At this point, students (in addition to workers and spouses, whose struggle is of no less importance) have been waiting an egregiously long time to enter the country in order to receive the full benefit of the education that they have earned. It takes little effort to look around, for instance, at my home country of Canada, or to many in Europe, Singapore, and other nations around the globe to see that the present pandemic need not wholly disrupt educational institutions and students from pursuing their common goal of creating and disseminating the skills and knowledge that people require in order to contribute successfully to their futures and the future of Japan, in the case of the many who seek to establish themselves in the country. Realistically speaking, the present measures in place by the government do not increase the safety of its population whatsoever, if at all. That is to say, any students wishing to enter the country are by far those most likely to follow safety and sanitary procedures to a ‘T’ in order to finally bring their goals to fruition. It has been said a thousand times before, but these students will (without any shadow of a doubt) properly quarantine, submit to PCR testing, and engage in social distancing and adequate sanitary procedures in order to not put their investment of establishing themselves in the country at risk. Indeed, there has been much conjecture of the threat posed by “foreigners”—in these cases, the term is carelessly thrown around to refer to anyone not of Japanese origin—but the truth is that each has their own motivations behind following the procedures in place and ensuring the safety of those around them. In the case of students, this is of upmost importance. Being an upstanding member of society, following such procedures and finally, after so much toil, achieving their goals of resuming or starting their studies in the country is an enormous indication that these individuals will pose no risk to the safety of their neighbors. On the other hand, I cannot speak so highly of the Japanese government’s decision to invite tens of thousands of athletes and volunteers into the country for the Olympics, most of whom are not required to even so much as quarantine! To you I ask, who would you prefer to allow enter your country in a time like this, 1) those I have just described, temporary volunteers and athletes with no long-term connections to the country, or 2) the students who’ve worked endlessly to improve their language and technical skills in order to enter the country and make it their home. This latter group has worked tirelessly just to get where they are in life; and their patience (or rather 我慢) speaks volumes of their dedication to the future of this country and its wellbeing in the present. I must note again, emphatically, that these students can and, if given the opportunity, will enter the country safely, and bring with them all the valuable skills and benefits I have described previously. To ask them to delay their entrance again, or to continuously and ambiguously delay their entrance as the government has done up until now, is cruel and unsympathetic. These individuals have toiled for months, some over a year at this point, in order to simply enter the country and display the great qualities that their universities and schools saw in them when they were invited to join their programs. Unfortunately for them, the entrance ban has, up until now, forced many to abandon such goals, and thereby deprives Japan of countless future skilled workers and upstanding citizens. To elongate this ban any further will have significant consequences on the well-being of these students, both mentally and economically, and also causes Japan to lose out on the prospect of attracting future talents, as students begin to look elsewhere in face of this indecisive and discouraging policymaking. The last note I will add is that Japan’s foreign students are waiting for it, waiting for policymakers to take a stance and follow through with their word to welcome these students into the country, such that they may begin to work together towards the Japan’s future. Thus, the ball is in Japan’s court, and I would advise it not to make these talented students it has attracted to its educational institutions regret their decisions to study here.