The changes would shorten quarantine restrictions from 10 days to three days for those in Japan for short business trips RIYADH: Japan is considering easing its Covid-era entry restrictions for visitors on short business trips, foreign students and technical trainee workers, without including tourists, Nikkei paper reported on Monday. This comes as most of the Covid border restrictions have affected students and technical workers, and business lobbies and sectors affected by labor shortages had begun to call for the government to ease restrictions, Nikkei said. The changes would shorten quarantine restrictions from 10 days to three days for those in Japan for short business trips or Japanese nationals returning from business trips, and could be announced as early as this week to take effect this month, according to the paper. Shares of Japanese airlines rose Tuesday following the report. ANA Holdings Inc. was up as much as 3.4 percent and Japan Airlines Co. as much as 3.1 percent, while the Topix index fell as much as 0.6 percent. The island nation decision reflects the end of one of the strictest border policies among developed nations during the coronavirus pandemic, of banning most foreigners from entering the country unless they already held a visa. Japan’s new coronavirus cases have seen a steep drop since its latest wave peaked in August, and about 72 percent of the country’s population are fully vaccinated, Bloomberg reported.