I have no hotspot luck in this country. In six months I have not found a single hotspot but I know they are there. Will I have to go to McDonalds to get my fix? Even more amusing is that in my search for a hotspot today I ended up in an Excelsior Café (was hoping to find something unique but my growling stomach forced me to choose between this and a Starbucks) and there is actually not even mobile reception in here.
In Japan, I am wifi starved, likely because I do not know where to look. Which brings about some interesting thoughts on navigating in a city. Urban areas have arrays of services (food, bars, police boxes, public transportation, shopping, gyms, etc.) and there are varying ways a person can navigate an area to look for desired services (on foot and reading signs, word of mouth, magazines, maps and guide books, internet, etc.). Here my methods for seeking and navigation are limited given the language barrier and me just not being in the know. But I am slowly getting it. The thought of asking someone for a recommendation is not so scary anymore, I am learning better Internet search terms and have a kanji translator tool installed in my browser in case I hit a Japanese site, I don’t hesitate to pick up a Japanese guide book and I am actually starting to play around with the navi services on my mobile. However, a lot of this is in the domain of food/drink establishments and accommodation/transportation. Wifi is another thing…due to its invisibility? It is invisible to me but is it really not invisible? Am I missing something because I don’t know the logos, the signs, and the names of companies offering services? Or is Japan really hotspot limited? There is likely an online hotspot finder and I probably could go to one of the provider’s sites and search for hotspots…but for now, being in transit, I am hotspot lost.

Later: found 2 bars in a Doutor…yeah!