The country is planning on accepting small group tours in the run up to Tokyo 2020 as part of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's policy to revive the tourism industry. 

Foreign nationals from 152 countries and regions are currently prohibited from entering Japan as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Under new guidelines, tourists will be able to enter the country if they provide the results of a coronavirus test and purchase health insurance. 

Tourists will also be required to register their passport numbers with the health monitoring centre and input daily updates on their health condition for two weeks, as reported by Kyodo News. 

If there is a suspected infection, the centre will provide consultations in multiple languages and the information gathered will be made available to public health centres and local authorities.

The centre is also set to create guidelines for hotels and travel agencies on how to respond if a visitor tests positive for coronavirus. 

It will in place during Tokyo 2020, which had been postponed due to the global health crisis.

The Olympics are now scheduled from July 23 to August 8, followed by the Paralympics from August 24 to September 5. 

It is still unknown whether spectators will be able to attend Tokyo 2020, although organisers are working to devise COVID-19 countermeasures to ensure the safe and successful staging of the Games. 

Alongside checking in at the health monitoring centre, overseas visitors are also expected to have to submit negative coronavirus test results and download smartphone tracking apps on arrival.

The wearing of face masks and social distancing is expected to be mandatory.

Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshirō Mutō said measures for spectators, including non-Japanese residents, would be drawn up "by the spring", while Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike recently revealed her hope of a Games with "full spectators present".