Japan has lots of people. Lots of people means lots of businesses. Lots of businesses mean the big companies literally run the show in terms of what is provided. Currently, the big companies don't provide free wifi. Hence, there is very little in the way of picking up a free wifi hotspot.
Kinda surprised me. There's all this talk about how ahead Japan is with it's technology, but i feel that while there is lots of cool experimentation and high uptake of automated tellers, there is a lot of corporate sludge preventing it from actually being the case.
Even something as simple as buying a ticket to something, they ask you a whole bunch of other 'conditions' in order to try get an extra couple of yen. For example, are you bringing your child? are you male hence drink more? Are you a family of four? Or five? Will you bring your umbrella? You get the point. I can't imagine what it's going to be like trying to get a phone connected. Small print galore.
AAaanyways. After Osaka I caught my first Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Nagoya.
Bullet trains are fasst. They hit like 300+km/hr i think. But they're still trains. It's not like the scenery becomes a blur. Although they're useful in terms of coverage and network. The average traveler who doesn't have time of the essence, the other rail networks do just fine.
My particular train was full up, plus I had a massive suitcase so I didn't get a seat. Maybe that jaded my opinion of them haha, but in hindsight I am somewhat glad my visa status prevented me from getting the JR pass!
So right now, I am in Toyohashi at my friend's house. She bought a new wifi router to put wifi in her house. Finally set it up today so I can catch you all up of where I've been over X-mas!
Buckle up :P
Token Image for post. Price of ciggies. Vending machine. Somewhat relevant. Cheap ay? Only about $4-$5 a pack. Still indoor smoking everywhere, only just starting to see some places have smoking areas now but its not common yet. There ya go. Token image provided.
