Many people travel to Japan to escape into a different culture and learn about its fabled history. But being out of touch with home can present stresses. Take your laptop when you visit Japan, and you'll have peace of mind knowing that your responsibilities are just a click away. Using your laptop in Japan is easy when you follow the right procedures. Here's how.

Purchase a short-term insurance policy for your laptop before you travel to Japan. If your laptop is stolen, this plan will recover your costs. See Resources below for more information.

Prepare for differences in electricity. Check the transformer block on your laptop to see what voltage capacity it handles. If it cannot handle 100V, then you'll need to obtain a transformer.

Pack an Internet connection kit that contains a spare phone cord, an extra Ethernet network cable, a phone adapter and a surge protector. You may not need all of these items, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Choose a hotel that provides a dataport for laptop modems and free high-speed Internet access. You'll be able to connect to the Internet right from your hotel room. This will save you time and money.

Locate Wi-Fi hotspots to use your wireless Internet on the go. See Resources below for a global directory of Wi-Fi hotspots. Find locations in Japan close to where you'll be staying.

Use an encryption program to back up sensitive data in case your laptop falls into the wrong hands. Truecrypt, a free program, is easy to use because the encryption is real-time and automatic. The correct password will decrypt the data for you.