BambooSIM's Japan Unlimited 5G eSIMs include free access to the au Wi-Fiアクセス (au Wi-Fi Access) network operated by Wire and Wireless (Wi2).
This article explains where you can use this Wi-Fi and what types of locations are supported.
📝 Important
- Not every branch of a listed chain is guaranteed to have Wi-Fi.
- Always check for the official au Wi-Fi / Wi2 sticker or signage at the store, station, or vehicle.
- Availability may change from time to time. Due to the significant number of access points (100,000+), it is not always possible to keep this list updated - however, an external search feature is available - refer to section 10 below.
1. How to recognise an eligible Wi-Fi spot
You can usually connect at locations that meet both conditions:
- The venue participates in au Wi-Fiアクセス (au Wi-Fi Access).
- You see Wi-Fi stickers/logos near the entrance, counter, or inside the shop/vehicle.
If you don’t see the sticker or can’t find the SSID, that location may not be covered.
For setup instructions, please refer to this link: https://au.wi2.ne.jp/presim/setting.html
2. Major Wi-Fi spot categories
au Wi-Fi Access is available in a wide variety of locations across Japan, including:
- Cafés and coffee shops
- Fast food chains
- Restaurants & izakaya (pubs)
- Retail & commercial facilities
- Public transport
- Train stations and selected train cars
- Buses (on selected routes)
- Major airports
- Municipality / regional Free Wi-Fi areas
- Some overseas locations (Hawaii – Waikiki area)
Each category and representative brands/examples are detailed below.
3. Cafés & coffee shops
You can connect at many popular café chains, including:
- エクセルシオール カフェ (EXCELSIOR CAFFÉ)
- カフェ コロラド (Café Colorado)
- CAFÉ de CRIÉ
- カフェ・ベローチェ (Caffé Veloce)
- Cafe MIYAMA / ミヤマ珈琲
- Cafeルノアール / 喫茶室ルノアール / Cafe Renoir (Renoir group cafés)
- カフェレクセル (Café Lexcel)
- 神乃珈琲
- サンマルクカフェ (St. Marc Café)
- スターバックス (Starbucks)
- ドトール (Doutor)
- ドトール珈琲農園 (Doutor Coffee Farm)
- ニューヨーカーズ カフェ (New Yorker’s Café)
- 梟書茶房 (Fukurou Shosabo)
- 瑠乃亜珈琲
⚠️ Availability can differ by branch. Always confirm by looking for the Wi-Fi sticker or checking the Wi-Fi area search.
4. Fast food chains
Representative fast food chains where au Wi-Fi Access is available:
- ケンタッキーフライドチキン (KFC)
- サブウェイ (Subway)
- ドムドムハンバーガー (Dom Dom Burger)
- ファーストキッチン (First Kitchen)
- フレッシュネスバーガー (Freshness Burger)
Not all stores in each chain will necessarily support Wi-Fi.
5. Restaurants & izakaya (pubs)
You can also connect in a range of sit-down restaurants and izakaya, for example:
- 麹蔵
- ステーキのどん (Steak no Don)
- 土風炉 (Tofuro)
- 鳥元
- どん亭
- HUB (British-style pub)
- フォルクス (VOLKS steakhouse)
Where Wi-Fi is installed, look for stickers near the entrance or cashier.
6. Retail, commercial facilities & other spots
Some major retail chains and commercial facilities also provide au Wi-Fi Access, including:
- エディオン (EDION) – electronics retail
- ビックカメラ (Bic Camera) – electronics retail
- ドン・キホーテ (Don Quijote) – discount variety stores
- 貸会議室マイ・スペース (My Space rental meeting rooms)
Other partner facilities may also be covered; always confirm with in-store signage.
7. Public transport
7.1 Train stations
Wi-Fi is available in parts of station concourses operated by several railway companies, such as:
- JR北海道 (JR Hokkaido)
- JR東日本 (JR East)
- JR西日本 (JR West)
- JR九州 (JR Kyushu)
- 近畿日本鉄道 (Kintetsu Railway)
- 京王電鉄 (Keio Corporation)
- 京成電鉄 (Keisei Electric Railway)
- 京浜急行電鉄 (Keikyu Corporation)
- 東急電鉄 (Tokyu Corporation)
- 沖縄都市モノレール (Okinawa Urban Monorail “Yui Rail”)
- 山陽電気鉄道 (Sanyo Electric Railway)
📍 Only some stations and parts of station buildings are covered.
For specific stations, please search via the official Wi-Fi area search tool.
7.2 Inside train cars
On top of station coverage, au Wi-Fi Access can also be used inside certain trains.
Typical examples include:
- JR北海道 (JR Hokkaido): Rapid Airport service (selected cars)
- JR東日本 (JR East): Narita Express
- JR西日本 (JR West): Limited Express Haruka, and some “New Rapid A-Seat” cars
- 京王電鉄 (Keio): Keio Liner
- 京成電鉄 (Keisei): Skyliner, Morning Liner, Evening Liner
- 東急電鉄 (Tokyu): Q SEAT cars on selected services
- 近畿日本鉄道 (Kintetsu): Limited express trains such as Shimakaze, Hinotori, Aoniyoshi, Urban Liner, Ise-Shima Liner, 20000 series Raku
- 沖縄都市モノレール (Yui Rail): some cars
🔎 Not all cars in a train are equipped.
If you do not see the Wi-Fi sticker or SSID, that car may not be covered.
7.3 Buses
au Wi-Fi Access is also offered on selected buses throughout Japan.
