Phone plan for Japan

[GladstoneTim]

Hi,
I have a teenage daughter planning a three month school exchange to Japan. I am interested in people’s experiences/recommendations for a phone plan for three months, At that length, global roaming on her current Australian plan is not feasible. She is mainly interested in local calls and text, some data and ability to receive international calls.

 

[moa999]

Japan is a little different for tourists.

Data SIMs are quite easy through the MVNOS, calls and texts more difficult.
I think the major carriers are almost impossible without a Japanese bank account.

When travelling I've used BMobile (who use NTTDocomo) network but only data.

Appears that Mobal (who use SoftBank network) offer some data + calls packages.

Japan SIM Cards | Worldwide shipping, No Contracts!

A selection of Japanese phone services – great for long stays and shorter trips too. Friendly, English speaking customer service.

www.mobal.com

 

[goldenhorn]

These days, you really can get away with just data.

I've just come back from 30 days in Italy and the whole time I used data.

Whatsapp is amazing for calling and texting locally and internationally. You don't need a plan to be able to call and receive international calls when you've got Whatsapp.

I'm heading to Japan for 2 weeks in January and plan to get a data SIM only.

 

[GladstoneTim]

These days, you really can get away with just data.

I've just come back from 30 days in Italy and the whole time I used data.

Whatsapp is amazing for calling and texting locally and internationally. You don't need a plan to be able to call and receive international calls when you've got Whatsapp.

I'm heading to Japan for 2 weeks in January and plan to get a data SIM only.

Thanks Moa999 and Goldenhorn. Gives me some more areas to investigate.