Peru opens Machu Picchu for a Japanese tourist who waited seven months to see Inca ruins

Peru has opened Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist, who has been stranded in the Latin American country for more than seven months during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jesse Katayama, a 26-year-old boxing instructor from Nara, arrived in Peru in March to see the ancient Incan citadel before it was closed to the public by the government due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Katayama originally planned to stay in Peru for a few days and walk the famous Inca trail. His plans were scuppered and he became stranded in Aguas Calientes, a town near Machu Picchu, after the Peruvian government introduced a draconian lockdown and closed international borders.

Alejandro Neyra, Peru’s Culture Minister, said Mr Katayama had been granted access to see one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World after submitting a special request.

"He had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter," Mr Neyra said in a virtual press conference on Monday. The tourist will now go home, he added.

Mr Katayama was escorted to the site by the head of the park, becoming the first tourist to set foot in the 500 year old citadel since March.

In a video recorded from the ruins, Mr Takayama said "This tour is truly amazing, thank you."

Mr Katayama’s visit comes ahead of a planned reopening of Machu Picchu to a reduced number of tourists next month, although the government of Peru is yet to provide an exact date when the site will reopen. 30 per cent of the usual 675 daily visitors will be permitted entry.

“We are still in the middle of a pandemic,” Mr Neyra said. “It will be done with all the necessary care.”

Peru has suffered 33,357 deaths due to Covid-19 and has the highest death rate per capita from the disease of any country, despite introducing one of the earliest and most severe lockdowns on Earth.

International flights have only just resumed, but only to seven other Latin American countries. An overnight curfew is still in place and those over the age of 65 are required to shield at home.