A man with a face mask is waiting to board a plane at Yonaguni Airport in Japan on April 13.Carl Court / Getty Images
During video calls from Tokyo, where Alexander Valikett lives with his wife and children, his three-year-old son calls Francine Grift “nana”, while his younger son, seven months old, just bubbles and smiles on screen.
Listening to this bubbling through the speaker is the closest encounter to Mrs. Grift, the mother of Mr. Valikett, who has ever met her youngest grandson. She lives in St. John’s and the extended family has not been physically together since before the pandemic. The phone screen now looks to Mr Valiket as a barrier that cannot be crossed. “There’s that constant feeling that you know it’s impossible to touch,” he said.
The reason for this long separation and many others like it is that Japan is one of less than a dozen countries that have remained closed to foreign tourists since the pandemic began. It closed its borders in 2020 and only in the last few weeks has it started accepting foreigners who have a permanent residence there, as well as a small number of students and businessmen.
Until recently, there were no exceptions for family members of Japanese residents, which means that Mrs. Grift could not visit. She saw a glimmer of hope when the Japanese government announced a new travel visa in February that would allow the family to fly to the country as early as April. But obtaining a visa requires complex supporting documentation, such as a letter from a guarantor and a complete itinerary. And applications can only be submitted in person at Japanese embassies.
As a result, it remains almost impossible for most Canadians to travel to Japan. Mrs. Grift gave up her plans to do so after realizing that the embassy closest to her home was in Montreal, more than eight and a half hours away by car. Flying there would cost her hundreds of dollars.
“I’m just crying,” she said.
Even those who can enter the country are still subject to strict requirements, including mandatory quarantine.
Mr. Valiket, who works for Square Enix, a video game company, has lived in Japan for the past 10 years and resides there. But even that, he said, has declined due to pandemic constraints.
Francine Grift posed for a photo with her son Alexander Valicet and his two-year-old son in 2019.
If a Japanese citizen is caught violating quarantine or testing requirements, even by accident, potential penalties include fines and public disclosure of their personal information. Permanent foreign nationals, such as Mr Valiket, may be deprived of their immigration status and even deported.
Mr Valicket said he was considering flying with his whole family to Canada last month, but decided not to do so because he feared the Japanese government would tighten entry requirements without warning. If this happened while he was gone, he would not be able to return – separated from his livelihood, wife and children.
“At some point, Japan seems almost ready to cut off all aid to its immigrant population,” he said. “Being kicked out seems to be a lot more on the table here.”
Ms Grift said Mr Valicket and his family would fly to New Brunswick in August if there were no changes to Japan’s travel rules. But she has little hope.
“They just don’t care,” she told the Japanese government.
There are about 5,410 Canadians living in Japan who have registered with the Canadian Registration Office Abroad, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement sent by email. The real number of Canadians in the country is probably higher because registration is voluntary. Many people live there with student visas or 12-month work visas.
Matthew Fukushima, a doctoral student at Tokyo University in Tokyo who is in Japan on a student visa, has not seen his family in Windsor, Ont., For two years.
Mr. Fukushima has a Japanese husband, Daigo. But same-sex marriage is not recognized by the Japanese government, which means that there are no special exceptions for members of Mr. Fukushima’s family, despite Daigo’s Japanese citizenship.
The Japanese government began re-admitting students to the country on April 1, but Mr Fukushima said there were still concerns because changes to the border could be sudden.
Matthew Fukushima and his husband Daigo in Windsor, Ont, in February 2020.
Japan initially announced in February that it would start releasing students back on March 1. After hearing the news, Mr. Fukushima bought a plane ticket to be able to visit home in December. Within weeks, the Japanese government lifted the readmission policy as it worked to limit the spread of the Omicron option.
Mr Fukushima said he was relieved that his family could finally visit him in Japan as a result of the new travel visa.
“I don’t think they will apply to come right away, but it’s good to know that they could come if I knocked on a tree, something happened to me and they had to be here,” he said. He has no plans to leave the country soon.
“I’m worried they’ll ban us again while I’m out of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fukushima is doing his best to start or finish each day by talking to his parents on the phone. But the 13-hour time difference makes it difficult to plan conversations.
Last year, his mother was diagnosed with severe liver disease. He was starting to make her a recipe for potatoes and cheese when she felt nostalgic. His mother has since recovered, but he said it was difficult to be absent during her illness.
“I’m relieved to be able to see them now if necessary, but I’m still upset that I can’t see them easily,” he said. “I also feel quite angry with the government, which still banned all foreigners in the beginning – including permanent residents.
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