How to Watch Japanese TV Abroad in 2026: TVer, NHK, and U-Next

Most of Japan’s network TV is free to watch online. TVer streams recent episodes from Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji TV with ads as the only cost. ABEMA adds free live channels around the clock. Location is the problem.

These services read your IP address, and one from outside Japan brings up a region error instead of the episode. As a result, moving abroad, or even a short trip, cuts you off from programs that viewers in Japan watch without paying.

To watch Japanese TV in the US or anywhere else, you have to make these services see a Japanese IP address. Paid platforms such as U-Next add a second obstacle at checkout, and NHK has rules of its own. The setup takes a few minutes, and every step is below.

How to Watch Japanese TV Abroad With a VPN

Connect first, then open the service. Install NordVPN on the device you watch on, sign in, and choose Japan from the country list. The app connects to a server in Tokyo or Osaka within seconds. From then on, TVer, ABEMA, and the rest treat you as a viewer in Japan.

The steps are the same in the US, the UK, Australia, or anywhere else. Some services remember your last location, though. If a page showed a region error before, clear the site’s cookies or switch to a private window, then reload it.

For a TV, install the VPN on the TV itself where you can. NordVPN has apps for Android TV, Fire TV, and Apple TV, so the TVer or ABEMA app on the same device uses the Japanese connection. Samsung and LG sets don’t support VPN apps.

For those, set up the VPN on your router or cast from a phone that’s already connected to Japan. On a phone, the browser version of each service works the same way as the app.

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Japanese TV Channels and Streaming Services to Watch

Free services cover most network TV, while paid ones add movies, anime, and full drama catalogs. Here’s what each one offers and what it requires besides a Japanese IP address.

Service	What it streams	Cost	Requirements
TVer	Recent episodes from Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji TV	Free, with ads	Japanese IP address
ABEMA	Live channels, news, anime, and sports	Free, with a paid Premium tier	Japanese IP address
U-Next	Movies, dramas, anime, and manga	Paid, with a free trial	Japanese payment method or a U-Next card
FOD Premium	Fuji TV dramas and variety shows	Paid	Paid account
Hulu Japan	Nippon TV shows and international series	Paid	Paid account
Netflix Japan	Japan’s Netflix library, including anime	Your existing Netflix plan	Japanese IP address
NHK ONE	NHK General TV and Educational TV, live and on demand	Included with the NHK license fee	NHK reception contract
NHK WORLD-JAPAN	NHK’s international channel, in English	Free	None, available worldwide

TVer and ABEMA’s free channels require nothing beyond the IP address, so they’re the easiest place to start. Netflix Japan is similar: your current Netflix account switches to the Japanese library once you connect to a Japanese server.

Watch Japanese TV in the US: Accounts, Payment, and NHK

For viewers in the US, the IP address is the only requirement for TVer, ABEMA’s free channels, and Netflix Japan. Paid Japanese services are harder, because many of them accept only Japanese payment methods.

U-Next is the simplest of the paid options: U-Next cards, prepaid codes sold online and in Japanese stores, can cover the monthly fee without a Japanese credit card.

NHK works differently. Its streaming service, NHK ONE, replaced NHK Plus and requires an NHK reception contract. That’s the license households in Japan pay for, so NHK ONE is built for viewers who already have one.

For everyone else, NHK WORLD-JAPAN is the better option. It’s NHK’s free international channel, with news, documentaries, and travel shows in English, and it streams worldwide without a VPN.

Best VPNs to Watch Japanese TV Outside Japan

Each of these three VPNs combines Japanese servers with enough speed for HD from Europe and room for at least 10 devices on one account.

1. NordVPN: Best Overall VPN for Japanese TV

With 207 Japanese servers across two cities, NordVPN rarely leaves you on a crowded one. In our tests, it unblocked TVer, ABEMA, U-Next, FOD Premium, and the Japanese Netflix library without a single region error. On Japanese servers, it recorded a 15.7% speed loss from our test PC in Europe.

You won’t notice that in an HD episode. Setup is also the simplest of the three. Choosing Japan connects you to the fastest Japanese server automatically, and NordVPN’s TV apps let your TV use a Japanese IP address directly, with no router setup.

The Basic plan costs around $3.50 a month with a two-year subscription. One account covers 10 devices, so the TV, a phone, and a laptop can connect to Japan at the same time.

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2. Proton VPN: Best for Privacy While Streaming Japanese TV

Proton VPN unblocked TVer, Netflix Japan, FOD Premium, ABEMA, and U-Next on its Japanese servers. Its VPN Accelerator, a speed tool built for long-distance connections, makes the distance less of a problem. Its speed fell by 16.0% on Japanese servers, which still leaves ample room for HD.

Privacy is the other reason to choose it. Proton VPN is based in Switzerland, and independent auditors have verified its no-logs policy, so there’s no record of what you watch. The VPN Plus plan costs about $3 a month on a two-year subscription and covers 10 devices. Its TV apps cover the same devices as NordVPN’s.

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3. ExpressVPN: Best for Choosing Between Japanese Cities

ExpressVPN ranks among the best VPNs for Japan partly because of choice. Its app lists Tokyo and Shibuya separately, plus Osaka and Yokohama, so if one location is crowded, the next is a tap away. On its Japanese servers, it unblocks Netflix Japan, NHK, TVer, ABEMA, U-Next, and FOD Premium.

It was also the fastest of the three there, with a 13.9% speed loss you won’t notice in a 4K episode. Its apps are the main strength. They look and work the same on every device, and there’s little to configure. Connections also took one to two seconds in our tests, so ExpressVPN is a good fit for first-time VPN users.

ExpressVPN’s two-year Basic plan is about $3 a month for 10 devices, while the higher tiers allow 12 or 14 devices for those who need that

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Can You Use a Free VPN to Watch Japanese TV?

Rarely. Free VPNs struggle with Japanese TV for three reasons:

• Few Japanese servers: most free plans don’t include Japan.
• Blocked IP addresses: TVer, U-Next, and Netflix Japan recognize the shared IP addresses free VPNs use and block them.
• Data caps and slow speeds: both cut HD streaming short.

Proton VPN’s free plan is one of the few free VPNs we trust, but it doesn’t solve the problem. It assigns your server instead of letting you choose Japan, and Proton reserves streaming support for paid plans.

Our list of the best free VPNs for Japan compares the ones that include Japan, and they work better for browsing than for TV. For streaming, a paid VPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee is the safer option.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, and our list of the best cheap VPNs starts at around $2 a month, which most people nowadays can afford.

Conclusion

Japanese TV works from abroad once your connection shows a Japanese IP address. Connect to a Japanese server, clear the site’s cookies, and TVer, ABEMA, and Netflix Japan work the way they do at home. Paid platforms add a payment step, but the viewing itself is identical.

For NHK, start with NHK WORLD-JAPAN, which streams worldwide without a VPN, and keep the VPN for TVer, ABEMA, and the paid services. NordVPN covers everything else on that list, with servers in two Japanese cities and apps for the TVs most people watch on.

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