| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
dynastar
Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 26
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:35 am Post subject: Cell phone in Japan |
 |
|
I've read about a few options online as to what one can do in terms of using a cellphone in Japan.
I wanted to see what opinions on wether to buy a phone there, or to get one here (US) with a specific plan.
I suppose I'm looking for what others have found convenient. I do plan on using my phone a decent amount while I'm there for a year. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
wayne432
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 255
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
When you say "get one here", do you mean like rent a phone from the airport and pick it up? Or do you mean use a US phone with an international plan?
Phones in Japan run from 0 to 80000 yen for the actual phone.
Plans start at about 1500 yen with the average being about 10000 yen a month.
Contracts are 2 years long with a cancellation penalty. Some places will give you no hassle even if you only have a year contract. Some places will take your credit card info down when you sign up, so if you bail, they charge your card, etc etc.
What do you define as a "decent amount" of phone usage? Making a few calls a month? Sending txts/email? Do you plan on using internet?
If you're only using it a bare minimum, there's also the prepaid phone option. There are really a lot of things to consider, so could you give us a few more details? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
| wayne432 wrote: |
What do you define as a "decent amount" of phone usage? Making a few calls a month? Sending txts/email? Do you plan on using internet?
If you're only using it a bare minimum, there's also the prepaid phone option. There are really a lot of things to consider, so could you give us a few more details? |
Yeah, I use a Softbank prepaid phone for 1500/month with unlimited email because I use my phone almost exclusively for email. Somebody coming from America is probably used to those awful SMS messages that hold about a sentence and a half before running out of characters (although even SMS isn't so bad if you're typing in Japanese), but Japanese phone email is basically unlimited length (30,000 characters or whatever).
Getting something cheap and just using email is definitely something to consider for someone who just uses their phone to keep in touch with friends, arrange meetings, and such. Although on the cheapest phones like this (all of Softbank's prepaids, at least), text entry is FAST in Japanese but painfully slow in English. I even type in Japanese to others with English as a first language because it is just slow as all hell. My old super-cheap Softbank phone that WASN'T prepaid had that T9 entry thing. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I'm on Softbank with a contract phone. I found that with only a 1 year visa there was nothing available to me other than a free phone with a basic contract. I probably spend about 4,000 Yen a month, but this rises a hell of a lot if I make any phonecalls home. I found the English texting is quick and easy, it's actually set as the default input language on my phone now. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| OneJoelFifty wrote: |
| I'm on Softbank with a contract phone. I found that with only a 1 year visa there was nothing available to me other than a free phone with a basic contract. I probably spend about 4,000 Yen a month, but this rises a hell of a lot if I make any phonecalls home. I found the English texting is quick and easy, it's actually set as the default input language on my phone now. |
I got a softbank phone, but because I paid upfront for my phone I don't have any cancellation penalties. Also meant they allowed me choose from a large selection of phones. My monthly bills don't normally top 3000 yen as many of the calls I make and mail I send are to other softbank phones. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sideways_gun
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 49
Location: Tokyo
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| seklarwia wrote: |
| OneJoelFifty wrote: |
| I'm on Softbank with a contract phone. I found that with only a 1 year visa there was nothing available to me other than a free phone with a basic contract. I probably spend about 4,000 Yen a month, but this rises a hell of a lot if I make any phonecalls home. I found the English texting is quick and easy, it's actually set as the default input language on my phone now. |
I got a softbank phone, but because I paid upfront for my phone I don't have any cancellation penalties. Also meant they allowed me choose from a large selection of phones. My monthly bills don't normally top 3000 yen as many of the calls I make and mail I send are to other softbank phones. |
How much did you pay up-front for your phone? I was thinking of going with AU just because, if I'm gonna end up with a �9xxx cancellation fee anyway (2 year contract) I may as well have a pretty [free!] phone. But you say paying for the phone up-front doesn't put you on contract?
I've also got intel for Tokyo-based/bound people that Softbank/AU in Roppongi will give quite new (i.e. previous season) phones free with the 2 year contract.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sideways_gun wrote: |
| How much did you pay up-front for your phone? I was thinking of going with AU just because, if I'm gonna end up with a �9xxx cancellation fee anyway (2 year contract) I may as well have a pretty [free!] phone. But you say paying for the phone up-front doesn't put you on contract? |
I bought the phone. So I have a White plus phone plan but because there is no need to recoop the cost of the phone by having me locked into a 2 year contract, I am free to change or cancel my plan at anytime.
I don't remember how much I paid for my phone but I didn't go for the cheapest on offer since I wanted one that had amusing things such as 1-seg TV and useful GPS... perhaps 20,000. Obviously if you buy the phone it will cost more or less depending on the phone you choose. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sideways_gun
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 49
Location: Tokyo
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| seklarwia wrote: |
I bought the phone. So I have a White plus phone plan but because there is no need to recoop the cost of the phone by having me locked into a 2 year contract, I am free to change or cancel my plan at anytime.
