Not a tourist checklist — a look at what everyday life in Japan runs on digitally, grouped by what each app is actually for.
The default messaging app for almost everyone in Japan — texting, calls, and payments all happen inside LINE rather than SMS or WhatsApp.
Still widely called "Twitter" locally and used far more heavily in Japan than in most countries, for everything from news to fandom communities.
The main photo-sharing app for younger generations, heavily used for discovering cafes, food, and travel spots via hashtags and location tags.
Popular among gamers and hobby communities for real-time voice chat and group servers, alongside more mainstream apps.
Not just a search engine — it's the everyday home page and news portal for a huge share of Japanese internet users.
The online news site of Japan's public broadcaster NHK, seen as a neutral, reliable source for breaking news and disasters.
A widely used news-aggregator app that curates headlines from many outlets into personalized channels.
Major TV networks each run news apps, but most people now catch news clips through TVer or the network's own app rather than watching live.
Japan's largest homegrown online mall, known for its point-rewards system that keeps shoppers loyal across thousands of stores.
As dominant in Japan as anywhere else, especially for fast delivery and everyday essentials.
The go-to app for buying and selling secondhand goods, from clothes to electronics, in a culture that values reselling over discarding.
The leading fashion e-commerce site, especially popular with younger shoppers for clothing and accessories from Japanese brands.
The most widely adopted QR-code payment app, used everywhere from supermarkets to tiny street stalls thanks to aggressive cashback campaigns.
A mobile payment service run by carrier NTT Docomo, popular among its subscribers and tightly integrated with docomo points.
Rakuten's own QR payment app, favored by shoppers already inside the Rakuten points ecosystem.
A personal finance app that links bank accounts, credit cards, and e-money to automatically track spending — the most common household budgeting tool.
The dominant restaurant review site — locals check its star rating before choosing almost any restaurant, much like Yelp elsewhere.
The most popular recipe-sharing site, built on home cooks submitting their own everyday recipes rather than professional chefs.
A long-running homegrown food delivery service that competes closely with Uber Eats, especially strong outside major city centers.
The standard way to browse and book hair salons and beauty treatments, complete with reviews and same-day slot availability.
The most-used site for finding apartments to rent or buy, with filters down to floor plan, walking distance to station, and move-in date.
One of the two biggest job-hunting platforms, especially dominant among new graduates entering their first job.
The other major new-graduate job-hunting platform, running alongside Mynavi as the standard route into a first career.
A long-established rental and real-estate listing site, often used alongside SUUMO to compare more local, independent agencies.
A free catch-up streaming service run jointly by Japan's major commercial TV networks, letting viewers watch recent broadcasts on demand.
Streams live and recent radio broadcasts from stations across Japan over the internet, popular for commuting and background listening.
A long-running video-sharing platform known for scrolling on-screen comments and a distinct subculture around anime, games, and Vocaloid music.
A music streaming service tightly integrated with LINE, competitive with Spotify and Apple Music largely because of that built-in user base.
The transfer-search tool most locals reach for first, covering trains and buses nationwide with a mostly Japanese-language interface.
A long-established alternative transfer planner, often cross-checked against Yahoo! Transit for fare or platform details.
The domestic version of NAVITIME used by locals for daily commuting, distinct from the visitor-oriented Japan Travel by NAVITIME app.
A transfer and fare search engine widely embedded inside other travel and corporate expense-report tools, in addition to its own app.
LINE launched right after the 2011 earthquake as a reliable way to reach people when phone networks were overloaded, and it grew from there into the default for texting, calling, and even payments — so most people never had a reason to switch to another messenger.
Many do, but Yahoo!乗換案内 and Jorudan are still widely used and often considered more accurate for fares, platform numbers, and last-train times on Japanese railways specifically.
Yes, colloquially it's still very commonly referred to as Twitter ("ツイッター") even after the rebrand, and it remains one of the most actively used platforms in the country relative to other markets.
Reselling used goods is a well-established habit in Japan, driven by both a strong culture of keeping items in good condition and a general preference for minimizing waste, and Mercari made that process as easy as listing a photo from your phone.
That page is a checklist for foreigners visiting or newly living in Japan — what to install before or after you arrive. This page instead shows what Japanese locals reach for day to day, which sometimes overlaps but is framed around local digital habits rather than a visitor's needs.