(Tokyo) Colleagues tell us it takes six or even nine hours to wait at the airport.
However, I regret to inform you that our arrival went wonderfully, with that wonderful compliment which Japan is all over the place to be proud of. I’ll pass you a piece of it.
I prefer to go over 17, because with a real file the passenger has to present himself upon arrival at Haneda International Airport.
First, there are two certificates – paper – certifying negative COVID-19 test results within 72 hours of departure. It is accompanied by a five-page written commitment in Japanese to strictly adhere to quarantine rules and all sanitary rules.
« Même après les 14 jours, visiter un établissement qui ne respecte pas les règles pourrait représenter un risque grave à votre réputation, à celle de votre organization et à celle des Jeux de not Tokyo 2020 », peut-on y è lire apé Translation.
This is expressed in a few words and is one of the foundations of Japanese culture. You are not threatened with arrest, trial, or imprisonment as in the United States. Worse yet: your organization’s reputation is at stake!
“We don’t need police officers, every Japanese has an in-house police officer,” a Quebecer who has lived in Japan for 20 years told me on Tuesday.
Then we have customs and immigration papers and several customary declarations. You must also download an app in the phone All our tests and daily temperature measurements must be entered, as well as geolocation. But you will be given a yellow paper to prove that you have the application.
You have calculated at least 10 control phases where one or the other of the sheets should be shown.
So we can expect unusual delays. Oh no. Another great Japanese specialty: surplus staff. There is the lady who is just there to welcome you to Tokyo. There is a young man in gloves who is pointing at the elevator as if you are in the middle of the forest. However, there is no other way out. There are those who watch others, and who themselves work perfectly in their business.
And of course smile, thank you very much, hello, thank you very much, thank you very much Thank you so much. We feel vaguely dizzy, and we think it’s a lack of sleep, it’s more than over-politeness. We are not used to that.
Remember that all passengers on the same transatlantic plane must go and spit into a test tube using a miniature funnel, taking care to fill it to 2ml. If you’re not a baseball player, you have to do this a few times. Pictures of lemons are displayed in the voting booth, which is believed to stimulate salivation. Oddly enough, it reminded me of a report on sperm banks.
Once all samples are delivered, what does it take? half an hour ? Three quarters of an hour? We all got our results it was enough to keep walking and giving papers to all kinds of people, some wearing hats, all of unchanging affection.
And we jumped, we were outside.
This is no small task, though. Planes like ours arrive from all over the world at all ends of the airport, with the same restrictions.
They may not want the games anymore, but if it were to take place, it would be well organized.
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