Hi guys,
I’m a university student moving to Japan in about 2 weeks, so I’m looking into some information on the sim cards and data plans from many carriers.
However, since the way it works in Japan (everything is just bundled together, from getting a new phone to data plan to home wifi to electricity bills all in one place) is quite different from my home country, I’m really confused and don’t really know what is a good or a bad deal.
So my situation is I want to get a sim with data and a phone number, around 5-10GB a month, with no bundled wifi (my accommodation and school provided that already), and also looking to get a new iphone (12 or 13). Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks a lot!
(i’m currently looking at au with it’s U30 discount and some UQ plans)
3 comments
Nothing is actually bundled — there are just discounts for getting everything from the same company.
Are you looking to pay for the iPhone in instalments? You might not be able to do instalments longer than your visa length.
If not, just buy iPhone at Apple Store and apply for some MVNO. I’d recommend IIJmio myself.
Do you have credit cards? You might need credit cards for cheaper plans (foreign one might be okay depend on which provider you are using), so bring that too.
Mobal is the easiest and most foreign friendly way to get a japanese sim ASAP.
5gb is about 3,000 yen a month.
I’m curious why you feel you need an iphone if you said you’ll have trouble paying it off? Just buy an unlocked Motorola for $100 new. You (everyone) don’t need an iphone.
In general, MVNOs are pretty affordable – UQ is good, as you may have noticed, and so is Y-Mobile. Both of these have top tier coverage and service.
There are a lot of other MVNOs, and they are largely pretty okay. Caveat being that they can vary a bit in coverage/speed at certain times of day, and you should probably look it up per plan per area or ask the store attendant. I remember Rakuten, for example, didn’t really cover ruralish areas that well a while back (I’ve heard it’s improved since).
I do not recommend au, Softbank, or NTT – looking at au, for example, the initial 6 months looks nice but the costs jump WAY up after that. If you only need 5-10 GB, definitely better to go for MVNO. The initial “discount” for the main carriers is a trap.
I’ve noticed ~2man discounts as of yesterday to sign up for some MVNO plans with sim free phones, so there are some good deals there. Check out your local large electronics stores with a bunch of carriers, maybe go around a few because the discounts/deals they offer can vary a little between locations.
If you’re budget conscious you could probably look at the iPhone SE 2022 too, but I assume by the way you singled out the 12/13 you’re not looking to lighten expenses there. w