How to Watch Japanese Amazon Prime Outside Japan

Amazon Prime came into existence in the year 2005. It was founded by two people for one primary purpose – to provide entertainment. It was to do so by allowing people to stream movies, series, and drama at an affordable cost. 

It became very popular very quickly and rose to the point where it could easily compete with the biggest in the industry. Today, it continues to achieve its purpose and now has a huge catalog of movies, some of which are original and have become very popular. 

In its years of operation, it has spread over virtually every location, including Japan. Japan, as a country, is remarkable for numerous things. One of such things is their ability to create entertainment. Sadly, if you are abroad, you cannot consume their content on Amazon Prime Video. Except you use a VPN!

Why is Japanese Amazon Prime blocked abroad?

We could waste all of your time going back and forth, but the answer to this question is pretty straightforward. To protect its rights, among other things, Japanese Amazon Prime uses geo-restriction to keep people who are outside Japan from watching its content.

A website/server with a geo-restriction reads your IP address to uncover your location when you try to access it. If you are not within the approved location, you will be locked out and consequently won’t be able to view its content. The good news is you can fix this with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Which VPNs work best for unblocking Japanese Amazon Prime?

For companies as big as Amazon Prime, it won’t be very easy to get around their restrictions. Fortunately, we have a list of five VPNs that can do the job with relative ease. They are:

ExpressVPN

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Key features

  • No logging of personal data
  • Excellent customer support
  • Over 3000 servers
  • Fast and reliable speeds

The very first Virtual Private Network service provider on our list today is a veteran in the internet privacy industry. It has become so good at its job that you can hardly carry out an internet search on VPNs for any purpose without seeing its name popping up in one list or the other. If this widespread, critical acclaim for it won’t convince you that it is great for streaming on Japanese Amazon Prime, maybe the next few paragraphs will.

To kick things off is the sheer number of servers this Virtual Private Network has in store for its users. In just over ninety-four countries on Earth and 164 locations, ExpressVPN has about three thousand different servers. One of those ninety-four countries is Japan. Three of those 164+ locations in the world include Yokohama, Tokyo, and Kawasaki. This strategic positioning makes it perfect for you to stream as much Japanese drama and movies as you want to.

With an average speed of more than 100mb per second, it is safe to say that this Virtual Private Network has a real need for speed. It does not leave space for buffering or pauses while you’re streaming your favorite content on Amazon Prime Japan.

Now, one thing that has always been a major concern within the internet privacy industry is, well, your privacy. As such, companies are always going to great lengths to ensure that they can deliver on your promise and prevent people, no matter how powerful, from seeing what you don’t want them to see about you online.

One great thing that works in ExpressVPN’s favor in this regard is that they are located in the British Virgin Islands. This place does not have any data retention laws. As such, you don’t have to worry about any shady forces spying on your activities.

ExpressVPN is a great choice for Japanese TV shows in general, and works great not just with Amazon Prime, but also shows such as GYAO or AbemaTV:

NordVPN

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Key features

  • Super-affordable
  • Cryptocurrency payments allowed
  • Compatible with all devices
  • Optimized servers with AES 256-bit encryption

For a Virtual Private Network that only just came around in 2012, this service provider is doing quite well for itself. With the number of servers it has sprinkled across the world, including Japan, this Panama-based VPN promises to be an ultimate companion if you need to watch Amazon Prime Japan outside the country, among other things.

For one, out of its 5860+ servers that are dispersed widely across fifty-nine different nations in the world, a full 72 of them are in Japan. One of the great things about having a lot of server options to choose from is you can always pick and choose which one works best for you. Is one a tad too slow? Move to another. Is the other acting up because it’s been congested? Pick another. Your choices with this Virtual Private Network aren’t very limited. This, among others, is what makes it a great choice for you to stream Japanese Amazon Prime video content.

This VPN has a pretty sleek feature that makes you virtually undetectable on the internet. However, before mentioning that feature, you must understand something. A VPN protects you and gives you internet freedom by routing and encrypting your connection via its servers. NordVPN’s sleek feature is that instead of just encrypting your connection once, it does it twice. After that, you’d be so “undercover,” even Batman will have a hard time figuring out who you are.

Another attribute that easily complements the one we just mentioned above is how NordVPN assigns a unique IP address to its users. That way, you won’t be flagged for suspicious activity, which could happen if you keep logging into the same account with multiple addresses. When you combine that feature with the double encryption, you’d see very quickly that you’re almost undetectable.

NordVPN is not only a great choice for Amazon Prime, but also a good option if you want to unblock similar shows such as NicoNico or DMM Games.

Surfshark

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Key features

  • Ads and tracking blocker
  • Connects unlimited devices simultaneously
  • Excellent speed
  • 24/7 customer support

Much like the biological shark, which is one of the apex predators in Earth’s seas, this VPN is an apex service provider in the internet privacy industry. Unlike some other VPNs, it does not overcharge its users. With no doubt in our hearts whatsoever, we can easily say that this VPN is another great choice for streaming on Amazon Prime Japan.

If you were to somehow go around the world, collecting SurfShark’s servers, you would end up having at least 1040 on your hands. That’s how many they have. All of these servers can be found in different countries, including Japan, where SurfShark has multiple servers. Think of its Japanese servers as the link that exists between yourself and your sweet pieces of content on Amazon Prime Japan.

