"Sorry no, that isn't going to work for me"

We were excited to hear the news that Japan was raising its daily arrival quota to 30,000 on the 1st of July. Lots of travel blogs and magazines are writing glowing puff pieces about traveling to Japan but they're all VERY light on specifics. We're looking to meet up with Tim somewhere in Asia in October and have all really been hoping for Japan to reopen, so I decided to go looking for the devil in all of those (missing) details. 

Long story short:

Under current guidelines, you are permitted NO unsupervised time while in Japan. 

Yeah, that's a hard no from us. We'd been looking at a Kyushu bike tour for the visit since we've spent so little time in that part of the country. We've all spent enough time in Japan that most of the "Best of Japan" trips that are on offer look completely boring and tedious (none of us needs to be led through the Shibuya scramble crossing wearing matching lapel pins following a lady in a jaunty hat carrying a little yellow flag). The bike tour would have been an ideal option since it's a new area for us, and because the presence of a tour guide on a bike trip is sorta like having a mechanic/roadside assistance person with you at all times. 

But not getting even a single moment to see our friends and family... or go back to our old apartment or favorite restaurants just feels like that "Japan blue balls" moment I had in Haneda a couple of months ago. So for now, I guess we just wait until there's a more "open" reopening.