Japan to reopen to tourists after more than two years of Covid border restrictions

PM says relaxation will take effect from 11 October as Hong Kong scraps hotel quarantine measures for visitors

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Japan has announced it will lift tough Covid restrictions on foreign tourists, reopening the borders after two and a half years.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Thursday that the pandemic had interrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation flourish.