A ceremony was held at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, on Thursday to celebrate Taiwan's full reopening to international tourists.

Officials from Taiwan's Tourism Bureau gave a send-off to tourists heading to Taiwan in the ceremony, held at the airport's departure lobby.

Taiwan on Thursday lifted its three-day quarantine requirement for visitors that had been in place to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Instead, visitors now need to monitor their health for seven days after their arrival. They are given four rapid antigen test kits upon arrival at the airport, and asked to take a test once every two days.

A negative test result will allow them to go out freely, take public transport and eat at restaurants.

Before the pandemic, there were 145 round-trip flights a week connecting Narita Airport and Taiwan. The number of such flights is now down to about 30, but they are expected to gradually increase.

A woman in her 50s who was flying to Taipei said she had been to Taiwan about 10 times before the pandemic. She said she's excited to be able to travel there again after waiting more than three-and-a-half years. She said she's looking forward to eating xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings.

The head of the tourism bureau's Tokyo office says there are hopes that exchanges between Taiwan and Japan will become more active than before the pandemic.