Japan's data protection landscape centers on the Act on Protection of Personal Information (APPI), strengthened through 2020 and 2022 amendments to address modern data processing challenges. The My Number system adds another layer of regulation with strict controls on Japan's national identifier. Organizations processing data of Japanese residents must navigate these requirements while handling the unique technical challenges of Japanese language processing—multiple writing systems, complex name patterns, and distinctive address formats.
Our Japan-specific redaction capabilities combine regulatory awareness with native Japanese language processing. We detect My Number with checksum validation, recognize names across Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, and Romaji representations, parse the hierarchical Japanese address structure, and identify region-specific phone number formats. This comprehensive approach enables APPI compliance while supporting business operations that depend on Japanese data processing.
Understanding APPI
The Act on Protection of Personal Information establishes Japan's privacy framework:
Personal Information (個人情報):
- Information relating to a living individual
- Identifiable through name, date of birth, or other description
- Includes individual identification codes (My Number, DNA, etc.)
- Information that can identify when combined with other data
Personal Information Database (個人情報データベース):
- Systematically organized personal information
- Searchable by specific criteria
- Electronic databases and organized paper files
Key APPI Principles:
- Purpose limitation and specification
- Proper acquisition (no deception or improper means)
- Accuracy and updating
- Security measures
- Third-party disclosure restrictions
- Cross-border transfer controls
My Number System
Japan's Individual Number system has strict handling requirements:
My Number Format:
Format: 12 digits with check digit
Example: 1234-5678-9012
Validation algorithm:
P = Σ(Qn × Wn) where:
- Qn = digit value at position n
- Wn = weight: [6,5,4,3,2,7,6,5,4,3,2] for positions 1-11
- Check digit = 11 - (P mod 11), or 0 if result ≥ 10
Detection patterns:
- With hyphens: 1234-5678-9012
- Without hyphens: 123456789012
- Full-width: １２３４−５６７８−９０１２
My Number Act Requirements:
- Collection only for tax, social security, and disaster response
- Prohibition on unauthorized collection or storage
- Criminal penalties for violations (up to 4 years imprisonment)
- Strict limitations on providing to third parties
- Required security measures for storage and transmission
Corporate Number (法人番号):
Format: 13 digits (different from individual My Number)
Structure: 1 check digit + 12-digit body
Example: T1234567890123
Unlike individual My Number:
- Publicly available
- Can be freely used for business purposes
- Searchable in government database
Japanese Name Detection
Names in Japan appear in multiple scripts:
Script Variations:
Same name in different scripts:
Kanji: 山田 太郎
Hiragana: やまだ たろう
Katakana: ヤマダ タロウ
Romaji: Yamada Taro
All forms are detected and can be redacted
Name Patterns:
- Family name first, given name second
- Most common: Kanji family name + Kanji given name
- Children's names may use Hiragana for clarity
- Foreign names typically in Katakana
- Furigana (reading guides) appear with Kanji names
Common Surnames (Top 10):
1. 佐藤 (Sato) 6. 渡辺 (Watanabe)
2. 鈴木 (Suzuki) 7. 伊藤 (Ito)
3. 高橋 (Takahashi) 8. 山本 (Yamamoto)
4. 田中 (Tanaka) 9. 中村 (Nakamura)
5. 山田 (Yamada) 10. 小林 (Kobayashi)
Japanese Address Formats
Japanese addresses follow a hierarchical structure:
Full Address Format:
〒XXX-XXXX (Postal code)
都道府県 (Prefecture)
市区町村 (City/Ward/Town)
町名 (District)
丁目-番-号 (Block-Lot-Building)