Coverage includes many operators across:
- Hokkaidō
- Tōhoku
- Kantō (Greater Tokyo region)
- Kōshin’etsu & Hokuriku
- Tōkai
- Kinki / Kansai
- Chūgoku
- Shikoku
- Kyūshū & Okinawa
Examples of participating bus operators include:
- In Hokkaidō: major operators such as 北海道中央バス, ジェイ・アール北海道バス, 函館バス and others
- Around Tokyo/Kantō: highway & airport bus and city operators such as 京王電鉄バス, 京成バス, 東急バス, 東京空港交通 (Airport Limousine), はとバス, and more
- Nagoya & Tōkai region: 名鉄バス, 名古屋市交通局 (tourist and loop buses), etc.
- Kansai: 近鉄バス, 南海バス, 阪急観光バス, 阪神バス, 神姫バス and others
- Kyūshū & Okinawa: 九州産交バス, JR九州バス, 鹿児島交通, 宮崎交通, 沖縄バス, 沖縄リムジンバス and more
🚍 Only some routes and vehicles have Wi-Fi.
Check the bus company’s website or look for Wi-Fi stickers on the vehicle.
7.4 Airports
You can also connect at several major airports:
- 東京国際空港 (Haneda Airport)
- 中部国際空港 (Chubu Centrair International Airport)
- 大阪国際空港 (Osaka Itami Airport)
Coverage may be limited to specific terminals or areas within each airport.
8. Municipality & regional Free Wi-Fi
Japan Unlimited 5G eSIM (via au Wi-Fi Access) can also be used on many local government–provided Wi-Fi services.
8.1 Example municipalities
Examples of cities and prefectures with supported Free Wi-Fi projects include:
- 函館市 (Hakodate)
- 弘前市 (Hirosaki)
- 仙台市 (Sendai)
- 秋田市 (Akita)
- 山形県 (Yamagata Prefecture)
- 会津若松市・会津美里町 (Aizuwakamatsu / Aizumisato)
- 狭山市 (Sayama)
- 浦安市 (Urayasu)
- 小千谷市 (Ojiya)
- 飛騨市 (Hida)
- 愛知県 (Aichi Prefecture) and 名古屋市 (Nagoya)
- 刈谷市 (Kariya)
- 京都市 (Kyoto)
- 神戸市 (Kobe)
- 西宮市 (Nishinomiya)
- 伊丹市 (Itami)
- 豊岡市 (Toyooka)
- 明日香村 (Asuka Village)
- 徳島市 (Tokushima)
- 愛媛県 (Ehime Prefecture)
- 北九州市 (Kitakyushu)
- 沖縄県 (Okinawa Prefecture)
ℹ️ Many of these services use SSIDs branded as “City Free Wi-Fi” or similar.
au Wi-Fi Access integrates authentication so that you can log in using your eSIM entitlement instead of registering locally.
8.2 Trial & special regional networks
au Wi-Fi Access also supports a number of trial or special Free Wi-Fi projects, including examples like:
- 豊田市フリーWi-Fiサービス (Toyota City Free Wi-Fi)
- Anjo Free Wi-Fi (安城市)
- Toyohashi_Wi-Cert (豊橋市)
- OGAKI_FREE_Wi-Fi (大垣市)
- GUJO Free Wi-Fi (郡上市)
- OkazakiCity_Free_Wi-Fi (岡崎市)
- HAKUBA VALLEY Wi-Fi (Nagano – Otari & Hakuba areas)
- Japan_Free_Wi-Fi_YOKOTE (横手市)
- SHINJO-wifi (新庄市)
- Oshiba Free Wi-Fi (南箕輪村, Nagano)
- RIKUnoMINATO_FREE_Wi-Fi (南あわじ市)
- Okinoerabu_Free_WiFi (和泊町, Okinoerabu Island)
Names may appear exactly as SSIDs when you search for Wi-Fi networks.
9. Overseas coverage (Hawaii)
In addition to Japan, au Wi-Fi Access provides coverage in Hawaii (around Waikiki).
- Look for designated partner hotspots in the Waikiki area.
- Availability may change over time; always check current information in your Japan Unlimited 5G eSIM app or the official Wi-Fi area search.
10. Check exact locations
For up-to-date and detailed coverage, including specific stores, stations, and vehicles:
- Open the official Wi-Fi area search page in your browser:
https://au-area.wi2.co.jp/pc/wifi-spot/search/⚠️ This page is in Japanese. You may wish to use your browser’s translation feature.
- Search by:
- Store/chain name
- Address
- Area (prefecture/city)
- Check that the location you plan to visit is listed as an au Wi-Fi Access spot.
🔍 The search page will always be more current than any printed / static list in this article.
11. Tips for using Wi-Fi with Japan Unlimited 5G eSIM
-
Signal quality varies
Underground, in crowded areas, or inside trains, the signal may be weaker or temporarily unavailable. -
Heavy downloads may be restricted
To keep the network stable for everyone, large OS updates or heavy file downloads may be throttled or blocked. -
Switch between mobile and Wi-Fi
If a Wi-Fi spot is overloaded or slow, you can freely switch back to your Japan Unlimited 5G mobile data, which is designed to provide fast 5G/4G coverage across Japan. -
Security
Use only the official SSIDs as documented in your eSIM instructions. Avoid connecting to networks with similar names that are not listed as official.
12. If Wi-Fi does not work
If you are at a listed spot but cannot connect:
- Confirm that:
- The Wi-Fi sticker is visible.
- The correct SSID appears in your Wi-Fi list.
- Toggle Wi-Fi off/on on your device.
- Forget and reconnect to the network if you have connected there before.
- Make sure Airplane Mode is off (unless your device is configured to keep Wi-Fi on).