Beyond Kansai is an independent guide. The rules below exist so you can trust what you read here, even when I'm the only person writing it.
How I use AI
AI assistance is used for first drafts of factual sections — opening hours, train routes, neighborhood summaries, structured data fields. The model is given verified source material and asked to organize it; it is not asked to write opinions or invent details.
Every published page is reviewed by me before it goes live. AI is never used to:
- Fabricate quotes or invent locals' opinions.
- Write reviews of places I haven't researched.
- Generate photos that look like real travel images.
- Translate Japanese sources without checking the result against the original.
Every page footer carries the line "Partially generated with AI assistance and editor-verified." That's the disclosure required, and it's where to flag it if you spot something that looks AI-written and uninspected.
Affiliate links
Some links on this site — bookings on Klook, Viator, Booking.com, and similar — are affiliate links. If you book through them, Beyond Kansai receives a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The rule: affiliate status never decides what gets recommended. A place is on this site because I think it's worth your time, not because a platform happens to pay a commission on it.
Every page that contains affiliate links carries a footer disclosure. Japan's stealth marketing regulation (effective October 2023) requires this, and I would do it anyway.
No paid placements
No venue, tourism board, or third party has paid for inclusion on Beyond Kansai. If that ever changes, the relevant pages will say so clearly at the top — not in a footer, not in fine print.
Press trips and free samples: I have not accepted any to date. If I do, it will be disclosed on the specific pages where the trip or sample influenced what I wrote.
Corrections
Mistakes are inevitable on a site with 680+ places. The policy:
- Anyone can report an error to hello@beyondkansai.com.
- I aim to fix or acknowledge corrections within seven days.
- Substantive corrections get a one-line note at the bottom of the page, with the date and what changed.
- The page's last verified date is updated whenever a change is made.
Never allowed
- Reposting someone else's photos without permission or proper licensing.
- Translating a Japanese person's words and softening the meaning.
- Recommending a place I have not researched or do not believe is worth visiting.
- Using AI to imitate a specific writer's style.
- Hiding affiliate, sponsored, or partnership relationships.
Partially generated with AI assistance and editor-verified. See Sources & methodology for how facts are tiered and verified.