I want to give four stars because it took me time to figure out how to change region and language. Once I figured this out, this app was excellent! I did not even have to take a passport picture—this app took my picture! I'll leave my steps for those who struggle with using this app like me. 1) open settings 2) open general 3) open language & region 4) change the preferred language to Japanese. In other words, the iPhone language will be 日本語(Japanese). In my case, I temporarily removed English from my preferred language. 5) change region to 日本(Japan). I hope my notes are helpful. After the use of this app, need to change these settings back to your original settings.

App is okay. The language settings…I mean, there might be someone who isn’t familiar with English if one is living in a country where English isnt required. So Japanese would be a safe option, I understand that. The annoying part is that I need to login on the website, then on the app. Probably confuses older population who think that everything will be done on the app. The pop-ups confuses people too, in my experience. Also annoying that even on app the photo is “approved”, but still rejected by officials anyways.

I’m not sure why this app rating is really bad. I renewed a passport with this app without any issues and it worked well. I selected 4 stars because there are a lot of thing to be improved.

This app is intended for those living abroad, yet it requires changing the iPhone’s region setting to Japan just to use it. This is highly impractical and inconvenient—nearly impossible for many users. The Japanese government needs to employ better engineers and smarter solutions to create a functional, user-friendly app. As it stands, this app is incredibly frustrating and feels like a complete waste of time. GARBAGE!

Like other reviews have mentioned, it ask to change the language/region to Japan. However, even after changing it the app cannot be used. So this “online application” does not work at all. You would still end up physically headed to the Japanese embassy in your district… a better, user friendly app is seriously needed in Japan.

I tried installing and opening the app so many times but no luck. Even if I changed the language and region to Japan, it still didn’t open. If you are supporting Japanese residents who live outside of Japan to renew their passport, why do you even ask us to change the region to Japan? It’s one of the worst apps I’ve known.