I’m planning to come over on the WHV for a year, however as someone who has lived in UK for all her life (a country with very competitive mobile provider sector), I really don’t like contract sim cards (i’ve had two and i’ve never liked how locked down they are) and as a result I don’t want another, especially when i can actually afford to buy the phone outright.
Are there any decent value long-term prepaid plans available in Japan, ideally with tethering?
I’ve heard about Linemo but are they prepaid? I’m confused because I heard it requires an application, and if its prepaid does it have good coverage?
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**How do Prepaid Sim Cards work in Japan?**
I’m planning to come over on the WHV for a year, however as someone who has lived in UK for all her life (a country with very competitive mobile provider sector), I really don’t like contract sim cards (i’ve had two and i’ve never liked how locked down they are) and as a result I don’t want another, especially when i can actually afford to buy the phone outright.
Are there any decent value long-term prepaid plans available in Japan, ideally with tethering?
I’ve heard about Linemo but are they prepaid? I’m confused because I heard it requires an application, and if its prepaid does it have good coverage?
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So I’m right in the process of getting SIMs, and…
> I really don’t like contract sim cards (i’ve had two and i’ve never liked how locked down they are) and as a result I don’t want another, especially when i can actually afford to buy the phone outright.
I think you may be missing some options here…there are MVNO contract/postpaid providers in Japan (most of the ones that cater to foreigners) that don’t lock you down to a specific phone, and in fact don’t even have special deals that come with free or discounted phones! You just buy the SIM card outright, instead of getting a locked phone with your contract. For example, [GTN mobile](https://gtn-mobile.com/en/), which I am probably going with, has data, as well as postpaid (I think outgoing) calls and texts, with no cancellation fees. (The fine print is that it will cost you to transfer your phone number over to another carrier—more if it hasn’t been long since your contract started.)
Linemo is not prepaid exactly but is another option using a model similar to GTN mobile, which seems to be the norm. The contract comes with a set amount of data per month, and then postpaid outgoing calls and texts. However, Linemo might be difficult to get unless you get a landline in Japan first (or have a friend with a phone close by), since they want a Japanese phone number to potentially contact you in the process of signing up (and the call will be in Japanese).
Believe me, I understand wanting to do prepaid (I use a prepaid service in the US that is dirt cheap), but I think you’ll have a hard time finding long-term prepaid service in Japan, and there are lots of non-prepaid providers that won’t lock you down in a contract or onto a phone the way a brand-name provider might.
Take a look at Povo. You aren’t locked into a set contract period and only use what you pay for. One downside is you need to be here to set it up as it’ll require your residence card. I moved from EE prepaid and am happy with my new service.