Cell Phones
 

So, I know my IPhone wont work in Japan, but I've heard that in order to get a real cell in Japan, you must have an alien registration card or some such stuff. Anyone know the details? Since I'll be there for a year, I don't want to use a tourist throw-away phone. Thanks!

You know you might need to wait for a while to get answers to your questions because it's now past 1 am in Japan....

it's true.. it is very suck when it comes to registering cell phone in japan.. but it is differ to the place where you would like to register it.. some places would like to see the registration card and some might just need a passport.. it all depends whether you are lucky or not..

If you stay longer than 3 month in Japan, you will need to get a alien registration card anyway. Othwerwise i will take a prepaid phone from Prepaid Service | SoftBank. Their rates seem ok (though calling is expensive) but if you can do with SMS or Mails, the rates are actually ok

Same for me...Japan in July and I dont if i had to keep my actual cell (and keep my provider) or take a new one in Japan.....

the golden rule is that u need a alien registration card to be able to buy a non pre-paid phone, which is the one u should get if u r in japan for a longer period of time. i've heard stories that this can be avoided if u tie ur credit card to the bill, but i am not sure how common that is or if even possible.

getting an alien registration card does unfortunately take some time, up to a month. what some do is to get a friend to subscribe. so if u got a good friend here it might be a good idea to ask him/her.

It depends on the service. Softbank will provide you with a phone if you have your visa and set up auto-pay from a major credit card. A gaijin-card takes about 10 days to process once the application is received.

The Iphone will not work in Japan, not that it matters, Japanese cell phones are years ahead of anything available in the US. The only unique feature of the Iphone is it's interface, which is the same as the LG Prada, which you can get from Docomo for a measly 80000 yen ($800).

I got a new cell phone last month. It has a 5.2 mega pixel camera, 1 seg (television), world wing (5 band, works anywhere in the world), GPS (very handy here), videophone capability (it has two cameras, the main one for regular pics, and small front mounted one so you can see each other as you talk), various video and music download capabilities, and the ketai saifu (cell phone wallet) which allows you to put credit or debit card info on your cell phone; to pay for an item at a store, you merely hold your cellphone near a sensor on a cash register. The manual for this phone is as thick as a bible, by the time I learn to use all the features it'll be time to get a new phone.

It does all this, but I had to pay 55000 yen up front ($550), and service runs about 10000 yen ($100) per month. But the tv feature is a convenient to pass time on those weekly 2 hour train trips to Tokyo.

I recommend getting a Cingular tilt from America, unlocking it, and then getting a sim card from Softbank after you arrive. Softbank's Japanese version of the tilt is much more expensive, and is not unlockable. I liked the tilt because it has wi-fi, and Windows, so you can use Messenger, Skype, or VOIP for international calls.

Many companies don't want to make a contract with you (usually a year) because they are afraid that as a foreigner you will leave soon, possibly without finishing or honoring a contract. that's why people say you need visa documentation. They want to know you'll be around.

In Taiwan.. even with my full on Spouse ARC... the cell provider asked me for a deposit in case I ran away. About Y7000 worth~

How can you check if your phone will work? I have an HTC TyTN II ... a very powerful PDA phone~

I posted this in another post before:

Japanese Cellular Phones FAQ

Information is probably outdated here, but should still have some relevency. Check to see if your phone support any of the listed transmission standard.

I can almost guarantee that GSM (With EDGE or GPRS), and TDMA phones will NOT work. CDMA MAY work, but I am not sure if there is any temp carrier setup in Japan to work with your service provider

I know for a fact that GSM will NOT work, I tried it, unless they changed it since October 2007, otherwise it will not work