Even though it allows you to view content on Amazon Prime Japan from outside the country, it does not stop at the bare minimum. It offers some nice features that you are sure to benefit from.

First is the Whitelister feature. This feature is not the most common among Virtual Private Networks. Its sole function is to assist you in filtering which apps you want to tunnel to Japan. Your banking app, for example, really does not need to be in Japan every weekend when you are streaming on Amazon Prime Japan. This could lead to you having issues with your bank and getting flagged for suspicious activity. With the Whitelister function, you can rest assured that you are only hidden where you really want to be.

Besides this, SurfShark constantly works to protect you from unwanted adverts, malware, and phishing attempts from different sources. It can be so annoying enjoying your content on Japanese Amazon Prime and having adverts interrupting you. SurfShark understands this and acts accordingly.

Surfshark is a great choice for watching not only Japanese Amazon Prime, but also shows such as Japanese Netflix or Japanese Hulu.

UltraVPN

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Key features

  • 256-bit AES encryption.
  • App compatibility with most devices.
  • Unlimited bandwidth.
  • One-click connect.

Our penultimate choice is on our list for good reasons. It has not been around for quite as long as a few other Virtual Private Networks in the industry. Nevertheless, it is still capable of doing pretty impressive things, including bypassing Japanese Amazon Prime’s geo-restriction.

If you’d like to think of the number of available servers as brute force, then we could say UltraVPN isn’t the heavyweight champion. Nonetheless, it still boasts of more than a thousand high-speed servers across the world. Two of those servers are in Japan.

These two servers are incredibly efficient at what they do. They can provide streaming speeds so fast that buffering will be a thing of the past. While quantity might not be in excess, quality is overflowing. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be on our list.

Additionally, this Virtual Private Network goes a bit of a distance in protecting you while you stream your videos on Amazon Prime. To keep your data for just you, firstly, it has a strict zero-logs policy. This means that under no circumstances will it keep your data.

Also, you get your information protected by an Advanced Encryption System that has 256-bit keys. If you’re not much of a tech person, you might not be entirely sure what this means. However, a 256-bit encryption system is the most advanced in the world today. The military uses it. The government and even financial institutions use it as well to protect their data online.

UltraVPN is quite affordable too. Its user-friendliness doesn’t just end there. It allows you the luxury of connecting up to five different devices. You and your friends can stream all the Amazon Prime Japan that you want!

To cap everything, UltraVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee. During that time, you can use the VPN risk-free. If you don’t like it, ask for a refund, and you’d get one.

CyberGhost

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Key features

  • Been around for a long time
  • Robust and fast servers
  • Many servers in Japan

CyberGhost has been around for upwards of 15 years. Over and over again, it has proven its worth in the industry. Its affordability, efficiency as well as effectiveness at its job are the reasons it is on our list today.

Of all the Virtual Private Networks in the internet privacy industry today, CyberGhost is one of the few that can brag of over 5900 servers. What’s more is that these servers are almost everywhere, as they cover 89 different countries in the world. If Japan weren’t one of them, this VPN wouldn’t be on the list. As such, that part pretty much goes without saying.

Forty-four of all its servers is in Japan. That’s forty-four different alternatives to each other at virtually all points in time. In terms of speed, this VPN has got your back, too, as it does not slow down or give into throttling easily.

It allows users to connect up to seven different devices per subscription. That covers just about as many people as you might want to connect. Apart from offering an entire day of premium services for free on your mobile, they add two more cool perks.

If you’re subscribing for thirty days, you have a fourteen-day money-back guarantee. However, if you get one of their longer plans, you have the privilege of forty-five days to determine whether you want to keep using their services or not. That amount of flexibility is just the kind you need if you are to decide as to which VPN you want to use.

It comes with excellent 24/7 customer service. To top everything off is their kill switch. This keeps you from harm if your VPN stops working. It does so by stopping the in and outflow of data on your device.

Do any of these Virtual Private Networks offer lifetime subscriptions? 

Technically speaking, none of the VPNs on our list have the option of subscribing once for life. In fact, there are hardly any VPN that will ask for a one-time subscription and then go on to render their services for life. 

If you ask us, we’d say that’s a bad idea to keep trying to get one. Why? Firstly, it’s not a good business decision as it wouldn’t make them quite as much money as monthly/yearly subscriptions. As such, they might get desperate for funds and start selling your internet activities to advert agencies.

Secondly, if a VPN service promises you lifetime benefits, you have to ask yourself whose life it is exactly. Yours or theirs? Imagine a scenario where you’ve paid the required amount to use a VPN for a lifetime. You’re enjoying it for the first couple of months and all. 

Suddenly, something happens, and things start going downhill for a VPN. They are hit with multiple lawsuits, and they have to close down. Under such conditions, they’re not very likely to give a refund, and you’d have lost your money. 

As such, we really can’t advise going for lifetime VPNs. However, those on our list offer lengthy subscription periods if that’s what you want. Some of them even last as long as three years.

In conclusion 

Japanese Amazon Prime is a great place to be if you value their content. However, it can be a real bummer if you keep getting shut out every time you go there. Thankfully, we’ve given you a list of the best VPNs to solve that problem. All you gotta do now is pick one.