privacy
What we collect, who handles it, how to get it corrected or deleted.
Genkan is a free guide to Japan's startup scene, run from Tokyo by Sunshine Burri. We collect as little as the site needs, we never sell it, and this page says exactly what happens to it. Questions and requests: hello@thegenkan.com.
No cookies
We set no cookies and use no cookie banner, because there is nothing to consent to: no advertising, no cross-site tracking, no profile. The one bot check on our forms (Cloudflare Turnstile) and our traffic statistics (Cloudflare Web Analytics) both work without tracking cookies.
What we collect, and why
Nothing is collected unless you fill in a form. Each form stores only what it asks for.
- Newsletter. Your email address, and if you choose to tell us, your name, what you do, your role, company and interests, plus the time you signed up. We use it to send you the Genkan newsletter and to pick what goes in it. Legal basis in Europe: your consent, which you can withdraw by unsubscribing.
- Submit an event. The event details you enter (title, date, type, area, venue, link, language, price, audience, organiser, notes) and your email address, so we can review the listing, publish it and reach you about it.
- Suggest a spot. The place, what kind of place it is, the area, your comment and rating, your first name and your email address. If we publish your tip we may show your comment with your first name; we never show your email.
- Feedback. Your message, your email address if you leave one so we can reply, and the address of the page you were on when you opened the form, so we know what the note is about.
When you send a form, our hosting provider also sees your IP address: it is used for a few minutes to stop one computer flooding the forms, and it is passed to the Turnstile bot check. We do not keep it with your submission.
Who processes it
These companies handle data on our behalf. None of them may use it for their own purposes.
- Cloudflare hosts the site, stores form submissions, runs the Turnstile bot check on forms, and produces our cookie-less visitor statistics (page views and rough country, not individuals).
- Google: a private Google Sheet keeps a working copy of form submissions so we can review them, and the site's typefaces are served from Google Fonts, which means your browser requests them from Google's servers when a page loads.
- Resend sends the one-off emails we may send you about a submission, such as "your event is live".
These providers operate from the United States and other countries, so your details can be stored outside Japan, under their published safeguards and our agreements with them. Event, venue and community pages link to third-party sites (Meetup, Luma, Connpass, Doorkeeper and the organisers' own pages); what those sites collect is covered by their own notices.
How long we keep it
Newsletter details until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them. Event submissions, spot suggestions and feedback for as long as they are useful to run the site, and always deleted on request. Visitor statistics are only ever aggregate.
Your rights
You can ask us at any time what we hold about you, have it corrected, have it deleted, or have us stop using it. Email hello@thegenkan.comfrom the address you used and we will act without delay, normally within a few days. Every newsletter carries an unsubscribe link. If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom you also have the right to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, and to complain to your data protection authority; Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission handles complaints under Japanese law.
Listed here and want a change?
If you run an event, a space or a community that appears on Genkan and want it corrected or taken down, email us with the link. We do it within a few days.
Changes
If what we collect or who handles it changes, this page changes first, with a new date below.
Last updated 4 October 2026. Terms of use.