Rakuten TV is a streaming service owned by Japanese technology company Rakuten. The service is available in several countries across the globe and by 2019, before its expansion, it had 7 million users worldwide.
If you want to access Rakuten TV outside of Japan – or any of the other countries it's available in – then you'll need a VPN to do so. In this guide, we list the best Rakuten TV VPNs and explain how to use one to unblock the streaming site.
Rakuten TV is a geo-restricted streaming service. This means it's only accessible in certain countries, and that you'll be unable to check it out if you live in a location Rakuten TV doesn't serve – just like Netflix.
The only reliable, safe way around these restrictions is to use a VPN. VPN providers reroute all your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a private server before it reaches the internet. One of the positive effects of this service is that your IP address is completely hidden and cannot be seen by the websites you access. Instead, they will see the IP address of the VPN server you have connected to.
All of the VPN providers recommended in this article have at least a 3,000-strong server fleet spread across no fewer than 50 countries. This means you'll be able to pretend to be in loads of different places, and unblock all sorts of geo-restricted content as a result – Rakuten TV included!
What are the Best VPNs for Rakuten TV
Here's a quick summary of the best VPNs to pair with Rakuten TV, so you can access it from anywhere in the world and unlock content you wouldn't otherwise be able to:
- ExpressVPN - The best VPN for Rakuten TV, with fast connections to servers in Japan.
- NordVPN - Another good choice for streaming content from all over the world thanks to lightning-quick speeds.
- Surfshark - A speedy VPN for Rakuten TV that's one of the most affordable options on the market.
- Private Internet Access - a solid choice for streaming thanks to its thousands of servers across the globe.
- CyberGhost VPN - CyberGhost is a solid choice for unblocking Rakuten TV, with a user-friendly interface that's great for beginners.
How we chose the best Rakuten VPN services
When choosing a VPN for Rakuten TV, there are specific things you should look out for, as well as a wider group of features that you'll find useful if you want to access other streaming services and keep yourself safe. These include:
- Servers located in Japan and other territories served by Rakuten TV
- Modern, up-to-date security features to keep you safe
- Fast connection and download speeds for uninterrupted streaming
- Not keeping any logs of your activity or traffic
As you can imagine, VPNs have a multitude of use cases – and you don't have to be a tech expert to install, use, or benefit from them. In fact, they can be helpful in dozens of common online situations you've probably found yourself in previously.
All of the VPN services we have listed above offer these features and much more. We take an in-depth look at the best Rakuten VPNs further on in this article.
How to unblock Rakuten TV with a VPN
Watching Rakuten TV abroad is super-easy when using a VPN service. All you have to do is follow the 6 steps below and you will be able to stream the service from anywhere in the world:
- Sign up for one of the VPN services in the list above.
- Select your subscription plan and download the software.
- Install the software on your chosen device.
- Connect to a server in Japan or another country where Rakuten is available
- Head over to Rakuten TV's website and sign up.
- Sit back, relax and watch Rakuten TV!
Best VPNs for Rakuten TV: a closer look
We take a detailed look at the best VPNs for Rakuten below. If you still need more information then check out our detailed VPN reviews.
