Hello all. I’ve moved to Japan few days ago and will be here for the next 1.6 years.
As you can see from the title, I’m in urgent need of sim card. Even tho I’ve read and asked about sim cards, I’m still confused about some things. So, ideally, I need a sim card with both call and data functions but I’m not sure they would fit with my current phone (samsung a13) as I’ve seen that xiaomi phones have problems with japanese sims. Also, there are moments to pay attention to as contract suspension (what’s the difference between contract suspension and cancelation?) or switching providers and I’m worried about the contract part.
And then, there’s the next option to buy sim with a phone, but i don’t have enough money for the one i want yet. The other day I was in electronics store and they had campaign (?) where you buy a sim card and they give u phone just for 1 yen, but there were only 2 options for phones and i knew nothing abt any of them (some no-name local brands)
Also, I’m in Tsukuba and don’t plan to go to Tokyo in coming days, so something I could buy here or, even better, order online, would be great.
2 comments
If you are a resident w/residence card, apartment/whatever with utilities bill, and a visa valid for a year (or more) you should have no problem signing up to any carrier or mvno.
I would recommend walking into docomo shop and getting ahamo, since this can be done in-person and they will tell you all the paperwork etc that’s needed and you can get signed up on the spot. 3000 yen for 20gb of data, slows down to 1mbps (?i think?) over the 20gb limit. There are cheaper/less data options but they’re mostly online. docomo shops are everywhere, surely there’s one within walking distance from your place.
Failing that, get a monthly tourist sim from places like m*b*l (replace 1st * with o and 2nd one with a) but do NOT use their service for more than a month or two until you can have required documetnation to sign up for a resident sim card.
A13 should work fine with docomo network (and prolly others)
Second what the other commenter said, but also note that if you can get away with just data for a while, there are cheap esim options lime airalo.
Also, is it generally recommended now to not take your phone when signing up? It seems like the whole employee checking your phone for compatibility thing is just a recipe for disaster.