However, the loosened border regime does not mean a full reopening to tourists, with visa exemption agreements still suspended.

The country’s minister of foreign affairs confirmed the travel ban will be removed on Friday (8 April), saying: "The following 106 countries will not be subject to denial of permission to enter Japan."

The UK Foreign Office said Britons may apply for a visa to enter Japan for "business, study or purposes other than tourism".

The Japanese government gave no further signal as to when they might ease visa restrictions for the 100-plus countries no longer barred.

However, the authority has said it will raise the daily quota on overseas visitors to 10,000 from 7,000 on 10 April.

Inside Travel Group’s co-founder Alastair Donnelly said although the update "wasn’t the big reopening announcement" the operator and the wider travel industry was waiting for, "every announcement that comes from the Japanese government is significant".

"The government will have identified a series of steps that need to be taken to reopen the country," he added. "Today’s move may have been just a change to a legal technicality, but it was also quite a big move towards opening to international travel again".

InsideJapan will also host a Japan in Bloom: Cherry Blossom Live event on 13 April from 9.30am.

The free virtual tour, broadcast live from Kyoto, will feature "the best of the blossom" from parks in Tokyo, the seaside temple town of Kamakura, the grounds of Himeji castle and the top of Mount Yoshino.