Ok so I didn’t think I’d be writing posts about methods to access different versions of Netflix. Why? Well, simply because nothing worked very well. The main reason was that Netflix introduced a restriction to block all ‘commercially’ registered IP addresses from accessing their services. So if you weren’t connecting using a residential IP address then you couldn’t access Netflix properly at least to stream anything.
What does this mean? In case you’re not aware, IP addresses can be classified according to who registered them. All ISPs (Internet service providers) for example have their addresses classified as residential because they’re assigned to home users to connect to the internet. It’s a simple way for anyone to determine if they’re accepting a connection from a residential or commercial connection. The problem for proxy and VPN providers is that all their IP addresses are classed as commercial so they can actually be identified on this basis.
Several years ago, Netflix decided that the easiest way to stop VPNs being used to change your Netflix locale was to ban commercial IP addresses. It worked, big time and VPNs overnight became fairly useless for accessing different versions of Netflix. You’d get one of the standard proxy detection messages if you tried to access from a commercial address using a VPN –
It was a real shame as suddenly you were locked into the Netflix region you happened to be in. So only US residents could watch the great US version of Netflix and the European traveler was blocked from accessing their home version of Netflix when abroad. Also people who wanted to watch specific versions were denied access automatically. One group were very upset the Anime fans who enjoyed switching their Netflix access to Japan so they could watch the Japanese anime shows which aren’t on other versions of Netflix.
NordVPN and Japanese Netflix
However recently this seems to have changed and one of the most popular VPN programs NordVPN now seems to work perfectly well with Japanese Netflix. So in practice all you need to do is fire up your VPN, switch to a Japanese server before you connect to Netflix. Netflix will think you’re in Japan and enable the Japan version for your enjoyment – here’s it working in practice.
So what’s changed? Well it appears that Netflix has removed the requirement that blocks commercial IP addresses from accessing their service at least on some Netflix locales. This probably makes sense as although effective in blocking VPNs the measure also stopped lots of other people accessing their service as well. Anyone in work or operating through a corporate connection was also unable to access Netflix. You might argue that they shouldn’t use the streaming service from a workplace but is that really Netflix’s call to make? Also often the lines were blurring on the classification of these IP addresses, sometimes home users were using corporate addresses to access the internet perhaps through commercial networks servicing flats or large blocks.
They are still definitely trying to block proxies and VPNs through other methods though. For example if too many people are using the same IP address concurrently you’ll still get the proxy error message. The way to ensure you bypass this is by rotating the proxies you use or having a provider like NordVPN who have hundreds of Japanese IP addresses available.
For the moment though, the joys of Japanese Netflix are accessible to people outside Japan if you use the right VPN service. There are not many who h ave Japanese IP addresses but I’m presuming that as long as they’re not overloaded then they should work too. I would be very interested to hear if any other VPNs are working with Japanese Netflix in the comments below.