ExpressVPN is our top choice for unblocking Rakuten VPN. It's one of the most reliable providers out there and has excellent security features. ExpressVPN is a provider that can do everything – whether you need a VPN to keep you safe and secure online or just to unblock your favourite shows, ExpressVPN has you covered. It has over 3,000 servers dotted across the globe, including in Japan, the UK and many of the European countries where Rakuten TV is available. ExpressVPN's consistently provides its customers with fast connections so you won't have to worry about buffering. It also have a tool called MediaStreamer. This is a private DNS server that, despite not providing the same encryption-based protection as their VPN service, is designed to improve customers' streaming experience. In terms of security, ExpressVPN excels once more. It uses AES-256 bit encryption to keep you safe, as well as a kill-switch and various other security must-haves. ExpressVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can trial the product yourself and ask for a reimbursement if it's not your cup of tea. NordVPN is a solid choice for the task at hand. Amazing speeds are paired with state-of-the-art security features to ensure you're safe whilst streaming. NordVPN is another VPN we strongly recommend. The Panama-based provider takes user security very seriously, which is why it uses diskless servers that run entirely on RAM, meaning that none of your data is ever written to a hard drive. It also houses innovative features most providers don't, such as Double VPN, which reroutes all your traffic through two private servers rather than one, creating an additional layer of security. With over 5,000 servers worldwide and over 80 in Japan, but it also serves other areas where Rakuten TV is available to watch. This provider consistently tops our speed tests and is by far the quickest VPN on this list, so just like ExpressVPN, it's unlikely you'll have to worry about your favorite shows not loading up. If you're worried about adverts and malware, NordVPN is also a shrewd choice; their anti-malware tool CyberSec is one of the best VPN security features on the market. NordVPN also runs a money-back guarantee period - so try it out and decide later. Surfshark is a top-quality provider that will unblock your favourite streaming sties and won't break the bank. Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands but has over 3,200 servers worldwide. It's got good coverage in many of the countries that Rakuten TV operates in, which means you'll be able to access multiple geo-restricted catalogs. Surfshark's great if you've got family and friends who want to unblock different streaming sites – it allows an unlimited number of simultaneous connections on one account, so there's literally no upper ceiling to how many people can benefit from Surfshark. For the price of a cup of coffee per month, Surfshark will equip you with precisely the security features one needs to stay safe online. It has a great tool called 'Camouflage Mode' which makes all your traffic appear as if it isn't even coming from a VPN. They also have a CleanWeb tool that fulfills a similar role to NordVPN's CyberSec. Surfshark is another provider that will let you road test its service and claim your money back after 30 days, so there's no excuse not to give it a try! Private Internet Access is a US-based VPN provider that doesn't cut corners when it comes to keeping you safe and secure online. Private Internet Access (PIA) has been on the VPN for around a decade now and has built up one of the largest server networks on the market – it's got more servers in just the USA than most providers have worldwide. PIA has a whopping 193 servers in Japan, so unblocking Rakuten TV in that region is a piece of cake; the same goes for Italy, France, Germany, and the UK. Although it may not provide the unlimited simultaneous connections Surfshark does, PIA's 10 device-maximum for one account is head and shoulders above what most VPN providers offer their customers. PIA - unlike some other providers – can verify its no logs claim with a court case. Subpoenaed by the US court amidst a 2018 trial, it was unable to help with the case as it had no logs to hand over. It's a VPN you can trust, and you can try it out for 30 days without incurring any real cost thanks to a money-back guarantee. CyberGhost is a solid choice for accessing Rakuten TV. It's been in the VPN games for years, so you can trust it'll provide a great service. CyberGhost draws on over 15 years of VPN experience when it makes decisions about how to manage and maintain a VPN company. Its staff are passionate about the privacy of their customers, so much so that it has even built NoSpy servers in Romania run and controlled by a team of CyberGhost experts. Connecting to these servers provides one of the most secure VPN experiences you can get. The provider is also a popular choice for streaming, due to the fact it has over 6,000 servers worldwide. It's a good choice for unblocking Rakuten, too, because many of these servers are in locations where it is available, which means you can view all the service's different iterations regardless of where you live. A regular CyberGhost subscription will let you log into the same VPN account on up to 7 devices, so your family and friends can also access their favorite shows. CyberGhost offer one of the longest money-back guarantee periods in the game; you have a whole 45 days to decide whether you like the product before your purchase becomes non-refundable. 1. ExpressVPN
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Where is Rakuten TV available?
Rakuten TV is a Japanese streaming service, but it's also available in several other countries, including:
- Italy
- Austria
- Netherlands
- Ireland
- Switzerland
- The United Kingdom
- Belgium
- Portugal
- Germany
- France
- Luxembourg
- Spain
However, these services operate independently and, in terms of the content that they make available to customers, are completely distinct. The shows you can get on Rakuten TV in Italy won't necessarily be present on the Japanese iteration of the service.
What are the sign-up options?
Rakuten TV used to operate as a TVOD (transactional video on demand) – which essentially means you pay a small amount to watch individual movies one-by-one or rent the movies temporarily for a certain amount of time.
This model isn't widely used by streaming services and differs to sites competitor sites like Netflix and Amazon. This may explain now offers a subscription model to users as well.
There is also a free version of Rakuten TV available for users with accounts, granting access to a limited collection of movies and TV shows. This is another unusual feature for a streaming service.
In terms of what you can watch, as was mentioned previously, it really depends on the location you're logging in from. The shows you can access in Japan – which includes a tonne of sports content and US movies – differ greatly from those in Luxembourg, and so on so forth.
Final thoughts
Even if Rakuten TV is available in your country, you'll still be able to access way more shows, movies, and live TV available through the service if you use a VPN, as well as a wealth of other geo-restricted sites.