Effective Date: May 6, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Onsen Japan — referred to as “we”, “our”, or “the site” — collects, uses, stores, and shares information when you visit https://onsen-japan.com. It also describes your rights regarding your personal data under applicable privacy laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation — GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act — CCPA, and Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information — APPI.
By using this site, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
1. Who We Are
Onsen Japan is an English-language travel publication operated by an individual writer based in Japan, MATSUI. The site is hosted on infrastructure located in Japan and delivered globally via a content delivery network. For any privacy-related question, please contact us at the email address listed in Section 12 below.
2. Information We Collect
We collect only the information needed to operate the site, respond to inquiries, and understand how readers find and use our content. Specifically:
- Information you provide directly. When you submit our contact form, we receive the name, email address, and message content you choose to share.
- Automatic technical information. When you visit the site, our analytics and security tools may collect anonymous or pseudonymous data such as IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring website, pages viewed, time spent on each page, and approximate geographic region — typically at the country or city level only.
- Cookies and similar technologies. See Section 4 for details.
We do not collect government identifiers, financial account numbers, or precise location data. We do not knowingly collect any sensitive personal information categories defined by GDPR or CCPA.
3. How We Use Information
- To respond to messages sent through the contact form.
- To understand which articles are most useful to readers and improve our content accordingly.
- To protect the site against spam, abuse, and security threats.
- To comply with legal obligations under Japanese law and other applicable jurisdictions.
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We do not use your information to send marketing emails — we do not operate a mailing list.
4. Cookies and Tracking
This site uses cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
- Essential cookies set by WordPress and our security provider to keep the site functional.
- Analytics cookies set by Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic patterns and content performance in aggregate.
- Performance and security cookies set by our content delivery network — Cloudflare — to speed up page loads and block malicious traffic.
You can disable cookies in your browser settings at any time, or use private browsing mode. Some site features may be limited if cookies are blocked.
5. Affiliate Disclosure
Onsen Japan participates in affiliate programs. This means that some links on this site are tracked, and if you click through and make a purchase or booking, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. This complies with the United States Federal Trade Commission — FTC — disclosure requirements and similar regulations in other jurisdictions.
Affiliate programs we currently participate in or are applying to include:
- Tripadvisor — via the Commission Junction CJ Affiliate network.
- Viator — for tour and activity bookings.
- Direct partner links to ryokan and onsen operators where appropriate.
Affiliate relationships never influence which ryokan or onsen we choose to write about, what we say about them, or whether a review is positive or negative. We always recommend the experience first and the booking link second. If a place was disappointing, we say so — affiliate or not.
6. Third-Party Services We Use
To operate the site, we rely on the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy, which you can review on their websites:
- WordPress.org — content management system.
- ConoHa WING — Japanese web hosting provider.
- Cloudflare — global content delivery network and security provider.
- Google Analytics 4 — site usage statistics.
- Google Search Console — search performance monitoring.
- Gravatar — for the author profile image.
- Commission Junction CJ, Tripadvisor, and Viator — affiliate tracking, when you click an outbound booking link.
7. AI-Generated Content Disclosure
All articles on this site are written and translated with the assistance of AI tools, based on the author’s first-hand travel experience, original photographs, and Japanese-language notes taken on location. AI is used for English drafting, translation refinement, and consistency, but every article is reviewed and approved by the author before publication.
We disclose this practice openly in line with emerging AI transparency norms, including the European Union’s AI Act. If you spot a factual error or a passage that does not reflect our actual experience, please let us know — the responsibility for every published article is the author’s.
8. International Data Transfers
The site is hosted in Japan and served via Cloudflare’s global content delivery network. When you visit the site from outside Japan, your request may be processed at a Cloudflare edge location closer to you, and your IP address may be transferred to Japan for our analytics records. Where required, we rely on standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards offered by our service providers for cross-border data transfers.
9. Children’s Privacy
This site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 — in compliance with the United States Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, COPPA, and similar protections in other jurisdictions. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through our contact form, please contact us and we will delete the record promptly.
10. Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — you can ask what information we hold about you.
- Right of correction — you can ask us to correct inaccurate information.
- Right of deletion — you can ask us to delete your information, subject to legal retention obligations.
- Right to opt out — you can opt out of analytics tracking through your browser settings or browser-level Do Not Track signals.
- Right to non-discrimination — exercising any of these rights will not affect your ability to use the site.
To exercise any of these rights, please email us at the address listed below. We will respond within 30 days where required by law.
11. Data Retention
Contact form submissions are retained in our email system for as long as needed to address your inquiry — typically up to 24 months — and then deleted. Anonymous analytics data is retained according to the default retention settings of Google Analytics 4.
12. Contact
For any question about this Privacy Policy, or to exercise any of your rights described above, please contact us:
- By the contact form on the contact page.
- By email at [email protected].
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as the site evolves, our affiliate partners change, or applicable laws are revised. The Effective Date at the top of this page indicates when the most recent revision was published. Material changes will be noted in the change log below.
Change log:
- May 6, 2026 — Full rewrite. Added GDPR, CCPA, COPPA, and APPI references. Added FTC affiliate disclosure section. Updated affiliate partners to reflect Tripadvisor, Viator, and direct ryokan links via Commission Junction. Added explicit AI transparency section.
- April 29, 2026 — Initial version.
Note: This page is written and translated with the assistance of AI, based on the author’s first-hand travel experience and photographs. Please let us know if you spot any errors.