Which network in Japan offers the best coverage for Itsukushima Shrine area?

Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima pref.  photo by purugoro

Which network offers the best coverage for Itsukushima Shrine area?

Itsukushima Shrine（いつくしまじんじゃ or 厳島神社）, located in Hiroshima（ ひろしま or 広島）prefecture, was designated as a World Heritage site in 1996 and is one of the most popular tourist spots in Japan.  Especially visitors from abroad are especially fond of this area.

In this post I will be comparing the five main mobile networks in Japan (Docomo, au, Softbank, Y!mobile, WiMax) to see which would be best for those wanting to visit the Itsukushima Jinja(shrine) with a wifi router.

Docomo

Docomo's LTE service, often referred to as "Xi (pronounced as crossy) service," is a data service that Japanese residents can subscribe to monthly.

Itsukushima Shrine is covered by LTE (Premium 4G), shown in red.  In the Premium 4G area, the technology called "LTE-Advanced" maximizes the data speed available in the area, but you have to have a device which can do this, such as Wi-Fi STATION N-01J(shown below), HW-01H, N-01H, HW-02G, L-01G.

For the details, click here.

Fastest mobile wifi router speed Docomo has achieved.

In the area shown in purple, LTE (800MHz) is available in addition to regular LTE(Xi) with an applicable device.

Unfortunately these advanced wifi routers are not available for rent yet, and the most advanced model using Docomo's network you can rent is the E5383, offering data speeds of up to 300Mbps download/100Mbps upload).　

au

Softbank

Y!mobile

WiMax 2+

WiMax has achieved the speed of 440Mbps recently with their latest router W04.

Normally, optical cable（ひかり 光ケーブル）services require at least a two-year contract, and penalize customers who break contract before the end of this period.

What’s more, WiMax network speeds as of late are more than enough for streaming services, and are quite popular among those moving to a new location as a flexible alternative to optic cable services.

Conclusion 

All five networks offers good coverage for the Itsukushima Jinja area equally well.