About Us
Japan Reference (JREF) was founded in 1999 as a modest collection of links and online resources related to Japan. Back then, it was hosted under the domain "daopian.com/japan". A year later, the website received its first dedicated domain name and went online under "japanreference.com", eventually switching to "jref.com" in May 2002. Over the years, Japan Reference (JREF) has continually expanded, from a simple link directory to a full-blown Japan Portal site focusing on all aspects of Japanese culture, history, society and language.
As the internet has changed significantly over the years, so has the focus of JREF. Japan Reference is now built around a thriving discussion forum and consists of the following sections:
Japan Directory
As the World Wide Web expands, search engines and directories prove more and more unable to cope with the growing amount of information. The Japan Directory helps you to generate reliable search results by mining for hidden data related to almost every aspect of Japan. We are constantly trying to provide you with extensive and useful web resources.
The Japan Directory is designed as a simple and easy-to-use no-nonsense directory, seeking quality not quantity. With daily updates, it covers the most recent and relevant online information available anywhere. Please bear in mind that the Japan Directory is a basically non-commercial venture depending on dedicated users for further growth. We highly appreciate your support and feedback!
Japan Forum
The Japan Forum is one of the liveliest places to discuss all Japan-related things, be it learning Japanese language, serious debates about history and politics, travel questions or just chit-chat about pop culture.
Japan Portal
The Japan Portal is an ever-expanding compendium on all topics related to Japanese culture and history.
Japan Gallery
Japan Reference allows its registered members to share their pictures of Japan in the Japan Photo Gallery.
Other sections
JREF offers numerous other free services, such as the Japan Banner Exchange (the only free Japan-targeted banner network), Topsites Japan or completely free ads in the Japan Classifieds.
Please note that Japan Reference's Japanese Friends service is operated by Meta4 Networks.
Statistics
The Japan Directory was last updated on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 11:44:10 JST and currently holds 6844 links in 701 categories and subcategories. There are 136 reviews and 6 new links. View the awards we have received. If you encounter any dead links or errors while surfing our pages please report them.
As of May 2013, the Japan Forum has over 50,000 members, 647,000 posts in over 42,000 threads.
For demographic information on our visitors, please check traffic & visitor analysis.
Kindly refer to our Terms of Service for more information on using this website.
