About The Fine Print
The Fine Print helps readers outside Japan decide whether a Japanese product, service, or travel pass is worth buying. We are based in Japan, so we can read the official pages in Japanese as well as English, and we put that to work: every price and condition in an article comes from an official source, with the date we checked it.
Who writes this
Elena is the editor's pen name. The Fine Print is produced by a small editorial team in Japan. We do not publish personal reviews or first-hand testimonials. We publish comparisons built from published prices, official terms, and shipping conditions, with the sources listed at the end of each article.
How an article is made
- We start from a question readers actually search for, such as whether a rail pass pays off for a specific route.
- We collect the facts from official pages and record the date we checked each one.
- We write the comparison, including who the product is not for, and at least two alternatives.
- A separate check compares every number in the article against its source. Anything we could not confirm is listed at the end of the article rather than left out.
What we leave out
- Products we have not researched from official sources.
- Paid placements. Nobody can pay to change a verdict, and affiliate commissions never affect what we recommend against.
- Your personal data. We do not collect it. See the privacy notice.
Corrections
If a price or condition has changed, or you spot an error, tell us and we will fix the article and note the update date. Contact details are on the relmea site, which operates this publication.