Gov. David Ige announced that starting Friday, Nov. 6, travelers from Japan may bypass the State of Hawaiʻi’s mandatory 14-day quarantine if they take a COVID-19 test from a trusted testing partner in Japan. The test must be taken no earlier than 72 hours prior to departure and the test must be negative.
The Japan travel program is similar to the pre-travel testing program that went into effect for trans-Pacific travelers from the mainland on October 15. The program is not reciprocal, however–everybody going to Japan must quarantine for 14 days, whether a resident of Japan or a visitor.
“Many of Hawaiʻi’s residents trace their ancestry back to Japan, and welcoming our Japanese guests back to Hawaiʻi is an important step in maintaining the close relationship between our two regions,” said Gov. David Ige, “We believe we have created the safest travel testing program in the country, and we are grateful to the Japanese government for assisting us in making our pre-travel testing program available to its residents.”
The Hawaiʻi State Department of Health (DOH) has approved the use of the COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) conducted by a laboratory authorized by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare for the pre-travel test. The following 21 trusted testing partners in Japan have been approved as of October 27, 2020:
| Name | Prefecture | HP |
| Sapporo Higashi Tokushukai Hospital | Hokkaido | https://www.higashi-tokushukai.or.jp/ |
| National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Center Hospital | Tokyo | http://travelclinic.ncgm.go.jp/index.html |
| St Luke’s International Hospital | Tokyo | http://hospital.luke.ac.jp/ |
| Nishi-Shinbashi Clinic | Tokyo | https://www.tramedic.com/ |
| Kameda Kyobashi Clinic | Tokyo | http://www.kameda-kyobashi.com/ja/ |
| Tokyo Medical University Hospital | Tokyo | https://hospinfo.tokyo-med.ac.jp/ |
| Mita Kokusai Building Clinic | Tokyo | https://www.mkb-clinic.jp/ |
| Loco Clinic | Tokyo | https://loco-clinic.com/ |
| Karada Internal Medicine Clinic | Tokyo | https://karada-naika.com/ |
| T Care Clinic Hamamatsucho | Tokyo | https://www.tcclinic.jp/pc/ |
| Shiba Kokusai Clinic | Tokyo | http://shibakoku-clinic.com/ |
| CLINIC FOR Tamachi | Tokyo | https://www.clinicfor.life/tamachi/ |
| CLINIC FOR Otemachi | Tokyo | https://www.clinicfor.life/otemachi/ |
| Kameda Medical Center | Chiba | http://www.kameda.com/ja/general/ |
| Shonan Kamakura General Hospital | Kanagawa | https://www.skgh.jp/ |
| Travel Clinic Shin-Yokohama | Kanagawa | https://travelclinics.jp/ |
| Fujita Health University Hospital | Aichi | https://hospital.fujita-hu.ac.jp/ |
| Fujita Health University Bantane Hospital | Aichi | https://bantane.fujita-hu.ac.jp/ |
| Fujita Health University Okazaki Medical Center | Aichi | https://okazaki.fujita-hu.ac.jp/ |
| Nozaki Tokushukai Hospital | Osaka | https://nozaki.tokushukai.or.jp/ |
| Yamasaki Family Clinic | Hyogo | https://yamasaki-family-clinic.com/ |
“I appreciate that the members of the Japan-Hawaii Legislators’ Friendship Association have worked with us to enable Japanese citizens to use the pre-travel test quarantine exemption. We look forward to welcoming the people of Japan back to Hawaiʻi. We will continue to work to reduce the number of COVID cases in Hawaiʻi so that we can also visit Japan soon,” said Speaker of the House, Scott K. Saiki.
Speaker Scott K. Saiki is the Chair of the Japan-Hawaii Legislators’ Friendship Association. Established in December 2013, the Association has worked to strengthen the relationship between Japan and Hawaiʻi through discussions on economic, political, military, and other issues relevant to Japan and Hawaiʻi.
Airlines now scheduling flights from Japan to Hawaii include Japan Airlines, ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD., and Hawaiian Airlines.
For more information visit hawaiicovid19.com. For information about Hawaii-Japan travel and the procedures for traveling to and within Hawaii in Japanese, go to https://www.allhawaii.jp/covid19/