Best VPNs For Japan in 2021

It’s pretty straightforward to access Netflix Japan while you’re out of the country. Switch your VPN location to Japan, and you should get instant access to the Netflix you’re used to using in your home country.

If you encounter errors, try using a different Japan server, and failing that, contact your VPN support team. If you wanted to access Netflix while inside of Japan, you’d have to select the server location of the Netflix version you wish to access. For example, if you wanted to access Netflix UK, you would switch your server from Japan to the United Kingdom, and this, in theory, should unblock the geo-restrictions preventing you.

Torrenting in Japan is taken quite seriously. In fact, getting caught for torrenting could result in fines of up to ten million Yen, and if that’s not enough, you could also be slapped with two years in prison.

Using a VPN while torrenting is by far the safest way to download files, but if you do get found out by authorities, you might land yourself in some deep water.

In 2013 there were 27 arrests as a result of people being caught torrenting copyrighted material; without approval of the copyright holder, of course.

If your main intention of a VPN is to torrent in Japan, you should select a provider that enables and protects this activity, and ensure it has a no-logs policy to avoid information being leaked upon request from authorities.

As we’ve mentioned above, torrenting any copyrighted material is illegal. Although you could be faced with massive fines and imprisonment, Japanese authorities are more focused on those uploading the content versus those downloading. With the harsh punishments that are enforceable, though, we’d advise avoiding downloading any illegal material via torrenting or other means.

Should you wish to continue the VPNs we’ve listed allow the use of torrenting. We’d always advise checking the website of your chosen provider before subscribing for its plans.

Aside from the premium services on our list, there’s a range of free VPNs to help you avoid being tied to a subscription. You’ll have no trouble finding free providers with a quick Google search as they tend to somewhat saturate the market altogether.

Some are much more genuine than others and act as a limited experience of the premium version on offer. For the not-so friendly alternative, there are a handful of expectations you should keep in mind, like crippling connection speeds, unreliable or non-existent encryption, and zero support for when things go wrong.

The companies that offer free VPNs have various expenses to cover, like infrastructure, personnel, and server upkeep, and without income, how are these free providers paying for this? Somewhere within the heaps of privacy policy text it’ll most likely be revealed that they’re sharing your data, including browsing history, cookies, and more, with third parties in order to make money. That’s if they’re not lying in this part of their websites too. Plus, if a free VPN is packed with adware, you’ll be greeted by swathes of pop-ups and intrusive ads. The third parties may include targeted advertisers or data-mining companies.

Free means data caps

Some internet activities require a ton of data, and when you use the web throughout the day with a free provider, you’re likely to hit a data cap pretty fast. Streaming services like Amazon Prime and Abema TV will drain your free quota of data in the blink of an eye.

Don’t be fooled by thinking it’s only the data you download that has a cap, either, as uploads are often metered as well. Uploading a clip to YouTube or Facebook, for example, could eat all of your leftover data right away. If you meet or exceed the limits, the provider may even prevent you from accessing the VPN altogether by pausing your connection.
VPN providers like Nord have servers located across the globe, while free ones could be limited to as little as three locations.

Many of us do more than surf the web these days; anything beyond that takes a steady stream of data to function, so if a provider offers a 1GB download limit, you’ll probably use that up within an hour of hitting connect.

Each of the Virtual Private Network services we’ve mentioned within this article have a proven track record. They all operate a log-free policy and use the highest standards of encryption to safeguard the privacy of their users. Any that have the features we’ve recommend will give you the peace of mind knowing your identity remains anonymous because your IP address is changed each time you hit the connect button.

If you need a VPN that’s reliable on geo-spoofing, a trusted provider means one that will also work in the country you need it to. Again, the ones we’ve provided have proven to open access to the world’s best online services, even in Japan.

There are a range of different features that set a trusted VPN apart from a bad one. Regardless of how good you think yours is, if it’s leaking your data or has the capacity to, it’s time to jump ship.

It’s fairly straightforward to connect to a Japan-based server and obtain a Japanese IP address as a result. You might wish to do this when you’re out of the country and traveling abroad in order to access sports, news, or even your favorite TV shows that can’t be watched right as they air without a VPN. To change to a Japanese IP, follow the instructions below.

Select one of the VPN services we’ve listed or find your own that has Japanese server locations.
Head to your provider’s website, download the app for your device, and install the software.
Launch the VPN app and select a Japanese server before hitting connect.
Ensure you’re actually connected by Googling ‘what is my IP’ and seeing what the results are. Your VPN’s website should be able to tell you if it can trace your IP too.
You can also test a website that you’d typically only be able to access from Japan.

If the steps above don’t work as expected, we’d recommend contacting the support team for your specific provider and you should have any issues diagnosed without any problems.

In general, most VPNs will work on virtually any smart device you plan to use, but make sure the one you plan to register with is compatible with your OS. For example, VyprVPN and CyberGhost support all popular operating systems. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, doesn’t have a kill switch for its iOS app.

Some platforms are less commonly used than the major operating systems. If you have a smartphone, you’ll be able to find apps for both Android and iOS without issue.

Yes, theoretically, ISPs can block VPN users. ISPs can use various techniques such as blocking known VPN IP addresses, certain ports used by VPN connections, and through deep packet inspection. They’re unlikely to do this, though, and especially not in Japan. One example being that the sheer volume of users on a public network makes it unlikely that an ISP could block them due to such casual use.

That said, using a quality VPN service with top-notch security features like high-level obfuscation and the ability to switch ports and choose between a large number of servers can help users effectively circumvent any attempts by ISPs to block VPN use. Each provider listed in this guide should have no issues getting you connected successfully.

As we’ve touched on previously, monitoring in Japan is growing all the time, which means residents and visitors to the country that use the internet are at risk of having their information under a microscope.

Your Internet Service Provider has the power to pass logs of your online activity to the government if they believe there’s a reason to, or if the local authorities request it.
If you want to become invisible online, the best and safest way to do this is via the use of a VPN.

Wondering what types of information your Internet Service Provider can collect on you if you use a direct connection instead of a VPN? At the very least, your ISP can obtain the following and keep it for a period of 12-months:
Your IP address
Your personal details (address, payment details, etc.)
A log of every website and the time you visited it
Your communications metadata (emails, messages, etc.)

Japan’s online surveillance is becoming stricter, so now’s the time to employ a VPN and take back control of your privacy.

A VPN can’t improve broadband speeds in most cases. Since you’re avoiding your ISPs network and connecting to private servers, you can avoid being throttled for data-intensive traffic, such as with P2P or gaming, or simply for being in the area you are. This has a positive effect on your speeds but doesn’t technically improve them. If you have naturally slow broadband speeds, using a VPN won’t make them better.

Connecting to a Virtual Private Network actually may, in some cases, reduce your connection speeds since data is traveling further and is put through rigorous encryption.