The Terms of Use is based on the Japanese language, and this translation is for reference only. If any discrepancy between the interpretation of the Terms of Use and the interpretation of the original is found, the interpretation of the Terms of Use shall be based upon the interpretation of the original.
These Terms of Use (hereinafter referred to as "Agreement") stipulate the terms of provision of This service and the rights and obligations between the User and us. To use This service, the User shall need to consent to the Agreement and Privacy Policy. Please be sure to read the full text of the Agreement before using it.

Article 1 (Definition)
The following terms used in the Agreement shall have the meanings specified below.
(1) "Service usage contract" means the usage contract of This service concluded between the Agreement and the User and us.
(2) "This service" means a service called "Sustainable Japan by The Japan Times" that provides Content for a paid or free of charge by us.(For whatever reason, if the name or the contents of the service has been modified, the service after the modification shall apply.)
(3) "Our website" means the website operated by us whose domain is "sustainable.japantimes.com", (For whatever reason, if the domain or the contents of Our website has been modified, the website after the modification shall apply) and also the website attached to it.
(4) "We" means The Japan Times Cube Co., Ltd.
(5) "User" means an individual or corporation who has been registered as a User of This service based on Article 5 (Registration) and has become able to view paid Content in This service.
(6) "Content" means sentences, images, and videos that can be viewed by the User via This service.
(7) "Intellectual property rights" means copyrights, patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights and other intellectual property rights (acquiring those rights or including those rights to apply for the registration).

Article 2 (About This service)
1. We provide various services including paid and free Content on this site.
2. User registration is required to use the paid Content of This service.
3. For the paid Content of This service, we shall use the paid subscription management system (hereinafter referred to as "AE") provided by Ximera, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Ximera").
4. To use paid Content, you need to obtain an AE user ID.

Article 3 (Modification of the Agreement)
1. We may modify the Agreement from time to time based on the provisions of Article 548-4 of the Civil Code when necessary. In this case, modified Agreement shall apply as the terms of use and the contents of the Service usage contracts.
2. When we make a modification in the preceding paragraph, we shall notify the User about the fact and the content of the provisions after modifications. Also, about the date legal action comes into force shall be posted on This service in advance before the date comes. We shall notify the User about the content of the new Agreement by email or a comparable communication.

Article 4 (Management of User ID and password)
1. The User shall properly manage and store the User ID and password related to This service at his/her own risk, and shall not allow a third party to use, lend, transfer, change the registration’s name, buy or sell.
2. The User shall be liable for any damage caused by insufficient management of the User ID and password, mistake in use, use by a third party. We shall not be liable at all.

Article 5 (Registration)
1. Those who wish to continue using This service (hereinafter referred to as "Registration applicant") agree to comply with the Agreement and the AE Terms of Use. Also, by providing certain information specified by us (hereinafter referred to as "Registration items") to us by the method specified by us and registering with AE, you can apply for the registration of use of This service.
2. Only the person who becomes the User (in the case of a corporation, a person who has external contract authority) can apply for the User registration. The User registration by an agent shall not be approved.
3. The User shall not be able to register multiple Users.
4. If a person under the age of 20 applies for the User registration, the consent of a legal representative is required to use This service. We shall assume that once the consent of the legal representative has been obtained and the minor completes the User registration, the use of This service and the Agreement shall apply. If the User uses This service without the request consent of a legal representative, or misrepresents his/her age, all legal acts related to the use of This service shall not be cancelled.
5. In accordance with our regulation, we shall determine whether or not to accept the registration application based on the preceding paragraph, if we approve the registration, we shall notify the Registration applicant to that effect. The User registration of the Registration applicant shall be completed when we give notice in this section.
6. Upon completion of the registration set forth in the preceding paragraph, the Service usage contract shall be reached between the User and us. From that point the User will be able to use This service in accordance with the Agreement.

Article 6 (Usage fee)
1. The User shall pay the presented usage fee which is specified by us in This service monthly or yearly by the method specified by us.
2. Credit card payment business related to paid Content shall be performed in accordance with the AE Terms of Service using the service provided by Ximera.
3. When we revise the fee for paid Content, we shall notify the User in advance on This service screen or by email. From the date when the revision becomes effective, the payment shall be made at the revised fee.
4. If there is an unsettled amount in the paid Content fee, or if the payment cannot be settled due to lack of funds or other reasons, an email (from Ximera) shall be sent to the User.

