TOKYO: Japan plans to start talks later this month on resuming business flights with 10 more countries, including China, South Korea and Taiwan.
The move will also be backed by a sharp increase in Covid-19 testing capacity in cities across the nation.
The other countries that Japan plans to hold travel talks with are Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia.
Japan has already opened similar discussions with Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.
Vietnam welcomed about 440 Japanese business flyers in late June.
Nikkei Asian Review said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to unveil plans for the negotiations soon.
The move comes as travel bubbles, or air bridges — agreements between destinations where the pandemic is under control — proliferate in Asia.
Taiwan is expected to be among the first to agree to the arrangement.
Though Tokyo will enter talks with Beijing and Seoul at the same time as Taiwan, concerns exist that the number of Chinese and South Korean travellers would overwhelm Japan's testing capacity.
Japanese airports are capable of testing up to 2,300 people a day. The expansion of diagnostic testing centres and the introduction of antibody tests will raise daily capacity to 4,000 people by next month.
Meanwhile, Kyodo News reported that Japan would consider easing travel restrictions for athletes for next year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics even if the global coronavirus pandemic is not completely under control by then.
The Tokyo Games were originally set for this summer but were postponed in March due to the pandemic.
The Olympics is expected to feature about 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries and regions, with the Games' organising committee indicating it has no plans to scale down the competitions.
The subject is likely to be brought up in September at a meeting to discuss coronavirus countermeasures, attended by officials of the central government, the Games' organising committee and the city metropolitan government.
According to sources, athletes and officials would likely be required to prove they were not infected with the virus by taking the polymerase chain reaction test several times, including before and after travelling to Japan.
Limiting contact with people during their stay has also been brought up as a possible condition for entering the country.
The organising committee is expected to draw up specific countermeasures against the virus as early as this fall after monitoring the pandemic situation.
The Olympics is slated to be held from July 23 to Aug 8 next year, followed by the Paralympic Games between Aug 24 and Sept 5.