No subscription, no email confirmation, just connect and use it !
If you are visiting Japan, wifi is an important traveling tool which can’t be ignored. Probably you got your pocket wifi from Sakura Mobile or Pupuru and feel enough safe to miss your last train but what if you are out of battery and need to find a way back home using google map. This is where free wifi spot become so useful.
Yesterday, i decided to help you guys and have a walk around in Tokyo all day trying to find the best spot. Osaka prefecture will have similar results so no worries.
Here the list of shop i tried:
Starbucks, McDonald’s, Narita Airport, Haneda Airport, 7 eleven, Lawson, Turret coffee (ターレット コーヒー), Café de l’Ambre (カフェ・ド・ランブル) in Ginza, Tully’s Coffee, Hard Rock Cafe in roppongi and Uyeno Eki …
I tried many other spots but these above are those where i could stay for a while without even spending a dime, sorry i meant without even spending a yen with the fastest bandwidth.
What’s the verdict ? 
Choice #1
Haneda Airport
Speed test in Haneda airport
It sounds strange to think of an airport to use free wifi if you are already in Tokyo city but the truth is Haneda Airport is only 15 minutes away from Tokyo downtown by train, it took me only 1 station to reach it from Shinagawa Station. Almost same from Shibuya. I had to try it and that’s a good result, right ?
Sits everywhere with even a big flat screen to watch the live news and i never got annoyed by anyone. I even got washroom around, like an office. I stayed there for a small two hours 🙂 and i could burst the download up to 29 Mbps even if my screenshot indicate little lower. It was super fast considering it was free and i believe using this free wifi spot could help you a lot if you are stuck somewhere without connection. Just remember the way to go, that’s it.
Choice #2
McDonald’s restaurant
Speed test in McDonald’s
This one is interesting. There is literally McDonald’s everywhere in Japan so this is your emergency free wifi spot for sure. No need to take the train, just look around you and you will find one, i am sure. The best is you don’t have to order anything to get a connection code unlike many other restaurant.
All i had to do is to stay outside not too far from the smoking area, not even inside ordering burgers and i could connect very quick without having to confirm my email.
I tried around seven McDonald’s yesterday between 5pm to 7pm which are the busiest time in Tokyo and the speed test was little different but the screenshot above shows a good result i guess of all the seven McDonald’s i tried. Still not bad considering it’s free. And i didn’t feel it too slow. Again, that’s the perfect emergency spot.
Choice #3
Starbucks Coffee
Speed test at the Starbucks
Despite of a slower bandwidth, Starbucks Coffee is my third choice because of their reliable connection. Again, i didn’t have to purchase anything. I was standing outside near the window and believe it or not, the staff even came to see me to offer a FREE coffee as a try out !!! Free Wifi, free coffee, Ahhh Japan >[;)
The download is slower than McDonald’s and Haneda Airport but look at the upload, it surpassed the others by far. If you have a work involving server upload tasks such as uploading big files (for web designer or web coder) this spot is very useful for you.
However, because Starbucks is always crowded, you can guess all the customers are using the free wifi at same time causing slower download connection. But, it was still faster than the average free wifi spot.
Conclusion
If you are in Japan, i strongly recommend you to rent a Pocket Wifi but if you are out of battery, i suggest to reach one of these three free wifi spot and you will be totally safe. During 20 hours, i visited so many restaurant, convenient store and shop trying their free wifi. 90% of them was asking to confirm emails or annoying code making time to connect much longer. That’s the reason why i opted for Haneda Airport, MacDonald’s and Starbucks.
Btw, I even tried to check messages on TrueLoveJapan and navigation was still very fast using these free wifi spot so if you need to check yours too, you will be totally fine.
I hope that will help you.
Any question, feel free to ask !!
