Hello,
I was hoping for some advice around sims. I am looking at Sakura mobile for when I get to Japan so i can secure a Japanese number and then switching to Linemo. For Sakura it says I must use the service for 3 months otherwise I may be faced with charges… i don’t know if i misinterpreted that wrong.
For Sakura I see the Jet deal is active for 21 days, is it better to buy online and pick up at keio or wait until i’m at Keio?
Any advice would be appreciated 🙂
7 comments
Picking it up at the airport when you arrive in Japan is the easiest option. It takes like 2-3 mins to install/set up the sim on your phone. I have been with Sakura since I arrived in Japan in April of last year. Have had no problems at all with their service which is always prompt when you have questions, and has been not problems at all with spotty reception when travelling around. When you sign up for a data deal, when you hit that data cap you will still continue to have unlimited service at a ‘reduced speed’ however I have hit this cap before and the speed was still plenty fast enough to use GoogleMaps, play phone games, and even watch YouTube videos etc. The first bill you receive will need to be paid via credit or debit card, however after that you can opt from then on to be able to pay at a convenience store using a ‘Loopi terminal’ – note 711 do not have these, but Lawson does which there are plenty of.
I returned my Sakura pocket wifi in a week since it was absolutely garbage. When I contacted them, they tried to offer me a more expensive plan with worse data limits. I said no and they didn’t charge anything.
Honestly, you’re better off just getting a Japanese plan once you arrive. Sakura and Mobal are not good value for money.
It is really overstated that you need a number the moment you arrive – supervisors _will_ help you. Then you can change it once you have one.
It’s better to go with a service that has good reception in your area – fwiw, Sakura has a huge deadzone only 10km outside Tokyo.
Endure until you get your residence card and get Bic Sim, they do point campaigns too. I pay around ï¿¥3000 for 20gb data. Only thing is you need to use a debit or credit card from your home country. Avoid Rakuten Mobile and Ahamo in my opinion. Horrible signal and more expensive than Bic Sim.
I bought it online and had it delivered to Keio
It was a great choice to get me started
Go with mobal. No cancelation fee and you can get the sim card for Â¥99 with a JET discount and a free month. It’s great for a temporary fix and it’s cheaper and better than Sakura.
I’m pretty sure you can pick it up at the orientation hotel. Do not try and do anything at the airport.
In my experience, a phone number was necessary to set up our bank accounts. We set up our bank accounts before visiting a phone store so a JET didn’t have his own number and used his supervisor’s for the bank which became a problem with online banking verification.
Most of my cohort got mobal which doesn’t have the 3 month clause like Sakura. Service wasn’t the best and expensive, but we switched to Linemo 1-2 months later while still keeping our phone number with no problem.
I did *not* need a Japanese phone number at all during orientation. The day I arrived at my placement, I was taken to city hall and my address printed on my residence card, which allowed me to apply for a phone number. I had some Japanese ability under my belt so I ended up doing it myself online, and got my phone number assigned to me the next business day, which is when I was taken to the bank. I was able to sign up for everything I needed with this number, then a couple days after that my SIM arrived. From what I know, if you get an eSIM from one of the providers that does that, you’ll get it in a QR code roughly an hour after your number is assigned to you, so you’ll be ready to go within 2 days of arriving at your placement.