Level 4 Since February 11, 2022: How to Read MOFA’s Travel Advisories

Opening Ukraine’s page on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Overseas Safety Website shows the whole country marked “Level 4: Evacuate. Do not travel.” All of Ukraine reached this level on February 11, 2022, 13 days before Russia’s full-scale invasion. As of September 2026, Level 4 continues to apply nationwide.

A “travel advisory” (kiken jōhō) is information MOFA issues for each country or region as a guide for Japanese nationals deciding whether to travel abroad. The four levels tend to catch the eye, but MOFA itself states that what matters is the text, not the level. This article looks at what the levels mean, how to read the page, and, using the travel advisories for Ukraine and its neighboring countries as examples, what is actually written.

What the Four Levels Mean

MOFA’s page “What Is a ‘Travel Advisory’?” explains the four levels as follows.

Level	MOFA’s explanation
Level 1: Exercise sufficient caution.	Special caution is needed to avoid danger when traveling to or staying in this country/region.
Level 2: Avoid non-essential travel.	Avoid non-essential, non-urgent travel to this country/region. If you do travel, exercise special caution and take adequate safety measures.
Level 3: Do not travel. (Advisory to cancel travel)	Do not travel to this country/region, for any purpose. (This may, in some cases, include a message urging Japanese nationals already there to consider or prepare for evacuation.)
Level 4: Evacuate. Do not travel. (Advisory to evacuate)	If you are staying in this country/region, evacuate from your location to a safe country/region. In this situation, of course, do not undertake any new travel, for any purpose.

The difference between Level 3 and Level 4 lies in what is asked of people already there. Level 3 asks people not to newly travel there; Level 4 adds to that a request that people already there leave.

The Level Is Not a Comparison of Danger Between Countries

The same page notes that the level system is “a device for dividing degrees of danger into conceptually clear categories,” and is not a statistical comparison of how often incidents or accidents occur. This is because the kinds of danger to consider — political instability, riots, civil war, terrorism, ordinary crime, natural disasters — vary widely, making simple country-to-country comparisons impossible. It also states that a country with no travel advisory does not mean travel there carries no danger.

The reader the travel advisories assume is an ordinary individual traveler, not a security expert. MOFA explains that this differs, both in the judgment of whether to travel and in the measures to take, from a case where a company or organization sends people while taking organizational safety measures.

It Does Not Legally Ban Travel

The Overseas Safety Website states the following about the overseas safety information it posts.

The overseas safety information posted on this website does not legally prohibit your travel or order your evacuation. Likewise, it has no effect to cancel a tour organized by a travel agency.

MOFA Overseas Safety Website, “Overseas Safety Information” (confirmed September 2026)

In other words, even Level 4’s “advisory to evacuate” is, legally, an advisory rather than an order. It remains, however, the strongest of the four levels of appeal. On the same page, MOFA asks people to make an effort at safety measures with the mindset of “protecting yourself.”

MOFA also adds an explanation of its relationship with travel agencies. Regardless of the travel advisory level, a travel agency decides, on its own responsibility, whether to run a package tour. Some agencies decide whether to cancel a tour or how to handle cancellation fees based on the level, but that is the agency’s own decision, and matters of a travel contract such as cancellation fees are to be resolved between the travel agency and the customer. It also states that MOFA frequently receives requests to “raise the level,” but that travel advisories are issued based on the standard of impact on citizens’ lives and bodies.

What Part of the Page to Read

Ukraine’s travel advisory page is laid out in the following order.

• Map: Shows the level for each region, color-coded.
• [Danger Level]: The region and level. A proviso (an exception or condition) may be attached.
• [Key Points]: A summary of the reasons for the level.
• Details: General overview, the situation by region, things to observe while staying, and so on.
• Contact: MOFA’s contact point and the local embassy’s contact information.

MOFA states, “What matters is the text, more than the four benchmarks themselves.” This is because, even at the same level, the meaning can change depending on the proviso and how the regions are divided.

The Words Next to the Heading and the Level

A word indicating the change since the last issue is attached next to the travel advisory’s heading and level. Ukraine’s travel advisory heading reads “[Danger Level Continued] (Content Updated),” and next to the level is “《Continued》.” Past issuances also show “(Raised)” and “(New).” Even when the level is unchanged, the text may have been updated. Check the page’s “update date” as well.

