Mobile phone in Japan

[Snowman]

Folks - I'm off to Japan in a few weeks.

Does anyone know the best (i.e. cheapest!) way to get a mobile phone working in Japan for a week or two to keep in touch with Aus?

I am currently using an iPhone 4 - will that work with a Japanese sim or do I need another handset. I've looked at the phone rental's from Narita, but the call/text costs seems extortionate. I have had a look on ebay but, again, the cost of handsets seems very expensive.

Thanks folks :-)

[Austman]

An unlocked iPhone will work in Japan. Unlocking is free in Australia.

Over on http://forums.whirlpool.net.au this is suggested to rent a sim: https://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/simrent.html (unlimited data! ... so use skype?)

[Simo]

Use a pre paid SIM or rent a SIM but don't use your Aust SIM in Japan especially for data.

I heard of person who has just returned from an overseas holiday and has a $38k data bill for using the phone overseas.

The person is saying the usual,"I didn't use the phone at all when i was overseas"

When i go overseas I just text and the occasional ph call and use my aussie sim card but I have plan that allows for roaming up to $100 per month.

[drewbles]

If I remember correctly, you cannot purchase pre paid local SIM cards in JP. You'll either need to rent via a company like Tabimoba at the airport, or use one of the various global roaming SIM companies. If you take your iPhone, you'll need a micro SIM or a SIM cutter to cut a mini SIM to a micro.

[Archphoto]

Drewbles, is correct (unless things have changed in the past 2 years). You'll need to hire a phone to use, as you can't buy SIMS.

The outrageous $38K is not unbelievable - I was away for 6 weeks and didn't do much talking (and no data usage) and I racked up almost $4k. From memory, a 10min call cost me almost $30!! SMS can cost $5/pop too - the outgoing charge from the telco in JPN and the charge from your own telco - might be cheaper than calling, but still crazy.

I ended up buying a phone card from the 7Eleven store and used that; added bonus was you could use all over the world, not just Japan, and I finished it up when I returned to AU. I was lucky that my hotel didn't block the calls - some actually do, and no I didn't incur any charges on the hotel phone at all.

For data - I'd hit the local Internet cafe or fire up your laptop at Starbucks. If you try using your roaming phone for calls, data or heaven forbid, both, you might end up with a bill that could've bought you the latest 911!!

[Austman]

https://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/simrent.html

[Archphoto]

Wow! .70c/min - talk for almost 20 minutes and there goes $20!

The 7 day 8000Yen looks like a better deal, but what exactly is the 1000Yen calling fee? How much you have in the card first up, or a charge to use?

[Austman]

Wow! .70c/min - talk for almost 20 minutes and there goes $20!

The 7 day 8000Yen looks like a better deal, but what exactly is the 1000Yen calling fee? How much you have in the card first up, or a charge to use?

Roaming costs in Japan from Telstra - mobile phones, prepaid phones, broadband internet, home phones, business phones

Voice or video calls within this country	$1.49 per min
Voice or video calls to Australia	$3.90 per min

I'd prefer the AUD 0.53 for local calls (AUD 0.33 to landlines) and AUD 0.70 per minute (AUD 0.37 to landlines) for calls to Australia. And the data is unlimted (hello Skype and Viber). The JPY 1000 is a credit againt call costs.

[Archphoto]

Cool, will keep them in mind next time I get to Japan.