Which are the best Japan VPN services available in 2022? This is a question that many gamers will ask themselves, since Japan is such a hub for video game development, and there’s a long list of iconic games that never make the journey to the west.
For all the gamers with a fondness for Japan’s finest developers, we have picked out a selection of the best Japan VPN services. We should clarify, however, that these are not VPN businesses that are located in Japan, but rather, VPN services which provide VPN servers within Japan, allowing you to connect with a Japanese IP address.
Our top pick is ExpressVPN (and we’ll explain why below), but we understand that it might not be for everybody, so we also have four other options too, including our choice of the fastest VPN, and the best cheap VPN. Regardless of your needs or your budget, we’re sure that we’ll have a VPN recommendation that’s just right for you.
The best Japan VPN services are:
1. The best Japan VPN
As we said above, ExpressVPN is our choice for the best Japan VPN. Not only does is it one of the best VPN services overall, but it has a choice of servers in Tokyo, Shibuya, and Yokohama. This provider uses the TrustedServer system as well, which means that nothing of your data is written to its servers.
Additionally, ExpressVPN refreshes its servers’ IP addresses at a greater frequency than many of its competitors, meaning that even if you find that you can’t access a certain service or website with the VPN on, the chances are that it’ll reset its IP and be unblocked again before too long. It might be one of the more expensive VPN services out there, but the level of quality means that it’s worth the cost.
2. The best cheap Japan VPN
If you’re after a cheap Japan VPN option, then your best bet is Private Internet Access. With WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2/IPSec protocols available for its Japanese VPN servers, it’s a good choice for anyone who needs to connect through Japan, and its prices are a fair bit lower than many other VPN providers too.
As for its server count, this is one of the best you’ll find (with over 35,000 servers in total), meaning that it’ll be particularly handy for anyone who might have the need to connect through other regions as well. On top of that, it also offers up to ten simultaneous connections (a good total) and has a kill switch, a no-logs policy, and all the other standard privacy features of a VPN.
3. The best streaming VPN for Japan
Do you need to access the streaming libraries of Japan while in other countries? Well, in that case, CyberGhost may be the VPN to serve you best. Not only does it have 53 servers located in the country, but it’s a service that’s pretty good at by-passing the systems that streaming platforms put in place in order to block VPNs, so it’s one ghost that you’re not going to want to vanquish.
Other CyberGhost benefits include the ability to have up to seven simultaneous connections (and while several offer more, many also offer less), as well as providing customers with a 45-day money-back guarantee. If you need time to make sure that your VPN can access all of the services you need it to, then a month-and-a-half-long grace period should be plenty.
4. The fastest VPN for Japan
NordVPN is the fastest VPN service, and with over 80 servers located within Japan, it’s the ideal solution for anybody who needs a Japanese VPN and prioritises speed. With average download speeds of 65.79Mbit/s (tested with OpenVPN encryption) it’s a fair bit faster than many of the other big VPN brands.
NordVPN also uses the WireGuard protocol to bring you NordLynx, which allows it to encrypt your data with an even higher level of speed. Admittedly, it’s server range (which spans 60 countries) is a little lower than some of the other options included in this list, but if you’re primarily concerned with finding Japanese servers, then that won’t be a problem.
5. The best Japan VPN for unlimited devices
Need a way to connect through Japanese servers for the whole family? Well, in that case, we reckon that Surfshark will be the VPN to use. In addition to Japanese servers, Surfshark is one of the few VPN providers who allow for an unlimited number of simultaneous connections, so no matter how big your household and how many devices they’re all using at once, they can all use the VPN with just one plan.
A further Surfshark benefit is the fact that it offers a VPN free trial. If you want to be completely sure that it’ll work properly with your favourite websites and online services, you’ll have seven days where you can take it for a spin, and if that isn’t enough time to feel confident investing your money, there’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee after you start the subscription.
| Surfshark features | |
| Locations | 3,200+ servers in 65 countries |
|---|---|
| Services unblocked | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | 7 days |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | Unlimited |
| Router support | Yes |
By carefully comparing the benefits of different VPN services that include servers in Japan against the needs of internet users seeking a Japanese VPN, we determined that ExpressVPN was the best option. However, we do believe that any of the others mentioned in this article might suit certain users better, based on their needs, hence our decision to include four additional providers.
If you need a VPN that can also connect through other countries, we have guides on the best Canadian VPN, and the best Indian VPN which may serve you well.