Do you need a pocket wi-fi in Japan?
 

Hello,
I was reading posts on renting a pocket Wi-Fi. I am assuming that free Wi-Fi is available on the trains, hotels, train stations, airport, restaurants, etc. Is that the right assumption? I can't imagine that a country that is advanced technologically wont have free Wi-Fi in those places. So if this assumption is true then the only place where we won't have it would be on the street. Is that right?

Wi-fi was pretty much everywhere when we were in Japan last week. Even some city streets, in Kyoto, but I wouldn't count on that.

Seriously, for as much as you're going to spend on the trip, why nickel and dime over this? Get a wifi thingy and don't assume and don't be caught unprepared.

It's not about nickle and dime, it's about one more thing to take care of. I dont want to spend time activating it, carrying it, charging, etc if there is little need for it.

During my last visit to Japan (2014), two of my hotels had internet in the lobby only, and not in the rooms. When I wanted to call my family late at night, I found it very inconvenient. I also inquired in a Starbucks on the San'in coast, and they did not have internet. Unless circumstances have changed dramatically in three years, I would advise getting the device, especially if you have to conduct business.

Circumstances have changed dramatically just in the last year or two. With T-mobile phone service, it's not an issue with me, but on this trip it was important for my son-in-law.
His Samsung phone w/ Sprint service had not been unlocked correctly, so it was an important for him as he was technically still working. He used google maps offline while we walked places, but otherwise always found free wifi.

I didn't have wi-fi of any sort when I was there. And I had a wonderful time! :-)

In some places, we simply couldn't work out how to connect to the wifi networks offered in some places, especially where we couldn't find either a sign or staff member to ask for the password.

Renting mobile wifi was simple, there was no activating to be done, and it was no more difficult to plug it in and charge it at night than it was to do so for the mobile phone itself.

We found it very useful when lost to be able to use Google Maps to find where we were going, and those were often the points when we were not inside an establishment with free wifi.

It was also useful,as California Lady said, in some hotels where wifi was poor in the rooms, but fine in the lobby. We usually didn't want to sit around in the lobby.

If you don't think you'll need it, it's not compulsory for sure!

We used a mobile wifi rental and it extremely useful. Easy pick up at the airport and drop off.

To answer your question....Yes

But, I always rent a pocket mifi for myself and a Japan phone for my wife. I do it because of the convenience it affords me and if my wife and I get separated on a busy subway train, or in a huge crowd in Harajuku while shopping, or while in the catacombs of Shinjuku station, or i get off at the right subway stop and she does not make it, then help and reunion are only a phone call away. I am in the BigRuss camp on this, sorry. With the amount you are going to spend on this vacation it makes sense to me to spend a few dollars more for the peace of mind and convenience these tools do afford you. Give Justin a call or email. Delivered to your home or your first hotel in Japan with a self addressed and stamped envelope to return by mail when you are done.

https://www.rentafonejapan.com/

Aloha!

Just realized you put trains on your question. There is NO FREE WIFI on any trains in Japan that I know of. I know you can buy wifi on the Nex trains and some of the Nozomi shinkansen lines but thats all. You have to have your own connection on trains in Japan.
Most large train stations in Japan have some type of free wifi

Aloha!

HT, we had free wifi on the Hikari shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo. You get 3 hours for free. When the time is up, simply disconnect, then start another 3 hours.

Thanks lcuy that was a fast trip :)

regarding new services

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/05/0...line-stations/

After a bit of online research i've also decided to rent a wi-fi device in Japan. My main reason being security because free wi-fi is unencrypted.

"free wi-fi is unencrypted" true, but you could always use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your own web traffic. Probably a lot cheaper and one less gadget to carry around and keep charged.

First, FYI, there is some free wi-fi on trains, such as the Skyliner, but that is really more the exception than the rule.
http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetud...eisei_wifi/us/
...and that's just for getting in from or back to Narita anyway.

A lot is up to *why* you want the wi-fi in the first place. If you easily get lost and don't know which way up is, then renting a pocket wi-fi might indeed be a good idea. Costs vary depending on how many days you use it as well as your bandwidth needs.
If you think you'll need a lot of bandwidth, then free wi-fi is probably not the way to go - there are a lot of people who are also using it, and data might just slow to a crawl.
If you want to see some places that rent wi-fi etc, try looking at the bottom of:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan
If you just need wi-fi here or there, some cities are setting it up for tourists, or there is always 7-11, and there are thousands across the country.
http://7spot-info.jp/7spot-guidebook_info/
Also in western Japan, you can get it from JR West.
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/wifi/guide/guide.pdf

Japan is quite safe compared to other places, but still, I certainly wouldn't do anything like online banking through a public wi-fi.

mmm there are a lot of places now that have wifi but when I visited Japan recently I still decided to get a pocket wifi as there were places where there was no wifi access and i needed the map app on my phone to get places so the pocket wifi came in handy. I know that you can rent pocket wifi at the airport but i think its a bit more expensive compared to other companies. Like there are cheaper options out there. I would recommend a place that uses Docomo as when i did my research i found that Docomo is the best in Japan. There are a bunch of companies that I looked at but I ended up going with this company called Genki Mobile. They delivered the portable wifi to the airport that i arrived at and to return it i just had to drop it off at the airport post office. Here's their website if you're interested https://www.genkimobile.com