Article 7 (Term of usage period and registration renewal, cancellation)
1. The usage period of This service is one month or one year from the application date, and the application date is the starting point of billing. After that, the fee will be charged automatically on the same date as the application date every month or every year. For months that do not have a billing date (31st, etc.), the last day of the month shall be the billing date.
2. The User of This service may have a cancellation procedure for the service by the prescribed method specified by us, and once we accept the cancellation procedure, the service shall be cancelled. Until the end of the usage period, the User is still entitled to access to the service.
Unless the User cancels This service, the usage period shall be automatically renewed in units of the application period. If the User cancels the contract, the User shall not be able to view paid Content automatically when the usage period expires.
3. Even if the usage period is not reached or the cancellation date based on the preceding paragraph is in the middle of the usage period, the fee shall be paid until the usage period expires and we shall not refund it.
4. In addition to the cancellation procedure, if you wish to withdraw from the AE user, please use the Ximera inquiry form (URL: https://ximera.zendesk.com/hc/ja/requests/new) and use the service name ("Sustainable Japan by The Japan Times"), your name (last name / first name), registered email address, and subject ("member deletion request"), and then send it.
5. When the User is deregistered, the handling of User information after deregistration shall be in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 (Handling of User Information).

Article 8 (Deregistration etc.)
1. When the User falls under any of the following reasons, we shall temporarily suspend the use of This service for the User without prior announcement or notification, without refunding the fee, and also have rights to cancel the contract and delete the registration.
(1) When the User violates any provision of the Agreement.
(2) When we have discovered that there is a false fact in the Registration items.
(3) When we have determined that the User is a person who has previously been deregistered or a person of relation.
(4) When a payment has been suspended or insolvent, or there is a petition for bankruptcy proceedings, civil rehabilitation proceedings, corporate reorganization proceedings, special liquidation or similar proceedings.
(5) When there is no response to inquiries from us or other inquiries requesting answers over 30 days or more.
(6) When we have determined that the User shall not be deemed to continue to use This service and Service usage contract appropriately.
2. When any of the reasons in the preceding paragraph applies, the User shall naturally lose the benefit of the deadline for all of the debts owed to us and may pay all the debts to us immediately.
3. When the User has been deregistered, the handling of the User information after the deregistration shall apply in accordance with the provisions of Article10 (Handling of User information).

Article 9 (Contact and Notification)
1.Contact or notification from the User regarding any enquiry to This service or any contact or notification from us regarding the modification to the Agreement etc., shall be made at our sole discretion.
2. When we notify the User via emailing, we shall deem that the notification has arrived to the e-mail address registered by the User when it normally should arrive.

Article 10 (Handling of User information)
1. As a general rule, we shall not disclose the User information other than the one released on This service to a third party without prior consent unless provided in the Agreement and Privacy Policy. However, this shall not apply to inquiries from public institutions and cases where we are obliged to disclose them by law.
2. The User shall give us accurate registration details and the User information, if any changes occur to these details, the User guarantees to update this promptly.
3. We shall not be liable for any damage caused by the User failing to comply with the obligations set forth in the preceding paragraph.
4. We shall be able to use the User information for the purpose of providing information that we shall deem it useful (including information on the products, services of us, advertisers and business partners).
5. We shall be able to aggregate and analyze the User information for the purpose of improving This service and marketing us.
6. We shall manage the User information in accordance with our privacy policy.
7. We shall handle and retain the User information as set forth in this article and the User shall consent to this.

Article 11 (Externally provided services)
This service may include services provided by a third party (hereinafter referred to as "Externally provided services"). Externally provided services shall apply Terms of use and other terms of use set by the third party. We shall not inspect, evaluate, guarantee, etc. the services provided externally. We shall not be responsible for any damage caused by your use of Externally provided services.

Article 12 (Copyright and other rights)
1. All Intellectual property rights related to This service such as Our website and delivered emails belong to us or those who have granted license to us.
License to use of This service based on the Agreement shall not mean a grant of the Intellectual property rights for us or those who have granted license to us regarding Our website and This service.
2. The User shall not perform any of the acts described in the following items.
(1) Act of providing / redistributing This service or individual Content contained in it to a third party.
(2) Except for those by the regular function of This service , reproduction, editing, and processing of This service or individual Content contained in This service (excluding electronic storage that temporarily occurs on the terminal when browsing), translation, adaptation, publication, reprint, distribution, broadcasting, dictation, exhibition, sale, public transmission (including transmission enablement, posting on homepages and intranets on the Internet) and modification, etc. Any act that infringes the rights of us and a third party , or the act of providing or redistributing the Content, etc. that performed these to a third party.

