Hidden Japan Guide is an English-language travel guide to Japan. This page explains what happens to information when you read the site, leave a comment, or follow a booking link. It was last updated on 25 October 2026.
Who runs this site
Hidden Japan Guide is an independent travel publication published at hiddenjapanguide.org. The site is hosted on WordPress.com, a service operated by Automattic Inc. Automattic processes the technical side of serving pages, storing comments, and collecting site statistics.
The guides are written for travellers and are not a booking agency, a tour operator, or a licensed travel agent. Bookings made through links on this site are contracts between you and the provider named on the booking page.
What is collected
Reading the site
Like most websites, the server records technical information when a page is requested, such as the address requested, the referring page, browser and device type, and the date and time. Because the site is hosted on WordPress.com, that logging is done by WordPress.com under its own privacy policy, not by this site. WordPress.com also produces the aggregate statistics, such as page views, that the site owner reads.
Comments
If you leave a comment, WordPress.com stores the name, email address, and comment text you submit, together with the IP address and browser string used at the time. The email address is not published. Comments may be held for moderation.
Contact messages
If you use the contact form, the message you write and the name and email address you enter are delivered to the site owner so that the message can be answered. They are not added to a mailing list and are not sold.
Cookies
WordPress.com sets cookies that are needed for the site to work, for logged-in users, and for its own statistics. Following an affiliate link may also set a cookie from the provider named in that link, so that a booking can be attributed. Those cookies are set by the provider, not by this site, and are governed by that provider’s policy.
Advertising
The site runs on a free WordPress.com plan. WordPress.com may display advertisements on pages as part of that plan. Those advertisements are served by WordPress.com, and this site does not choose the advertisers or receive the data behind them.
What is not collected
This site does not add its own analytics script, does not ask for an account to read a guide, does not process payments, and does not store card details. There is no email newsletter. The follow and subscribe button at the bottom of the page is a WordPress.com feature, and any address you give it is held by WordPress.com, not by this site.
Third parties
- WordPress.com / Automattic — hosting, comments, statistics, and the advertising described above. See the Automattic privacy policy at automattic.com/privacy.
- Klook — ticket and activity booking links. Klook’s own policy applies once you follow the link.
- Booking.com — accommodation links, when present. Booking.com’s own policy applies once you follow the link.
- Wikimedia Commons — many photographs are loaded from Wikimedia servers under the licence shown in the caption.
No other third-party scripts, tracking pixels, or advertising networks are added by this site at the time of writing. If that changes, this page will be updated.
How long information is kept
Comments and contact messages are kept while they are useful for answering a question or maintaining a discussion. Statistics are kept by WordPress.com according to its own retention rules. You can ask for a comment or message to be deleted.
Your choices
You can read every guide without accepting marketing cookies, because the site does not set them itself. You can block third-party cookies in your browser without losing access to any page here. If you have commented or written to the site and want the record removed, use the contact page and say which comment or message you mean.
Depending on where you live, you may have a right to ask what personal information is held about you, to have it corrected, or to have it deleted. Requests are handled through the contact page.
Children
The site is written for adults planning travel and is not directed at children. Comments or messages from children are not knowingly collected.
Changes
This page may be updated when the site adds a service, changes host, or adds a booking partner. The date at the top is the date of the last material change.
Contact
Questions about this page can be sent through the contact page.
