Wayfarer Review Guide in Japan
Map, Street View
In Japan, there is generally no problem using Google Maps. Google Street View is also available. However, in rural areas, Google Street View is not updated.
Also, a few areas where 360° photos were being abused. I don't know if it still exists. So if you use 360° photo for reviewing, please carefully compare it with surrounding street views and satellite view.
These are alternative maps but I don't use them much.
https://www.mapion.co.jp
https://www.its-mo.com
https://map.yahoo.co.jp/
Nomination
business
In Japan, since generic business was removed from Rejection Criteria in Wayfarer Help Center or old review UI (but now review UI has generic business LOL), many business were nominated. However, these nominations may be poorly explained or overstated to be approved. If you find out about business, you may use Google search. You can easily find out if it's a chain store by using Google search. We sometimes see chain store nominations because Niantic incorrectly approves some chain store nominations. Reviews on Google Maps may be helpful. If you review restaurant, restaurant review sites may be helpful.
https://tabelog.com
https://www.hotpepper.jp
manholes and fire hydrant
There are many mass-produced manhole Wayspots in Japan because mass-produced manholes were incorrectly approved by Niantic. There are also many nominations. In most cases, uncolored manholes are mass-produced. If you see Street View, you can quickly find similar manholes. Even in the case of color, it may be mass-produced, but it is difficult to judge. You can check the title with Google search or photo with Google Lens. Character manholes are often unique so you can easily find it by searching for the nomination title in Google search.
Reviewers need to be careful about fire hydrants. Fire hydrants have also been approved incorrectly by Niantic. In particular, fire hydrants that look similar to manholes have been approved. Fire hydrants should be rejected. Some fire hydrants are unique to the region, so it may be difficult to review, but manhole-shaped fire hydrants have a few common characteristics.
It is written as "消火栓" in Japanese. It may also be a "防火水槽."
There is an orange line around the manhole. In this case it's definitely a fire hydrant. Orange lines indicate no parking. Parking around fire hydrants impedes emergency vehicle operations. Additionally, manhole-shaped fire hydrants themselves are often orange in color.
Please also refer to the image search link below.
Lastly, I would like to mention character manholes. Some nominators try to add photos of a character manhole to an unrelated Wayspot, because they want the character manhole to be a photo of a Pokestop. There are especially many poké lids. When reviewing, please make sure that the title and photo match.
information boards(community board)
There have been a number of nominations after Niantic employees said eligibility for community boards on a forum. People put post on the community board and exchange information with local residents. In this case, there would be eligibility for an exchange. You may not be able to read much of it becuase these are written by Japanese, but please pay attention to the posting and review it.
mass-produced
You can find out if it's a mass-produced item by searching the title or using Google Lens. Below are some common examples.
raccoon figurine
It turns out that the link above is not accessible from the UK. If you cannot access it, please use the Google Image Search link.
bench
car stop, silver sparrow
stopmark
https://www.monotaro.com/k/store/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%83%E3%83%97%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF/
cornerstone
A cornerstone is a cornerstone that is set in a foundation ceremony, which is held to commemorate the start of construction work and to pray for the building's safety. Nowadays, it has become more simplified, and when a building is completed, a stone (plate) marked ”定礎(teiso)'' is embedded in it.
This is not a mass-produced item, but it seems that many buildings have it installed for the same purpose.
Game specific terminology (+Wayfarer terminology)
Pokémon GO : ポケモンGO、ポケゴー
Pokéstop : ポケストップ、ポケスト
Cell : セル
Portal : ポータル※
XM : エキゾチックマター、XM
Linkamp : リンクアンプ
Wayspot : Wayspot、ウェイスポット
Wayfarer : ウェイファーラー（Although this is a wrong reading, it has become the major reading in Japan）、ウェイフェアラー
Wayfinder : Wayfinder、ウェイファインダー
Niantic : ナイアンティック、ナイアン、Nia、etc…
※ : It may be used for except games.