Tokyo Freespot

I arrive in Tokyo on Thursday morning. I'm not entirely sure whether the place I'm staying has internet access. So I'll be using Freespot to guide me to free wireless hotspots across the city. It's a listing of open wifi signals in Japan, but also China, the UK and the US.

In a city like Tokyo, where safety isn't really a concern, it's fine to go 'prospecting' for signal on streets just about anywhere in the city, at any time of the night or day. Just flip up the lid of your laptop and see what networks are in range. I'm a good prospector; I easily find unpassworded wifi signal wherever I am. I was using one in London over the weekend, for instance. (It's a skill not unrelated to 'hip homing', since signal and hipness tend to go together. What's more, sharing your wifi signal with other citizens makes you extremely cool.)

There are dangers, though. You have to stay street wise. I learned this last summer in New York, when I thought it would be fine to go prospecting for wifi signal up near the top of Central Park at one in the morning. I succeeded, even in crusty Morningside Heights, managed to download my e mail, then had to escape from four marauding, menacing teen hispanics on BMX bikes demanding money. The whole thing was chillingly polite: it started with 'Sir, can you lend us ten bucks?' and ended with 'Sir, we have to talk!' as, running like hell, I escaped to a porch of friendly black kids, a rival gang they didn't want to mess with. Did I mention that I was carrying $500 in cash as well as my laptop?