I don't remember how much I paid for my phone but I didn't go for the cheapest on offer since I wanted one that had amusing things such as 1-seg TV and useful GPS... perhaps 20,000. Obviously if you buy the phone it will cost more or less depending on the phone you choose. |
Oh alright, I see!! Thank you for answering that. Methinks I cannot part with that much precious Yen up front, and am too lazy to hunt a second-hand phone so will just go for contract. Regarding the White Plan, what made you go with that one over AU's plans (yeah I am trying to start a war lol)? The fine print on the Softbank website is killing me :/ But I know nothing concrete about how well these plans serve people in reality. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sideways_gun wrote: |
| Oh alright, I see!! Thank you for answering that. Methinks I cannot part with that much precious Yen up front, and am too lazy to hunt a second-hand phone so will just go for contract. Regarding the White Plan, what made you go with that one over AU's plans (yeah I am trying to start a war lol)? The fine print on the Softbank website is killing me :/ But I know nothing concrete about how well these plans serve people in reality. |
Because I didn't like AU phones and I was warned that the AU service is a bit patchy where I live. I don't ever wonder what if with AU though since I get the almost daily comedy show that is some of the teachers at school trying to get a signal or trying to call a teacher to find out where in the school they are but not being able to because they have an AU phone in a part of the school or the 2nd gym building where they don't work.
Plus a large number of people around here have Softbank phones so you can truely benefit from the the free softbank to softbank calls, etc.
AU is meant to be the cheapest of the big 3 companies, but unless you are in an urban area you might want to check their coverage first. I'm in a very small, suburban type city that once you leave the centre where I live is actually made up of lots of small towns and villages with loads of rice fields in between (they did this and even moved the centre of my city so that they could bring up the population enough win the shinkansen bid against the old main city in the area which was considered too mountainous in comparison) so the weak AU coverage is often a nuisance for the majority of people who live out of the central area. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sideways_gun
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 49
Location: Tokyo
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| seklarwia wrote: |
Because I didn't like AU phones and I was warned that the AU service is a bit patchy where I live. I don't ever wonder what if with AU though since I get the almost daily comedy show that is some of the teachers at school trying to get a signal or trying to call a teacher to find out where in the school they are but not being able to because they have an AU phone in a part of the school or the 2nd gym building where they don't work.
Plus a large number of people around here have Softbank phones so you can truely benefit from the the free softbank to softbank calls, etc.
AU is meant to be the cheapest of the big 3 companies, but unless you are in an urban area you might want to check their coverage first. I'm in a very small, suburban type city that once you leave the centre where I live is actually made up of lots of small towns and villages with loads of rice fields in between (they did this and even moved the centre of my city so that they could bring up the population enough win the shinkansen bid against the old main city in the area which was considered too mountainous in comparison) so the weak AU coverage is often a nuisance for the majority of people who live out of the central area. |
Wow that is deep. I had read about all the combining of towns and villages and all that renaming, but to win a shinkansen bid? Amazing!!
Thank you for that gem of information about the image of AU and the prevalence of Softbank. I actually thought it was the other way round! How wrong, I was!! I'll definitely pay close attention when I go to the phone shops.
Thank you for answering my random questions  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It is one of the major stops along the Nagano Shinkansen route completed just before the Nagano Winter Olympics so it was a huge deal to win the bid. And since then it has allowed my city's population to grow further since it is only an hour or so commute into Tokyo and the lower property prices means that many suits and families have moved into the area.
| sideways_gun wrote: |
| Thank you for that gem of information about the image of AU and the prevalence of Softbank. I actually thought it was the other way round! How wrong, I was!! I'll definitely pay close attention when I go to the phone shops. |
I am speaking very specifically about my area and the problems you MAY face outside of urban areas with AU. That doesn't mean you will have those problems where ever you are placed and you will likely have no problems in a more urban setting.
You should really ask people in your area about things such as internet and mobile phone services.
The big 3 are NTT Docomo, AU and Softbank. I doubt that any one of them truely dominates over the others. It just happens that around here AU don't have the coverage and hence are cast into shadow by Docomo and Softbank. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sideways_gun
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 49
Location: Tokyo
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| seklarwia wrote: |
I am speaking very specifically about my area and the problems you MAY face outside of urban areas with AU. That doesn't mean you will have those problems where ever you are placed and you will likely have no problems in a more urban setting.
You should really ask people in your area about things such as internet and mobile phone services. |
I see I see. I'll be in Saitama, on the border of that North-western Ikebukuro area so will ask some friends who used to live around that area. It seems there were no coverage issues to influence network choice there, per se. But in terms of which company is used more by people in their mid-20s, and such, it may be easy to decide. Especially as there is no point having free x-to-x calls if many are using carrier z. Then again, this is something that probably cannot be estimated so I shall lump the result. I barely know anyone in Tokyo anyway XD Now my post is a jumbled mess =_='' |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
