Using uk vodafone- Cell in japan suggestions ?
 

Hi guys and gals,


Just a quick one, as the topic suggests i'm traveling to japan and I am thinking either of buying a sim card whilst im over there or maybe paying vodafone for roaming.

First of all - Is it possible ( I have a HTC sensation baught in the united kingdom which is unlocked) to use a vodafone sim bought in japan.

secondly is it even possible for me to use my mobile whilst im over there? Ie could i just pay for the roaming in japan ? and does anyone know the costs ? As i doubt its gonna be cheap.




Thanks again

As a non-resident, you cannot get just a SIM card like you can in many other countries. You can rent one from various places, but you can't keep it, and it's very expensive.

I suggest you rent a pocket wifi from Rentafone Japan and use VoIP. You can get a Japanese number and call Japanese numbers in Skype. I do that on my iPhone at the moment because...

Even as a resident, the only option for a SIM card by itself with full voice, mms, and data is bmobile which runs on docomo's network. SoftBank will give you a prepaid card for voice only if you come in with a SoftBank phone and show it to them. The card will work in other phones, however. You might consider borrowing a friend's. I haven't figured out Docomo's policy yet, but given bmobile, that's probably not an issue. AU is CDMA, not a GSM provider, and has no SIM cards.

Is your phone 3G? Not sure if it'll work in Japan but even if it does, it'll be expensive. Like 4 to 5x what you normally pay.

I have an unlocked iPhone 4S which I plan on taking to Japan. There are several places which rent SIM cards which you pick up at Narita airport.

Renting a pocket wifi is a pretty good idea. Never thought of that...

I ran the numbers with VoIP, it's about half the cost of renting a SIM card if you're a non-resident or only need a temporary solution for the two weeks or so you need to wait on bmobile activation. Some residents get the prepaid SoftBank SIM for voice and mail and then just use a pocket wifi subscription for internet.

Normal cellphones in Japan have internet capability. For softbank its Yahoo Keitai. Though it is a bit pricey, I don't use the internet on my phone except for checking train schedule or weather sometimes.

When my friend visited here, she thought that she could just use the roaming capability of her phone just like when she went to UK and US but it did not worked. We have to go to Softbank to have it enabled and and was a expensive. So she decided not to use it.

I guess renting would be more affordable and less hassle.

thanks for all the advice, I might just have to use what wifi networks are available and use my phone like a skype phone. Thankfully the hotel i'll be staying in will have free wifi .

Wifi hotspots are not as common in Japan as they are many other places. That is because for the natives, their phones are seriously "connected".... takes the place of a computer and wifi.

Many hotels do have wifi... but a lot don't. Check carefully if you are depending on it.

best,

...............john

It depends on how long you are staying, really. I was on the 02 network and texts from Japan to home cost 50p per text on that, not sure about calls, maybe a couple of minutes on the phone was about a £1. So pretty expensive but not horrorific if you are desperate to call home

Also it worked fine. Don't count on wifi because there isn't much.