Internet services in Japan

One of the advantages of living in a share-house or guest-house is that you can save a lot of  money on the initial costs of facilities, that is, what you usually pay when you move to a new place. If you rent a private apartment, in addition to rent you may pay for a new bed, blanket, pillow, table and chairs, TV, refrigerator, microwave, toaster, washing machine, curtains (also check our article on what to expect when renting a private apartment). In addition, you may want to use Internet in your room so you have to pay the initial costs and monthly fees for using the Internet. in a Shared Apartment or guest houses unlike a private apartment, you share facilities in common areas including the Internet equipments.

This represents  one advantage of sharing a house.

There some useful tips and links, where you can find information about Internet services in Japan.
More and more providers luckily offer English service, from setting up the contract to offering a service hotline in English. Some of them might occasionally offer discounts where you don’t have to pay the monthly fee for the first months or even first year but keep in mind that there might be “hidden” costs (eg. costs for setting up the router) and make sure to ask what you have to pay for cancelling the contract (especially if you cancel it within a year).

Networks available in Japan:

• ADSL:
  ADSL is high-speed Internet that uses a fixed telephone line that you can have installed quickly and economically.
• Cable Television Line (CATV):
  By using Cable TV, you may be able to use the same line to connect to the Internet. Please check with the cable company to see if the area in which you live has Internet via CATV capability.
• Fiber to the Home (FTTH):
  Optical fiber transfers data at the rate of 10Mbps to 100Mbps so it is extremely fast. Sometimes, this service is limited in certain areas. Line construction work is necessary, so if you live in an apartment, you will need to get permission from the owner as well as the real estate agency.
• 3G/4G Mobile:
  Enables you to use the Internet anytime and anywhere with your laptop, tablet or PDA. The provider will either charge you based on your Internet usage or you can pay a fixed fee and have limitless usage.

ADSL Internet Service Providers

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is the most common service used in Japan. It is relatively cheap when compared with other services and faster than both Dial-up and ISDN.

FusionGOL – http://www.gol.com/en/biz/index.html   (English Site)
GOL is a fully bilingual internet service provider based in Tokyo with access throughout Japan.

Yahoo BB  – http://bbapply.com/  (English Site)
BBapply is an English application website for Yahoo!BB

Asahi Net Inc.  – http://asahi-net.jp/en/  (English Site)
ASAHI Net is a bilingual internet service provider based in Tokyo offering broadband connection throughout Japan.

AT&T,Japan – http://www.spinnet.jp/indexe.html  (English Site)

OCN – Open Computer Network  – http://www.ocn.ne.jp/english/?TG  (English Site)

ODN – http://www.odn.ne.jp/english/index.html  (English Site)

NTT – http://www.ntt.co.jp/index_e.html  (English Site)

eAccess – http://www.eaccess.net/en/index.html  (English Site)

 

Cable Internet Service Providers

Cable Internet services are quite stable and fast depending on which network you are connected to. Cable modems are good for streaming contents such as videos and Internet radios.

Minato Cable TV (English site) – http://www.cabletv.co.jp/english/cms/information
0120-371-049 (Toll-Free in English)

ITS Communications(English site) – http://www.itscom.net/en/
Shibuya-Ku, Meguro-Ku, Setagaya-Ku, Shinagawa-Ku (part), Ota-Ku (part)
0120-109-199 (Toll-Free in Japanese)

Cable TV Shinagawa(Japanese only) – http://www.cts.ne.jp/
Shinagawa (part)
03-3788-3811(Japanese)

Ota Cable TV – Ota-Ku (part)(Japanese only) – http://www.cno.co.jp/
03-5711-0711 (English)

JCOM (English site)

 

Fiber Optic Service Providers (“Hikari-Fiber”)

Fiber optic services known in Japan as “Hikari-fiber” services, are relatively new services and currently by far the fastest services comparing to other services.

Asahi Net Inc. (English site) – http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/en/

Au One Net (Japanese Site) – http://www.auone-net.jp/

Fusion GOL (English site) – http://www.gol.com/en/indv/

OCN – Open Computer Network  (English site) – http://www.ocn.ne.jp/english/business/broadband/hikari/

Usen Gyao Hikari (Japanese Site) – http://www.so-net.ne.jp/gyao/index.html

In addition, if you go to electronics retail stores in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, etc. they will have English instructions and they may help you with setting up the Internet services.

 

Information of major electronics retail stores in Tokyo:

Yodobashi Camera (Japanese) – http://www.yodobashi.com/ec/store/list/

 Bic Camera （English) – http://www.biccamera.co.jp.e.lj.hp.transer.com/service/index.html

 Yamada Denki    (Japanese) – http://www.yamada-denki.jp/

Also for more info about Tokyo Free Wifi Spots and other useful Information about Internet and mobile phones in Japan,
Please check this following Blogs.

* Use Your Mobile Phone in Japan –the NTT free wifi   

* Free Wifi in Tokyo – http://blog.ofjapan.jp/tokyo-free-wifi-for-tourists/

Also A very useful app from NTT Docomo that helps you to find Free Wifi spots all around Japan.

* Find Free Wifi Spots App (iPhone/Android) – http://www.ntt-bp.net/jcfw/about/index.html

A reminder to let you know that if you are looking for an accommodation in Japan, our portal JapanRoomFinder.com has  plenty of apartments and rooms in share houses available all over Japan. Send us an enquiry if you like one of them.