Japan’s Version of Every Good English App (2019 Update)

This is a working list of apps that are available in Japan because I find the UI/UX differences fascinating from both a cultural and product perspective.

Some of them are beautiful and clean. Other apps don’t look great to a Western viewer, but are fine to people who can read kanji (Chinese characters) and are super useful and meet the needs of users. Also, the web and mobile versions can be very different.

For example, when I want to go places, I usually use the transit app Y!乗換案内, which I love on mobile, but doesn’t look as great on web. Japan is also increasingly introducing multi-lingual sites, which I suspect are usually built separately. An example is the restaurant rating site/app Tabelog, which now has English and Chinese versions, which are more visual and user-friendly compared to the Japanese version, but don’t have nearly as many ratings.

japan yahoo transit app iOS android — *Yahoo’s transit app lets you choose transits based on speed, price, and amount of transfers/walking.*

You can also check my post on apps local Japanese use for travelling. My personal favourites are:

Y!乗換案内
Tabelog for restaurants especially in Tokyo (my local friends prefer Retty, which is more detailed)
LINE for messaging (because everyone uses and I have to)
Jalan & Rakuten
Amazon.jp
Cookpad for inspiration
Doorkeeper for events
Wantedly for jobs

wantedly japan social recruiting startup — *Wantedly is a cleanly designed recruiting platform that began with tech companies and startups in Japan.*

You can also check my post on apps local Japanese use for travelling. My personal favourites are:

Y!乗換案内
Tabelog for restaurants especially in Tokyo (my local friends prefer Retty, which is more detailed)
LINE for messaging (because everyone uses and I have to)
Jalan & Rakuten
Amazon.jp
Cookpad for inspiration
Doorkeeper for events
Wantedly for jobs

Category / Use	English	Japanese
Website building	Wix and Shopify	TheBase
Social media / Blogs	Myspace, Tumblr	Mixi, Ameba（アメーバ）, Hatena, Livedoor
Transit	Google Maps	Norikae Annai 乗換案内 (means transfer info) from: Jorduan Yahoo (Y!乗換案内) Navitime all have a website and iOS / Android apps. Google Maps works beautifully too!
Business		Eight (for scanning cards and business contacts, Japan’s version of CRM)
eCommerce	Amazon	Rakuten (I prefer Amazon.co.jp, but Rakuten is better for searching traditional Japanese stores)
Travel	Agoda, Booking,com	Rakuten Travel (English site available) Ikkyu (一休) mostly for onsens and resorts Jalan (English site available) The navigation and information layout is entirely logical for someone who lives in Japan and knows what they look for. The reason it’s so confusing to people who don’t live in Japan is because regions are still referred to by historical names, not prefectural names, so it’s usually a learning curve to know how to narrow down areas on a map. Secondly, Japanese travellers are looking for different requirements, like whether there is an outdoor onsen.
Secondhand Marketplace	Craigslist	Mercari, Jimoty (ジモティー), Fril, Frimano フリマノ (iOS only), Rakuten’s Flee market
Eating	Yelp, Foursquare, OpenRice	Tabelog – Japan’s version of Yelp Retty – The more preferred local version of blog reviews They even have ramen and cafe specific apps! Check my 50+ Apps to Travel Japan in 2019 food guide section.
Scheduler	Team / Individual Calendars	TimeTree (Sadly, shut down)
App Rankings	ProductHunt	AppLiv
Weather	Google	Yahoo天気
Cooking		Cookpad, kurashiru
Messaging		LINE, Google Allo
Photos		Google Photo
Running	Strava	Runkeeper
Startup Job Listings	Angelist	Wantedly is now a listed company, and founded by a female founder! Domestically, they have new products like Wantedly Chat, to connect companies and recruiters to talent.
ToDo Lists	Wunderlist	Lifebear — ToDo list + calendar
Business		Chatwork
Price comparison	Price.com.hk	Hikakaku
Events	Eventbrite	Doorkeeper

This is just a fun list that , so please recommend any local Japanese apps you love and I’ll add it in!

You can also check out the Japanese apps in my list of 50+ travel apps for Japan, which has a mix of English, Japanese, and Chinese apps.