Article 13 (Interruption of This service)
1. We shall be able to suspend or stop all or part of This service without notifying the User in advance in any of the following cases.
(1) When urgently inspecting or maintaining the computer system related to This service.
(2) When the computer, communication line, etc., is suspended due to an accident.
(3) When This service cannot be operated due to force majeure such as earthquakes, lightning strikes, fires, storms and floods, power outages, and natural disasters.
(4) When the server resource is suspended due to any problems.
(5) When we shall deem it necessary to suspend or stop.
2. We shall not be liable for any damage caused to the User based on the measures taken by us based on this article.

Article 14 (Modification and termination of the contents of This service)
1. We may modify the contents of This service or terminate providing This service at our convenience. When we terminate provision of This service, we shall notify the User in advance.
2. We shall not be liable for any damage caused to the User based on the measures taken by us based on this article.

Article 15 (Outsourcing)
We may outsource system management, credit card payment, electronic funds transfer, and all or part of our business as necessary.

Article 16 (Disclaimer)
1. We shall not warrant any of these following points
i) This service fits the specific purpose of the User, has the expected function, commercial value, accuracy and usefulness
ii) The use of This service by the User complies with the applicable laws, the internal rules of industry groups, and shall not cause any problems.
We shall not be liable for any damage caused to the User or a third party due to the said information.
2. Except in case of intentional or gross negligence by us, we shall not be liable for any obligation to compensate for
i) Damage to the User or a third party caused by or in connection with the use of This service (including damage due to troubles between the User and others)
ii) Damage to the User or a third party caused by the inability to use This service (including, but not limited to, the damage specified below in this article).
3. Except in cases of intentional or gross negligence by us, regarding the results of our actions based on the Agreement, we shall not be liable for any damage to the User and a third party regardless of the cause.
4. We shall not be liable for any force majeure beyond our expectations, such as breakdowns, unexpected troubles, power outages of the equipment that provides This service, and abnormalities in the communication line.
5. Personal authentication, personal information and other data related to the User may be lost or erased due to system failure. Even if it happens based on such a situation, we shall not be liable for any damage caused by this, unless there is intentional or gross negligence by us.
6. The User shall bear the responsibility of all actions taken on This service using User’s personal information whether it has been his/her act or not.
7. We shall not be liable for any damage incurred by the User or a third party due to the personal information of the User being abused by others regardless of the intentional negligence of the User.
8. The User shall be liable for the use of This service, all actions performed by using This service, and the results. If a dispute arises with us or a third party due to the use of This service, or in case of damage to us or a third party, the User shall resolve this at his/her own risk and expense.
9. When the User suffers any loss or damage due to illegal acts and non-performance of duty by us, we shall be liable for the compensation for any damages up to the usage fee of This service paid in that month. However, this shall not apply if we are intentionally or grossly negligent.
10. The site of This service may link to another website. If you are moved to a website which is not being managed or operated by us, it shall mean we shall not be liable for an availability of use of the site or resource outside This service. Also, we shall not be liable for any information, advertisements, products, services that are included and available in the site or resource. Therefore, we shall not be liable for any damage (whether indirect or direct) caused by or in connection with such information, advertisements, products, services whatsoever.
11. We shall not be liable for any damage caused to the User or a third party due to an unjust act by a hacker or the like.
12.The provisions of paragraph 1 to the preceding paragraph of this article shall not apply if we have intentional or gross negligence. In addition, if the contractor falls under the category of a consumer under the Consumer Contract Law and is judged to be invalid under any of the provisions of Paragraph 1 to the preceding paragraph of this Article under the Consumer Contract Law, the provisions of the part which is judged to be invalid shall not be applicable to the contractor.
13. Notwithstanding the provision of exclusion clause in this article and the Agreement, if the disclaimer stipulated in the Agreement is not recognized by the mandatory regulations and the final judgment of the court, we shall only be liable for normal and direct damage caused to the User.

