What is a Virtual Private Network?
VPN is a service that lets you connect to the internet through a server that is provided by your Virtual Private Network provider. It ensures that all your data that is passing through your devices is securely encrypted. Therefore, it hides your online activities and provides privacy from your ISP and government. Also, it allows you to bypass censorship, change your IP address, unblock sites and protect yourself against internet hackers.
5 Best VPN with Japan Server
There are several reasons why using a VPN is very beneficial in Japan, I will cover those ideas later in the article. But here in this section, we are looking at the best providers that are offering servers in Japan.
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How to get a VPN Japan Client?
It’s fairly easy to get a Virtual Private Network. Most of the providers require a small subscription fee; it’s either monthly, bi-monthly or yearly. Some also offer a two-year plan and a lifetime option. There are also a few free VPNs for Japan available.
All of the best services offer VPN client that you can download on all of your devices. Set up process is simple. After you have downloaded the software or mobile app, you can sign in with your account and start browsing the internet anonymously.
Why do you need a VPN in Japan?
Japan is one of the top countries in internet penetration. The Japanese are heavy users of the World Wide Web. By mid of 2016, Japanese internet users reached 91.1% of its whole population.
Although this may sound a lot, there are still improvements that can be done to reach higher penetration level in the country.
Because of the growing internet users, the Japanese government has implemented several rules that many internet users may not find favourable. For example, the censorship is quite high in Japan. Also, many web contents are blocked. Furthermore, downloading copyrighted material through torrents are considerate as a criminal offence.
A Virtual Private Network can help you to bypass restrictions and protect you from silly regulations imposed by your government.
Government Censorship and Surveillance
Although internet censorship in Japan isn’t considerate as a massive problem, however, the social attitudes and circumstances are changing.
Freedom House has ranked Japans internet as “free”. The requirements are based access to content, suppression on media and bloggers, and restrictions on social media. Also, it is freedom of speech is strengthened by Japan’s constitution. It protects all types of communication and outlaw censorship.
However, in real life, it is slightly different. Many governments around the world are changing laws and spying on their citizens. Japan is not an exception. It is a politically aligned with National Security Agency and therefore it is highly possible that some secret surveillance is happening also in Japan.
Furthermore, not only governments are spying on their netizens but also on other countries. Therefore, knowing the history with Japan’s neighbouring countries, there’s a high chance that China is hacking Japan’s internet traffic.
Due to the constant changes in the web space, Japanese are advised to take care of their online privacy.
Unblock Sites
While VPN services primary uses are to gain privacy and security online, many people around the world choose it for unblocking sites and content. It can be very frustrating to load a page and end up with a restriction notice.
Of course, in certain situations, for example, in case of a terror threat or a disaster like Fukushima case, it’s okay if the government tries to keep the panic levels down by blocking some sites. However, it is everyone’s rights to be able to access news or other content if they really wish.
Therefore, most of the people who want to access restricted content feel that Virtual Private Network is a magic tool. It allows connecting to a server in another location which provides them access to sites and content from this place. For example, changing your Japan IP address to the UK, it lets you watch BBC news on the iPlayer for free.
Even if you’re not interested in the news, but you wish to get access to whatever is within your interests, then VPN will help you no matter where in the world you are.
Torrenting
In most of the countries where torrenting is illegal, it is considerate as a civil offence. However, in Japan file sharing copyrighted content is a criminal offence. The charges and penalties vary based on your involvement in P2P. For example, for uploading copyrighted content, the penalty goes up to ten years in prison, where for downloading it is up to two years. The local internet service providers are in close cooperation with the government therefore torrenting is very dangerous in Japan unless you use a secure VPN software.
How does VPN protect you?
A Virtual Private Network disconnects users from ISP server by providing external server options. It allows changing your IP address and provides data encryption. Typically you would be connecting to a server in another part of the world, which would let you access sites and services that usually are unavailable with a Japanese IP address.
Furthermore, by connecting to a VPN server, your online activities become private and anonymous. It allows you to stream content and use torrents to access copyrighted material without a potential prison sentence of up to ten years.
VPN encrypts your internet activity, making sure your real identity cannot be identified, and the location is invisible.
Free VPN for Japan
Although there are a few VPNs that offer a free service, we usually advise our readers to be careful when signing up for a free client. As we know, no things are free in life. Also, VPN companies have to make money somehow to provide excellent service. So how does a free service provider make money? Most common way is by selling its user’s private data to third parties. And that is a severe security breach, in fact, it’s an invasion of your privacy.
However, there are also a few good VPN companies that provide a free sign up. Typically these companies use their free plan as a marketing material to attract people and then sell their full package. Free programs have a lot of limitations. It only has a few server locations, and most often it has bandwidth restrictions.
For that reason, if you still prefer trying out VPN for free then either you should learn more about the brand before the sign-up or try out some of the paid VPN software that offers a free trial or money back guarantee for up to 30 days.
Conclusion
Japan is a very advanced country when it comes to technology. It has one to the highest internet penetration levels in the world. Therefore, many Japanese users are looking for ways to protect their online security and keep their internet activities private. VPN service is the best and most popular tool amongst locals when it comes to bypassing censorship and using P2P file sharing.