Tweet from a top Mt. Fuji FREE
You Can Now Tweet From Atop Mt. Fuji Using Its New Free WiFi
Getting on the Internet from your phone can still be next to impossible on New York subways, but now,even Mt. Fuji offers free wifi, up to 12,000 feet above sea level.
Starting Friday, Japan's iconic peak will give climbers wifi access at eight hotspots on the mountain, including three cottages on the summit, Asahi Shimbun reports. The new initiative is in response to the ever-growing number of tourists who aren't just visiting Japan, but Mt. Fuji in particular. It's a joint effort between Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo and the local governments of Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, whose boundaries Mt. Fuji straddles.
For being such an advanced country and having the third most internet users in the world, wifi service in Japan is surprisingly crappy. All those foreign out-of-town-ers want their sweet, sweet wifi, but free wireless is hard to find. Sometimes, "pre-registering" is even necessary: That is, creating an account for a venue's free wifi beforehand, at some place where you do have Internet access.
Imagine the sense of elation upon reaching the Mount Fuji summit. Imagine scouring the horizon, knowing you are at the highest point on this fine cluster of islands. Then imagine your phone connecting to the Wi-Fi and receiving an email from your colleague Clive asking if you managed to finish that Woodcock file before you left and, oh, can you gchat Jason? He’s forgotten how to work the fax machine and, hey, what’s the password for that protected Excel spreadsheet again?
