how to send luggage? One of the most convenient things in Japan is, that you can send your luggage cheap and super easy to your next location… If you travel with …
What is the best way to get mobile Internet in Japan?
If you want to have mobile data a data sim is probably the easiest solution.
Getting a contract or a sim card with a phone number in Japan is pretty hard. Especially if you only here for a short period of time buying a data sim should do it. And you can use Skype, Teams or similar to make phone calls (if needed).
I highly recommend getting GB data sims in most cases they are the cheapest and easiest option.
- Tipp: If you want to have the sim card from the very start you arrive in Japan – order it prior to arrival and order it to one of the convinience stores in the airport you arrive at.
Hi there, it's me: Toni!
Learn more about me >>
Tags of popular posts
Where to get my sim card from?
The cheapest options for data sim cards can definetly found online. There are a lot of offers at the airports but those are way more expensive than the online options.
- Open amazon.jp
- Search for “data sim 20gb”
- Make sure the sim card allows app calls
- e.g. look for text like “Phone calls can be answered via the app, you can also make voice calls with Line, Skype, etc.”
- Make sure the sim card is not limited by days (this is normally more expensive)
- e.g. “30日10GB” – this means “30 days 10 GB”
- Order the sim card
- Tipp: If you want to have the sim card from the very start you arrive in Japan – order it prior to arrival and order it to one of the convinience stores in the airport you arrive at.
How much is mobile internet?
The prices of the 20GB data sim cards vary but normally it is around 2500-3000 ¥ (~18€/$) which is way cheaper than using rooming especially if you are coming from Europe or the United States.
As mostly everywhere you can use free WiFi the data usage is actually not too high. Even as a heavy Instagram or TikTok user 20GB last me around 6 weeks.
Rental pocket WiFis can be found for around 500 ¥ (4€ / $) a day with unlimited data.
What are pocket WiFis?
A pocket WiFi is like a transportable router. You can buy or rent them in Japan and multiple devices can connect to a pocket WiFi. So with one data sim you get internet for multiple devices, which is the main difference to a data sim.
Most data sims do not allow you do create a hot spot with your phone, so if you want to use the mobile internet as well for your laptop or other devices a pocket WiFi would be the better idea.
You can organize the rental of the pocket WiFi online (e.g. with sakuramobile) or visit an electronic store like BicCamera.
There are a lot of companies that offer pocket WiFi rentals, the two mentioned above are my personal pics due to the cheap prices and good coverage.
What are unlimited data sims?
Some data sims have “unlimited” data but can only be used for a certain time period (e.g. 8 days). Normally those sim cards have a data limit per day (or in total) after that limit is reached the internet will be slowed down. I find the unlimited day sims more expensive as I do not need that much data, but for high data usage they might be a better option.
You can find unlimited sim cards on amazon.jp or several other companies like e.g. sakura mobile
What if I need a Japanese phone number?
For some apps and services a phone number is requiered. The easiest is to have a friend with a phone number that even speaks Japanese and can answer the receiving calls for you 😉 But if you do not have that option the next best will be a sim card plan from e.g. mobal.com or rakuten mobile, all their plans include a real Japanese phone number and calls can be done. It is a bit more pricey as a normal data sim but get you the ability to have a Japanese phone number.
For what do I need a Japanese phone number?
Services and apps that requier a Japanese phone number are:
- Uber Eats
- PayPay
- Wolt
- Mercari
- Yahoo! Japan
Furthermore many local campaigns do have the requirement to register with a phone number.
You got yourself mobile internet 🙂
Thanks for reading! See you soon, Toni! |
The Latest Posts
Where to find cheap Veggies & fruit in Japan? Japan is well known for its extremely expensive fruits – but there are ways to get fruits relatively cheap… We all probably …
What is my japanese name? For many things in Japan you are required to write (& know) your name in Katakana Katakana is one of the Japanese alphabets. At websites you …