Article 17 (Prohibited Matters)
When using This service, the User shall not perform any of the following acts or other types of prohibited acts that we shall deem to be applicable.
(1) Acts that infringe or may infringe the Intellectual property rights of us, other User or third parties (including acts that directly or indirectly cause such infringement).
(2) Acts that infringe or may infringe the property, privacy or portrait rights of other User or third parties (including acts that directly or indirectly cause such infringement).
(3) Acts that register the User on behalf of a person whose User qualification has been suspended or invalidated.
(4) Acts that discriminate against or slander other User or third parties, or damage the honor or credibility of others.
(5) Acts that falsify or erase the accessible information of This service or others.
(6) Acts that impersonate us or others (including acts of crafting parts such as email headers to spoof).
(7) Acts that send harmful computer programs or keep them in a state where others can receive.
(8) Acts that request the transfer of chained email, etc., and acts of forwarding in response to the request.
(9) Acts that adversely affect the servers and networks connected to the services provided by us.
(10) Acts that access any systems related to our provision of services illegally.
(11) Acts that access the service using a method different from the interface provided by us.
(12) Acts that abuse security holes, errors, bugs in systems and software related to Our website.
(13) Acts that decipher any systems, software, protocols related to Our website by methods such as reverse engineering and disassembly, tamper with or modify them and also copy or secondary use of them.
(14) Acts that distribute information, devices, software, etc. to release or avoid access control functions of the servers.
(15) Acts that interfere with the operation of This service.
(16) Acts that use the same or similar name as This service regardless of its means.
(17) Acts that acquire registered information of other User without obtaining the consent of that person or by fraudulent means (including so-called phishing and similar means).
(18) Acts that use This service without performing the procedures when procedures such as notification to regulatory agencies, acquisition of licenses are obliged by law.
(19) Acts that significantly hinder our business excessive repeated enquiries and demands shall not be responded to.
(20) Acts that are Ethically problematic, harmful, or vulgar in nature as well as acts that disclose information which may be offensive to others.
(21) Acts that violate laws and the Agreement.
(22) Acts that post links to another site for the purpose of encouraging acts that fall under any of the above items (including cases where the acts are performed by a third party other than the User).
(23) Acts that we shall deem inappropriate.

Article 18 (Exclusion of Antisocial forces)
1. When using This service, the User shall represent that he/she is not associated in any way whatsoever with an Antisocial force which includes an organized crime group and any other similar organization defined in the "Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members" and also warrant that he/she will never belong to or be involved with them (hereinafter referred to as "Antisocial force").
2. When we have determined that the User belongs to, corresponds to, or is involved in an Antisocial force, we shall be entitled to take necessary measures such as suspend or revoke This service for the User without advance notification.

Article 19 (Compensation for damages and disputes resolution)
1. When we suffer any damage due to the Userʼs actions (including complaints caused by the Userʼs actions), we shall be able to claim for full compensation from the User (including attorney's fees borne by us).
2. When we receive a claim from a third party for infringement of rights or for any other reasons in connection with the use of This service by the User, the User must compensate the third party based on the claim.

Article 20 (Assignment of rights and obligations, etc.)
1. The User may not assign, succeed, set collateral, or otherwise dispose of the User rights or obligations based on This service usage contract to a third party, except with the prior written consent of us.
2. When we transfer the business related to This service to a third party (regardless of business transfer, company split and any other conditions), the status under the Service usage contract and the Agreement shall accompany the transfer. The rights and obligations based on the above, the User registration information and other User information may be transferred to the transferee if the User shall consent in advance to such transfer in this section.

Article 21 (Possibility of Separation)
When any provision of the Agreement or a part thereof is determined to be invalid or unenforceable by the Consumer Contract Law or other laws and regulations, the rest of the Agreement which is not invalid or unenforceable determined to be, shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Article 22 (Survival Rules)
Even after the termination of this Agreement, the provisions that should naturally survive in view of the nature of the provisions shall remain in effect after the termination of this Agreement for whatever reason such as expiration, cancellation, expiration or other reasons.

Article 23 (Governing Law and Court of Jurisdiction)
1. The governing law of the Agreement and the Service usage contract is Japanese law.
2. The Tokyo District Court shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of the first instance for all disputes arising out of or related to the Agreement or the Service usage contract.

Established on October 28, 2021

Revised on February 9, 2022