[ChisaChi]

I can see how this is very useful for long term stays in Japan, but what about a holiday of say a week or two? Traveling in other countries I found getting my phone working pretty useful, as members of our group ended up splitting up in shopping districts etc., and someone always inevitably gets lost or is late for whatever reason. I'd probably mostly be using my phone for short 'where are you?' type messages/calls to other people I'm traveling with rather than calls home, so shouldn't rack up too much of a bill.

For a short holiday would renting a phone be a better option? Sorry if this is a dumb question =P