Problems of Electronic Communication in Japan; Difficult to Get Wifi at Starbucks & McDoanlds'

 

No Problem Finding an Internet Cafe at Asakusa - A Prime Tourist Spot

Before we left  Canada, we thought we made all the necessary preparation to ensure that we would have channels of communication with out son in Japan.

My husband learned how to Skye, and use the gmail phone so that with our labtop computer, we thought we would always be able to communicate our son via emails, Skye and google phone.

A Tokyo Internet Cafe - Cubicles with Computers  

I also brought my cell phone ( Unlocked for international calls) with me so that I could text our son. We were willing to call him if the need should arise knowing full well that the roaming charge would be very expensive.

We have heard numerous horror stories about someone being charged for roaming when they were travelling and being unaware of the phone turning on accidentally. To prevent this accidental huge charges, I signed on with a phone company called Mobilicity in Canada. They have a pre charged long distance plan which means a customer has to pre load a certain amount of money into the " Wallet" before him/her can make long distance calls. Many people, including myself see it as a positive thing because when the wallet runs out, no more long distance or charges can be made on that cell phone.

I went to the company's phone booth in the mall closest to where I lived and deposited a fairly good amount of money into my wallet to make sure that there would be enough for me to make these international text messages and phone calls when we were in Japan. I asked the phone company staff specifically that if my cell phone would work in Japan after it had been unlocked, the answer was a definite Yes.

An Internet Room with No Privacy - Two or Three Computers in One Cubicle

I was happy knowing that we have at least two ways of communicating with our son in Japan once when we got there: Our cell phones and our Computer!

What could go wrong with that?

Both did!  First, we were hugely disappointed that neither my cell phone nor my husband's cell worked in Japan. We could neither text nor call on our cells. However, Er. was carrying his cell phone from the States, his worked fine with no problem at all.

U Can Have a Private Place in an Internet Cafe Like This

We relied solely on our labtop for communication. Going to Macdonald or Starbucks and using their WiFi. We found out that Macdonald's and Starbucks were not that generous in Asia, and Japan. Many of these two restaurants did not offer the same WiFi convenience to their customers as their North American counterparts.  We went to a few Mac's and Starbucks where they told us they did not offer this service. What a disappointment!

We did quite some runaround before we could get  WiFi connections in some local bakery restaurants instead.

The worst part was our computer died on us two days after we landed in Japan. After that, we had no ways of communicating except by hotel phones or going to the Internet Cafe.

 We are sure that there are a lot of Internet Cafes in Japan, the country being so well connected electronically. However, signs of these establishments were purely in Japanese, therefore we were unable to understand them even though we might be staring at them.

After our day visit at Asakusa, we needed to communicate with Er about our dinner plan. The only way we could do it was finding an Internet Cafe and email him. What better place to find an Internet Cafe than in Asakusa - a prime tourist attraction location.

If U Get Tired Playing or Working in the Internet Cafe, Take a Nap!

We did find an Internet Cafe without much problem and used it to communicate with Er.  A one to - three hour use of the computer was around  Can. $ 11.00. The first time use was higher as you must become a member and paid that $3.00 membership fee. But when we needed to use the computer, we needed to pay and use it.

So we gained a new experience with the Japanese Internet Cafe in Tokyo!

R.T.
Internet Cafe, Asakusa, Tokyo
Aug. 2013