press rank #70 · ~$1,700/mo

Can you live unwatched in Japan?

Deeply cash-based, socially discreet, quietly bureaucratic.

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The privacy scorecard

State surveillance3/5
Facial recognition3/5
No national ID3/5
Data-protection law4/5
Encryption4/5
VPN freedom5/5
Democracy5/5
Free expression4/5
Cash still works5/5
Financial privacy4/5
Crypto freedom3/5
Easy to stay3/5
Off-grid living3/5
9 cameras / 1,000 people press rank #70 ~$1,700/mo national average

Childhood vaccines: recommended, never required

Japan dropped compulsory vaccination in 1994. The schedule is now a duty to make an effort, with no penalty attached.

If you skip them: Nothing.

Exemptions: Not needed.

Source: Georgetown AMP EID, survey of national legislation, 2024

Legal & financial exposure

Facts about the law, not a privacy score: whether each one helps or hurts depends on what you are trying to do.

Reports your account balances abroad (CRS)

Extradition treaty with the US

Crypto capital gains are taxed

Taxed as miscellaneous income, at rates up to 55% for large gains.

4 of 7 signals are unverified for this country: not shown, rather than guessed.

83 real places in Japan

Facial recognition, Bitcoin friendliness and cost vary by city even inside the same country.

Tokyo

~$2,050/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Yokohama

~$2,100/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Osaka

~$1,850/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Nagoya

~$1,900/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Sapporo

~$1,750/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Fukuoka

~$1,850/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Kobe

~$1,900/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Kyoto

~$1,850/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Hiroshima

~$1,850/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Sendai

~$1,800/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Kitakyushu

~$1,850/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Hamamatsu

~$1,750/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Weigh Japan against your own threat model

Surveillance, speech, money: filter thousands of real places across every country and see where Japan actually ranks.

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Not just privacy?

Arcadia matches the same real places against how you actually want to live: weather, cost, healthcare, schools, internet.

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Country-level estimates for orientation, not legal advice. Surveillance law changes fast: verify anything you would act on.