12,000 sign petition to ease Japan's tight entry rules over Omicron

An online petition demanding that Japan ease its tight entry rules to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was submitted to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday with about 12,000 signatures, a civic group said.The petition addressed to Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says that the "excessive" border controls have affected those who want to see their families living overseas.Japan has banned new entries by foreigners worldwide since Nov. 30, following increasing reports on the highly contagious variant. Even entry of spouses and children of Japanese nationals or perman…READ FULL ARTICLE