Via Kyodo News: Philippine passport holders traveling to Japan on short-term visits of up to fifteen days are now qualified to apply for multiple entry visas with three years validity starting 1st July 2013.

This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan last 25th June 2013.

The same privilege will be extended to Vietnamese passport holders. For tourists from Indonesia, the duration of stay on a multiple-entry visa will be extended to thirty days from the current fifteen days.

Thai and Malaysian passport holders go one step further and are granted visa-free entry to Japan, also starting 1st July 2013.

“I hope these measures will further develop exchanges between Japan and the countries concerned, such as through an increase in the number of tourists to Japan from those countries and greater convenience in business,” MOFA Minister Fumio Kishida said in a news conference.

Filipino applicants for multiple-entry visas must satisfy a set of requirements that have not yet been released as of today. The current requirements for multiple-entry visas can be found on the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines website.

Update (27 June 2013 13:12 JST)

The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines has debunked news going around the internet that Filipinos no longer need a visa to travel in Japan. Japan has not lifted the visa exemption for the Philippines and only opened multiple-entry Visas to Filipinos.