Hi all. I am taking some students on a trip to Japan in April. They are asking me if it is possible to buy local pre-paid SIM cards. I did a search and found this a thread with some great information. It was from June 2015 so was wondering if anyone had travelled to Japan recently. I believe that it isn't possible to buy a local voice and data SIM and was considering hiring a mobile hotspot. I will have a roaming NZ phone for emergencies but the students want to keep in touch with family etc.
I had a trip to Tokyo over new years and ordered a visitor sim from bmobile http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/ It got delivered to my hotel room and was ready to go by the time I got there and I just used my phone to hotspot to any of my other devices. I'm sure any students could substitute viber, skype or Facebook calling for their voice needs. It comes with unlimited data and only throttled for one day after I had used 2gb the day before, it was back to normal the day after. Speed isn't the fastest (around 3-4mbps) but good enough to watch youtube videos on the subway.
I had a trip to Tokyo over new years and ordered a visitor sim from bmobile http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/ It got delivered to my hotel room and was ready to go by the time I got there and I just used my phone to hotspot to any of my other devices. I'm sure any students could substitute viber, skype or Facebook calling for their voice needs. It comes with unlimited data and only throttled for one day after I had used 2gb the day before, it was back to normal the day after. Speed isn't the fastest (around 3-4mbps) but good enough to watch youtube videos on the subway.
Cool. I will definitely look into this. Sounds perfect.
I read somewhere they were trying to make it easier for tourists to get local sims in Japan, but can't remember where.
In any case, for ease of use I reckon the mobile hotspot is the way to go. My wife and I used one on our trip and it was great, even worked at the top of Mt Fuji!
Also, every hotel we stayed at had free wifi with decent speeds so there is that to consider as well
I read somewhere they were trying to make it easier for tourists to get local sims in Japan, but can't remember where.
In any case, for ease of use I reckon the mobile hotspot is the way to go. My wife and I used one on our trip and it was great, even worked at the top of Mt Fuji!
Also, every hotel we stayed at had free wifi with decent speeds so there is that to consider as well
Thanks. I agree that a mobile hotspot looks like the best solution. We are staying at local Ryokan and home-stays mainly. So if the students want their own access they can get a data-only SIM. Home-stays all have their own wireless.
There are a bunch of pre-activated Japanese SIM cards on eBay.
I just got a NTT Docomo 4G SIM with 3.5GB 4G data which is valid for 7 days, for $15 USD. Max 500mb at 4G speeds per day, but unlimited at 3G after that.
There are other duration options, but the longest I've seen for a single sim was 14/15 days.
There are a bunch of pre-activated Japanese SIM cards on eBay.
I just got a NTT Docomo 4G SIM with 3.5GB 4G data which is valid for 7 days, for $15 USD. Max 500mb at 4G speeds per day, but unlimited at 3G after that.
There are other duration options, but the longest I've seen for a single sim was 14/15 days.
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