“Japan is a high-tech country, so I can have free wi-fi access anywhere!” If you think so, you are wrong. Actually, Japan does not have many free wi-fi spots compared to other countries, and it is called developing country when it comes to free wi-fi access. In fact, according to the government, 30% of foreign tourists answered “not having many free wi-fi access” to the question of “What was hard for you during staying in Japan?” Of course, free wi-fi access is offered by the carrier companies at stations, convenience stores, McDonald’s, Starbucks, to name a few. However, it is a lot less than other countries.

On top of that, one has to register before using free wi-fi services most of the time in Japan. It is really annoying that you have to register your information anywhere you go when wanting to know something right away.

If you want to use wi-fi anywhere anytime, I recommend you to rent a pocket wi-fi. One of the major carrier companies, docomo, rents a portable router 360 yen per day or 900 yen per week. Please go to docomo shop if needed.

If you do not want to spend on the router, you can download “Japan Connect-free Wi-Fi” from a website. Once you register, the app looks for free wi-fi for you from multiple businesses that have registered to the app and provide free wi-fi access. The app offers five languages, English, Chinese (繁体字・簡体字), Korean, and Japanese.

We, Sakura Currency Service, do provide free wi-fi access too. You can look for information on the Internet, having some our free coffee.