So you’ve paid a fortune for your luxury hotel room (not to mention the cab ride from Narita) and now you’d just like to check your email quickly before hitting the sack to begin your battle with jet lag. Depending on where you’re staying you may be out of luck. Despite Tokyo’s reputation as one of the world’s most high-tech cities, the availability of broadband internet access is still surprisingly spotty in many of the city’s hotels.

Internet access in a Japanese hotel might mean anything from a good old analogue phone line to high-speed wireless (and just about everything in between). Some hotels tout broadband internet access, when they really mean they’ve got a couple of computers you can use in the lobby or business center (for a fee no less). Other hotels offer wireless, but only in the lobby.

And while the most expensive hotels do offer ethernet to the room, it’s hard to fathom how they can justify tacking on an extra $10/day when you’re already paying $300-$500 per night.

While western travelers may consider the lack of available/affordable broadband to be unacceptable, the Japanese don’t seem to mind too much. Most Japanese who care about being wired (or unwired as the case may be) have high speed access via their cellphones or have mobile cards for their laptops.

If you’re really set on wireless your best bet might be to check into a hotel that you know offers wired broadband, then use that connection to hook up your own access point (airport or other device). In US hotels we’ve noticed a prevalence of travelers who do this and in some cases it’s possible to mooch off of the neighbor’s wireless connection.

You might also find access via unencrypted access points. If your hotel is near an apartment or large residential area chances are you can pick up a open connection by standing near the window.

At least one American company is seeing the current state of things as a business opportunity. Boingo has announced that they’ll be partnering with Japan Telcom increase the availability of wifi in Japan.

A recent report on Engadget turned up some interesting findings and first hand accounts from travelers.

Here’s a summary of what we’ve found. Please feel free to post updates or your personal experience with other hotels. We’ll update this list as we receive more information.

Japanese Hotels with Wired Broadband

New Otani ($10/day)
Park Hotel Tokyo
ANA Tokyo
Westin Tokyo
Century Hyatt
Tokyo Hilton (room may require an upgrade - ask first)

Japanese Hotels with WiFi

Century Hyatt - lobby only
Westin Tokyo - lobby only
New Otani - lobby only

Japanese Hotels with Limited Internet

Ueda Tokyo Inn - dial-up only