It used to be that only Japanese corporations could register a .co.jp while anyone else anywhere could register for a .jp. So I had several .jp domains registered through Gandi.net.

The issue is that .jp registered outside of a few Japanese registrars are legally not allowed to offer Whois privacy.

Schools use it!

The .us domain should’ve been universally useful for state and municipal governments, but most of those began registering directly under .gov, and not even in an orderly hierarchy under .st.gov

But that was simply the easiest way to market your website as a trusted government entity. And now nobody has ever heard of .us domains in active use.

> Except nobody uses the .us tld

This is a bug, not a feature.