Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 21, 2024

Please read the Terms of Use (railsofjapan.com/terms) in conjunct with our Privacy Policy.

Who we are

rails of Japan is a website (railsofjapan.com) built in 2022 by a bilingual rail enthusiast residing in Japan to promote rail travel around Japan, mainly targeting tourists who are from outside of Japan. While there are other websites that introduces Japanese culture, food, and major tourist destinations, we focus more on Japanese railways (e.g., trains, the Shinkansen, monorails, subways, and steam locomotives, etc.). Our content covers from Japanese railway history and trivia to picturesque stations and model routes for rail travel. We believe that rail travel gives a unique perspective on Japan and hopefully offers people new ways to enjoy Japan’s culture, history, and landscapes. We are not affiliated with any governmental or nongovernmental organizations and institutions.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

We collect your comments in the comment section (when there is), first and last name, e-mail address, IP address, and contents of your inquiry in the contact forms as personal data. We collect these information to process your inquiry.

Comments

To prevent spam, we record the IP address used when commenting. This is a standard procedure as part of our website management system. We will never use the IP addresses outside of this purpose. All comments are reviewed and then posted on our website. If those comments are applicable to any of the following descriptions, they will be deleted.

  • Include words, phrases, or sentences that defames or attacks certain individuals or organizations
  • Include words, phrases, or sentences with obscene material
  • Uses the comment or the comment section as part of illegal activity (e.g., illegal trade)
  • Include anything else that is offensive to public order and morals, or deemed inappropriate by rails of japan.

Contact Forms

We have a Contact page (railsofjapan.com/contact) with a contact form. We collect the following information when you fill in and send using the contact form.

  • Your first and last name
  • Your e-mail address
  • Your IP address
  • Your inquiry

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are used to store small pieces of information. They are stored on your device when the website is loaded on your browser. These cookies help us make the website function properly, make it more secure, provide better user experience, and understand how the website performs and to analyze what works and where it needs improvement.

Our website uses first-party and third-party cookies for the following purposes. First-party cookies are mostly necessary for the website to function correctly, and they do not collect any of your personally identifiable information. Third-party cookies used on our website are mainly for understanding how the website performs, how you interact with our website, keeping our services secure, providing advertisements that are relevant to you. Cookies help us improve your user experience and provide content efficiently on our website. You can choose your preferences of cookies on the banner at the bottom of the page when you first access this website.

Analytics

We use analytics tool Google Analytics provided by Google LLC. Google Analytics uses cookies to gather traffic data (Refer “Cookies” on this page for more information about cookies). Cookies of Google Analytics is stored up to 13 months. This traffic data is gathered anonymously thus does not contain personally identifiable information. You can choose to avoid storage by rejecting cookies; you can check the settings of the browser you are using. To find out more about how Google Analytics collects data, access this website (marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/).

How we protect your data

We do not share your personal information we collected outside of the aforementioned purposes unless:

  • Legally obliged to share the personal information to the authorities
  • Under your explicit agreement, share the personal information to the company rails of Japan outsources to.