建物名 (Building name)
部屋番号 (Room number)
Example:
〒100-0001
東京都千代田区千代田1-1-1
皇居ビル 501号室
Translation:
Postal code: 100-0001
Tokyo Metropolis, Chiyoda Ward, Chiyoda 1-1-1
Kokyo Building, Room 501
Postal Code System:
Format: XXX-XXXX (7 digits)
- First 3 digits: Regional area
- Last 4 digits: Specific location
Postal code prefix 〒 (yubin mark) commonly used
Example: 〒100-0001
Prefecture Types:
都 (to) - Tokyo Metropolis: 東京都
道 (dō) - Hokkaido: 北海道
府 (fu) - Osaka, Kyoto: 大阪府, 京都府
県 (ken) - 43 other prefectures
Japanese Phone Numbers
Phone formats vary by type and region:
Mobile Numbers:
Format: 0X0-XXXX-XXXX
Prefixes: 070, 080, 090 (mobile)
050 (IP phone)
Examples:
090-1234-5678 (standard)
080-9876-5432
070-1111-2222
Landline Numbers:
Major cities (2-digit area code):
Tokyo: 03-XXXX-XXXX
Osaka: 06-XXXX-XXXX
Yokohama: 045-XXX-XXXX
Nagoya: 052-XXX-XXXX
Regional (3-4 digit area codes):
Example: 0123-45-6789
Special Numbers:
Toll-free: 0120-XXX-XXX
0800-XXX-XXXX
Emergency: 110 (Police)
119 (Fire/Ambulance)
Financial Identifiers
Japanese financial documents contain specific identifiers:
Bank Accounts:
Structure:
- 金融機関コード (Bank code): 4 digits
- 支店コード (Branch code): 3 digits
- 口座番号 (Account number): 7 digits
Major bank codes:
0001 - みずほ銀行 (Mizuho)
0005 - 三菱UFJ銀行 (MUFG)
0009 - 三井住友銀行 (SMBC)
0010 - りそな銀行 (Resona)
Insurance Numbers:
Health Insurance (健康保険証):
- 保険者番号 (Insurer number): 8 digits
- 記号・番号 (Symbol/Number): Varies
National Health Insurance:
- Different format by municipality
Pension:
- 基礎年金番号 (Basic Pension Number): 10 digits
APPI 2022 Amendments
Recent amendments strengthen Japan's data protection:
Key Changes:
- Mandatory breach notification to PPC and affected individuals
- New pseudonymized information category (仮名加工情報)
- Stricter cross-border transfer requirements
- Enhanced individual rights (digital disclosure)
- Increased administrative penalties
- Expanded extraterritorial application
Pseudonymized Information:
- New category with relaxed internal use rules
- Must remove direct identifiers
- Cannot be restored to identify individuals
- Enables analytics while reducing compliance burden
Cross-Border Transfer:
- Consent required unless adequate country or appropriate safeguards
- Must inform of foreign regulatory environment
- Records of transfers must be maintained
Industry-Specific Requirements
Certain sectors have additional Japanese regulations:
Financial Services:
- Financial Instruments and Exchange Act requirements
- Banking Act data protection provisions
- FSA (Financial Services Agency) guidelines
Healthcare:
- Next-Generation Medical Infrastructure Act
- Medical institution specific guidelines
- Clinical trial data requirements
Telecommunications:
- Telecommunications Business Act provisions
- Location data handling guidelines
- Communications privacy protections
Implementation Considerations
Character Encoding:
Supported encodings:
- UTF-8 (recommended)
- Shift-JIS (legacy)
- EUC-JP (Unix legacy)
- ISO-2022-JP (email)
Character widths:
- Full-width: ０１２３４５６７８９
- Half-width: 0123456789
Both are detected and normalized
Data Residency:
- Japan-based processing available for data residency requirements
- Tokyo region data centers
- No cross-border transfer during processing
API Configuration
POST /v1/redact
{
"text": "お客様: 山田太郎 マイナンバー: 123456789018",
"country": "JP",
"redaction_types": ["name", "my_number", "address", "phone"],
"options": {
"validate_checksums": true,
"detect_all_scripts": true
}
}
Response:
{
"redacted_text": "お客様: [NAME] マイナンバー: [MY_NUMBER]",
"detections": [
{
"type": "name",
"value": "山田太郎",
"script": "kanji"
},
{
"type": "my_number",
"value": "123456789018",
"valid_checksum": true
}
],
"compliance": ["APPI", "My_Number_Act"]
}
