Internet

Internet cafes in Japan are few and far between... Bring your own laptop, or bring a phone and buy a local data SIM.

Do you need internet all the time or just occasionally? Are you travelling in remote parts of Japan or mostly in cities?

Many hotels and hostels (but usually not traditional ryokan) have internet access/wifi and so do some fast food and coffee chains. There are internet cafes (often doubling as manga cafe), but in my experience it can be difficult to locate them if you don't read Japanese and also I ran into places that were aimed at regular customers only and not too happy about somebody who just wants to check internet for an hour or so.

If you need internet all the time the options are:

• SIM card which you can use in your phone/tablet
• personal hotspot
• rental smartphone

Wifi tends to be widely available and plentiful in Japan. Like at train stations at metro stops. In Tokyo at least, subway stops are everywhere. But data sims are cheap so why not just get one of those.

Softbank (big Japanese tech/telecom company and owner of Sprint)supposedly has the most wifi hotspots in Japan and offers tourists free wifi. More details are here:

https://www.softbank.jp/en/mobile/set/common/pdf/special/freewifi/brochure_FREE_Wi-Fi_PASSPORT.pdf

We will be in a lot of rural areas and want it for maps mainly.

Softbank's hotspot search page:

https://www.softbank.jp/en/mobile/special/freewifi/en/search/

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