in order to enter the country, this process is mainly restricted to Japanese citizens as the recent omicron variant has forced Japan to enforce stricter measures and banned tourists from entering the country.
I found the entire process to be interesting and somewhat exhausting as this was the first time I traveled internationally during a pandemic, and just by going through the process it reveals a lot of fear and paranoia of a pandemic in the country. Considering how strict the quarantine procedure was in the beginning, only to lessen it as time went on tells how Japan is taking the covid variants seriously, but almost too seriously at certain points.
When I started traveling all around Japan, some of the people I told about my quarantine were surprised at the overall strictness and said that they could never last a week. I completely agree with that, because there were several moments during quarantine that I simply had to tough it out and while it is a needed precaution, it is one that is not built for everyone. The thought of that only makes wonder how other countries are handling tourists and their quarantine measures?