Information Separate From the Travel Advisory

A country’s page carries other information alongside the travel advisory. Per MOFA’s explanation, “spot information” gives prompt notice of an incident or accident in a limited period and place, and “wide-area information” gives notice of a caution covering a broad area not limited to one country. For infectious disease, “infectious disease travel advisories,” which use the same four-level scale, are issued on a separate set of criteria. As of September 2026, no infectious disease travel advisory had been issued for Ukraine’s page.

How Ukraine’s Travel Advisory Has Changed

From the past issuance records MOFA compiles monthly, here are the developments from early 2022.

Date issued	Region	Level
January 24, 2022	The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol / Donetsk and Luhansk regions	Level 3 (advisory to cancel travel) continued. Asks those staying to consider evacuating as soon as circumstances allow
January 24, 2022	The rest of the country	Raised to Level 3
February 11, 2022	All of Ukraine	Raised to Level 4 (advisory to evacuate)
January 19, 2026 (the latest as of September 2026)	All of Ukraine	Level 4 continued

The travel advisory of February 11, 2022, explained the reason for the increase as follows: tensions were rising around the border due to a Russian military buildup and other factors, joint military exercises with Russia had begun in neighboring Belarus, and Russian naval vessels had newly entered the Black Sea, so “the likelihood of the situation rapidly worsening is increasing.” Warning that commercial flights might stop and leaving the country could become extremely difficult, it asked people staying there to evacuate immediately by the safest means available, including commercial airline flights. Thirteen days later, on February 24, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The travel advisory dated January 19, 2026, keeps Level 4 in effect nationwide, on the grounds that Russian ground operations and attacks by missiles, drones, and the like continue, and that further damage is expected. On Kyiv, it also notes that, while strengthened air defenses have reduced direct hits, damage is still occurring from intercepted debris, and that a curfew is in effect from midnight to 5 a.m.

Level 4’s “Proviso”

Level 4 in the travel advisory dated January 19, 2026, carries a proviso. It states that, for activity such as by a company or organization contributing to Ukraine’s rehabilitation and reconstruction, where there is a truly unavoidable need to travel to Kyiv and its surrounding area or to Lviv region, the traveler should prepare organizational safety measures and consult MOFA’s contact point at least two weeks before travel. The conditions required for a travel plan are introduced in our article on why Japan’s embassy in Kyiv is not currently handling passports. This is a procedure premised on taking safety measures as an organization, and is not intended for individual travel.

Travel Advisories for Neighboring Countries

Lining up the travel advisories for countries bordering Ukraine shows that, even at the same numbered level, how regions are divided and what provisos apply differ from country to country.

Country	Travel advisory (update date)
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania	No travel advisory in effect
Moldova	Transnistria region: Level 3; the rest of the country: Level 1 (August 29, 2023)
Belarus	Area around the border with Ukraine: Level 4; the rest of the country: Level 3 (December 12, 2024)
Russia	Area around the border with Ukraine: Level 4; other areas (including Moscow): Level 3 (September 12, 2025)

Russia’s Level 3 proviso was revised in the update of September 12, 2025, to state that, where there is a truly unavoidable reason, MOFA “will not prevent” travel or stay outside the 5 regions bordering Ukraine and the North Caucasus region. Even then, it asks travelers to exercise special caution and stay in close contact with the local embassy or consulate general. On Belarus, MOFA states that Japan has imposed sanctions on Belarus for its involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and there are concerns that danger could arise simply from being Japanese. For Moldova’s Transnistria region, the reason for Level 3 is that the Moldovan government’s authority does not reach there, so sufficient relief measures cannot be taken even if someone becomes caught up in an incident or accident.

Even regions that look the same if you only look at the color on the map differ in their reasons and conditions. This is one more reason it is necessary to read the text.

Travel Advisories Are Information for Japanese Nationals

MOFA states that it issues travel advisories “targeting all Japanese nationals residing abroad and Japanese travelers.” They are a guide for people with Japanese nationality to judge whether to travel or stay, not something that determines entry or exit for people of other nationalities. The conditions under which a Ukrainian national enters or leaves Ukraine are determined by Ukrainian law, such as restrictions on leaving the country under martial law. This is summarized in our article on what Ukraine’s martial law does and does not stop.

The latest travel advisory can be looked up by country name on MOFA’s Overseas Safety Website. MOFA also operates a free overseas safety information distribution service called “Tabi-Regi,” through which anyone who registers, even without travel plans, can receive the latest safety information from MOFA in Japanese. Because travel advisories are revised as the situation changes, the levels and dates given in this article may also have changed by the time you read it.