Can You Watch ABEMA Outside Japan? (2026) — What Works, What's Blocked

Here’s something most “how to unblock ABEMA” articles won’t tell you, because it undercuts their VPN sales pitch: ABEMA already works in most countries. Unlike TVer, which is fully geo-blocked, ABEMA officially supports overseas access for much of its content. So before you pay for anything, the honest first step is simply to try it. This guide is the straight story — verified against ABEMA’s own help pages — on what plays abroad, what doesn’t, and where a VPN does or doesn’t fit. ...

June 13, 2026 · 9 min · Hey Ichigo

How to Watch TVer Outside Japan (2026): Free Japanese TV, Unblocked

TVer is Japan’s free official TV streaming service — and it’s geo-blocked, so it won’t play abroad. If you just want the fix, here it is. The Quick Answer To watch TVer from outside Japan: Get a VPN with reliable Japanese servers — I used NordVPN for six years and it’s what I’d point you to. Connect to a Japan server in the VPN app Open tver.jp in a desktop web browser — not a phone browser (more on that below). It should now play That’s the whole method. A VPN’s 30-day refund window lets you test it on TVer before committing. The rest of this guide is what TVer actually is, why it’s worth the trouble, and the device gotcha that catches people out. ...

June 13, 2026 · 9 min · Hey Ichigo

Every Japanese Streaming Service Explained (2026): What People in Japan Actually Watch

Ask someone outside Japan to name a Japanese streaming service and you’ll hear “Netflix Japan… Crunchyroll?” — which is funny, because neither is what people in Japan actually open after dinner. Japan has its own ecosystem of streaming services, several of them completely free, most of them barely known overseas, and almost all of them geo-blocked. I live in Japan, so this is the insider’s map: what each service is, what it’s for, and what it takes to watch from abroad. ...

June 12, 2026 · 6 min · Hey Ichigo

I Used NordVPN for 6 Years — An Honest Review from Japan

Most VPN reviews are written by people who installed the app last Tuesday to hit a publishing deadline. This one is different: I paid for NordVPN for about six years, used it almost daily for a long stretch of that, and eventually cancelled it — not because it failed me, but because my life changed. That’s the most honest vantage point a reviewer can have: no axe to grind, no honeymoon glow. ...

June 12, 2026 · 5 min · Hey Ichigo