Hi, I’ll be moving to Tokyo from overseas somewhere around late October for a full-time job.
My plan is to use roaming data using my origin country’s SIM card for the first few days and immediately switch to LINEMO once I get my residence card registered at the ward office.
Some questions that I have regarding LINEMO:
1. Can you use foreign credit card (VISA / Mastercard) for the registration’s payment method?
2. Do I need to do any OTP verification using an existing JP number during registration? I saw another user mentioning about it in another thread [https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/w4arvq/comment/ih1svwi/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/w4arvq/comment/ih1svwi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). Does it mean that I need to have a temporary SIM card such as Mobal / Sakura Mobile?
3. How long does it usually take for the physical SIM card to be delivered to the registered address?
4. Do you have any other carrier recommendations? Preferably ones that are foreigner friendly and can get the SIM card issued within 1 \~ 2 days. I’d like to get a working SIM card as soon as possible for bank account registration since I heard it takes at a minimum of 10 working days.
5. Am I screwed if my phone model is not listed in [https://www.linemo.jp/device/support\_list/](https://www.linemo.jp/device/support_list/)? I’m using OPPO Realme XT (RMX1921) model.
Thanks!
2 comments
I can’t speak on LINEMO but from my personal experience get a sim and have a japanese number ready when you arrive. I wasn’t able to get a sim until I had an address which made things very difficult. Don’t have japanese number? No bank, don’t have a japanese bank? No phone plan, don’t have a phone plan no apartment.
My suggestion is get Sakuramobile sim before you arrive then you’ll also know if you phone works with it or at very least pick it up at the airport. They won’t ship domestically without a address. I think you’ll have to do a 3 month plan min? It’s only like $30 a month. From there I would then switch to the carrier of your choice.
[POVO](https://povo.jp/procedure/new/) was super easy if eSIM is an option for you. Immediate number and activation, pay as you go. So if you only need a number for applications, it has free incoming calls and you can make an account and get a number for ¥0. You can still use data through your roaming plan or any other physical SIM and have the POVO issued number active on your phone, or switch between the two fairly easily if you want to buy data packs through them. You just need to register your address and then apply through the app. Registering your address is something you’ll need to do for any domestic plan, so POVO is probably the quickest one you can get.