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The Mainichi
07-05-2025
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: Narita Airport very crowded, foreign visitors wait over 2 hours
Now many visitors from other countries are arriving at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. The airport is very busy. Visitors must wait in long lines at passport checks. Sometimes people wait for more than two hours. The Japanese government wants many visitors from other countries. They want 60 million visitors every year. But airport workers say there are too many visitors. It is difficult for workers to check passports quickly. One evening in April, Narita Airport had many visitors waiting. Many planes arrived from other countries. A new plane landed every two minutes. Visitors got off the planes and waited in lines to show their passports. The lines moved very slowly. People looked very tired. Some people felt unhappy because the wait was long. People asked airport workers questions like, "How long do we have to wait?" In October 2022, Japan made it easier for foreign visitors to enter the country after the coronavirus pandemic. Because of that, many more people started coming to Japan. Also, Japan's money, the yen, became cheaper. So, traveling to Japan became cheaper for visitors from other countries. In 2024, more than 21 million visitors used Narita Airport. This was more than before COVID-19. Early in 2025, the number of visitors grew even more. Narita Airport has more than 100 places to check visitors' passports. They have workers from other parts of the airport to help at busy times. They also use different lines for visitors who will stay in Japan for longer times. But there are still too many visitors. This is why waiting is now very long. The government wanted people to wait only 20 minutes or less. But now, visitors must wait much longer. Workers think the waits will become longer in the future. (Japanese original by Tsukimi Goda, Narita Bureau) Vocabulary visitor: a person who comes to see a place. passport: a small book that you use for traveling to other countries. government: the group of people who lead a country. airport: a place where planes land and take off. busy: many people doing something at the same time. line: many people standing one after another waiting for something. check: to look at something carefully. pandemic: a sickness that spreads across a whole country or the whole world.
The Mainichi
05-05-2025
- The Mainichi
Surge in foreign tourists causing 2-hour wait at Narita Airport immigration control
NARITA, Chiba -- A surge in the number of inbound tourists has led to unprecedented congestion at immigration control at Narita Airport here, with lines stretching over 500 meters and waiting times often exceeding two hours, worse than pre-COVID-19 levels. Despite the government's goal to increase foreign visitors to an annual 60 million, immigration staff are overwhelmed, saying, "Even with everyone working, we can't keep up." One evening in mid-April, an aisle at the airport's Terminal 2 was packed with people waiting for immigration checks. Flights mainly from overseas were landing at a pace of one every two minutes, bringing a continuous influx of foreign visitors. The line moved at a snail's pace, with many appearing weary and speaking little. Among them were an elderly man gazing at the ceiling and a mother soothing her crying child. Frustrated voices in Chinese and English filled the air, with some questioning security personnel how much longer they had to wait. Since the government's relaxation of COVID-19 border measures in October 2022, coupled with the weak yen, the number of foreign visitors to Narita Airport has continued to rise. In 2024, the number of foreign passengers using international flights at the airport surpassed 20 million annually for the first time, reaching 21.79 million -- a 20% increase compared to pre-pandemic 2019. The trend continued through January-March 2025, with a 20-40% rise from the same period in 2019. The airport's four immigration halls across three passenger buildings feature over 100 inspection booths. During peak times, staff from other departments are mobilized to open as many booths as possible. Efforts include significantly increasing booths for foreign nationals and separating those for medium- to long-term residents, who require more time, to expedite the process. Despite these measures, wait times have lengthened. In the 2007 Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan, the Japanese government aimed for speedier immigration procedures and a reduction in wait times to 20 minutes or less. According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the percentage of people completing the process within 20 minutes at Narita Airport was generally in the 70% range in 2019 but dropped to the 50-60% level in 2024. A further deterioration is anticipated in 2025. (Japanese original by Tsukimi Goda, Narita Bureau)
