Notice on Privacy Policy

1. Basic premise

The Imperial Household Agency (hereinafter referred to as "the Agency"), collects information from all users of the Official Website of the Imperial Household Agency (hereinafter referred to as "the Site")in areas necessary to enhance the smooth operation of the Site (such as various information services provided by the Site, the solicitation of opinions and the receipt of visitor application requests).
Information acquired is used strictly within the scope of its use.

2. Scope of information collection

• (1)The Agency automatically collects and stores Internet domain names, IP addresses, relevant information concerning the Site access (i.e., the date and time the user accesses the Site and the pages visited) and so on.

  Cookies (information transmitted from the server to the user's browser and stored on the user's computer for identification purposes) are used in some of the services provided on the Site. However, information collected cannot be used to identify the user.

  If the user disables the cookies function in the Internet browser settings, the user may not have full access to the services provided on the Site.

• (2)On the "Feedback" page, users can send their opinions and comments to the Agency.
  They do not need to indicate their name, date of birth, age, address, telephone number, occupation, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "User Attributes") when sending feedback. However, any information provided voluntarily, including User Attributes and the sender's e-mail address, will be visible to the recipient.

• (3)When applying for a visit to the facilities administered by the Agency through the Site, the Agency requests the applicant's name (written in kana), address (including postal code), home telephone number, e-mail address, age, nationality (Japanese or non-Japanese), number of visitors and other relevant information.

  Occupation and additional information are provided on a voluntary basis.

  Personal information provided on "sankan.kunaicho.go.jp" (site for visitor reception) is secured by cryptographic protocols called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) used to protect the information from illegal access by a third party.

• (4)（Omitted）

• (5)（Omitted）

3. Purposes of use

• (1)The information acquired in 2. (1) will be used to enhance the smooth operation of services provided by the Site.
• (2)The information collected in 2. (2), including comments and User Attributes provided on a voluntary basis, will be used to enhance future operations. Therefore,depending on the content, some of the comments may be forwarded to relevant sections of the Agency, and matters outside of the Agency's jurisdiction, may be forwarded to the relevant agency. E-mail addresses may be forwarded with the comments, as a reply may be made in some cases.
• (3)The information collected in 2. (3) will be used exclusively as a statistical reference for visitor receptions and related future operations.
• (4)（Omitted）

4. Limitations on use and provision

Except in cases of requests for legal disclosure, illegal access, threats, unlawful acts, or other special circumstances, the information acquired will not be used for any other purposes than those described in 3., nor will the information be provided to third parties. However, statistical information regarding the Site access or User Attributes may be made public.

5. Measures to ensure security

The Agency takes necessary measures to appropriately manage personal information to prevent the release, loss or destruction of acquired information. Management and operational maintenance of the Site is outsourced and necessary measures are also taken by the contractor to ensure the security of personal information.

6. Disclosure of personal information

In the case that information collected on the Site corresponds to personal information prescribed in paragraph (1) of Article 60 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (Act no. 57/2003, enacted May 30, 2003), disclosure may be requested based on Article 76 of the said Law.

7. Scope of application

This privacy policy applies only to the Site. Please be aware that when you visit other websites of relevant offices and ministries, etc., information will be subject to the respective privacy policies of those websites.

8. Other

The Agency may revise this privacy policy as needed.

9. Inquiries

Press and Public Relations Office, General Affairs Division, Grand Steward's Secretariat, Imperial Household Agency

TEL : 03-3213-1111（ex.3269）