Affiliate Disclosure

Japan, Apparently is supported by affiliate commissions and display ads. This page explains exactly how, in compliance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidelines (16 CFR Part 255) and similar transparency rules elsewhere.

The short version

• Some outbound links are affiliate links. If you buy something through them, we get a small commission.
• You pay nothing extra. The price is the same whether you use our link or not.
• We never let commissions decide what we cover or how we cover it.
• If we haven't actually used a service we link to, we say so.

Programs we participate in

We are (or expect to be) a participant in the following affiliate programs:

• Klook Affiliate Program — tours, activities, transport passes, JR Pass.
• Booking.com Affiliate Partner Program — hotel and ryokan bookings.
• Sakura Mobile / Mobal — Japan SIM cards and pocket Wi-Fi.
• GetYourGuide Partner Program — experiences and activities.
• Amazon Associates Program — Japan, US, UK storefronts. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
• Rakuten Affiliate Network (楽天アフィリエイト) — for Japan-domestic products and bookings.
• Smaller travel-gear, tea, and language-learning programs disclosed in-line where relevant.

What an affiliate link looks like

On article pages, affiliate links are clearly labelled — typically with a small affiliate badge or a parenthetical "(affiliate)" note. Outbound URLs may pass through /go/ or be tagged with our partner ID.

If you'd rather not use our affiliate links, you can always navigate directly to the provider's homepage and search there. The product, price, and your experience will be identical.

Display advertising

Some pages display ads served by Google AdSense and similar networks. Ad placements are kept out of the article body — typically in the sidebar, between sections, or at the very end. We don't directly choose which ads run; Google does, based on context and (if you've consented) your interests. See our Privacy Policy for what data is collected.

Editorial integrity

We commit to the following standards. They're non-negotiable.

• No paid placements disguised as editorial. We do not accept "sponsored posts" written or paid for by a brand. Ever.
• Recommendations are based on our actual experience or on transparent secondary research. When we haven't personally used a service, we say so explicitly.
• Negative reviews are allowed. If a service is bad, we say it's bad — even if we have an affiliate relationship with them.
• Our editorial pipeline runs independently of monetization. Articles are picked because they're useful or interesting. We add monetization links after the article is written, not before.
• If we're ever wrong, we correct it and add a correction note at the bottom of the article.

Why we monetize this way

Japan, Apparently is a one-person side project. Affiliate commissions and a small amount of display advertising let us cover hosting (~¥2,200/month), API costs, and occasionally a research trip — without putting the entire site behind a paywall and without taking sponsored content. If those tradeoffs ever change, we'll update this page first.

Questions

If you have any questions about an affiliate relationship, an ad you saw, or a recommendation we made, email hello@japanapparently.com. We'd rather over-disclose than under-disclose.