Hello all! First off, I want to thank everyone for all the fabulous info I've gleaned so far from this tribe. Most helpful!
I'll be headed to Japan for the month of February. I've heard that with ubiquitous mobile phones, it can be difficult to find both internet access and public phones. I would like, if at all possible, to get a Japanese cellphone number or use a US phone while in the country. The folks at AT&T tell me that my phone (an old-skool simple Nokia) won't work on Japan's high tech 3G network. In fact, they say very few US phones will.
Can anyone speak to this? Can you bring a US phone and swap to a Japanese simcard for a month? Or buy a phone in Japan for any sort of reasonable price? How about taking an unlocked iPhone, which my traveling companion has?
Thanks in advance!
I'll be headed to Japan for the month of February. I've heard that with ubiquitous mobile phones, it can be difficult to find both internet access and public phones. I would like, if at all possible, to get a Japanese cellphone number or use a US phone while in the country. The folks at AT&T tell me that my phone (an old-skool simple Nokia) won't work on Japan's high tech 3G network. In fact, they say very few US phones will.
Can anyone speak to this? Can you bring a US phone and swap to a Japanese simcard for a month? Or buy a phone in Japan for any sort of reasonable price? How about taking an unlocked iPhone, which my traveling companion has?
Thanks in advance!
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 7:23 AMAny 3G phone will work there, they've had 3G service since 2000!
However, AT&T will charge you an arm and a leg for overseas sevice if you don't sign up for an international plan.
I'd recommend getting a quad band phone there, pay by the minute (still cheaper than ATT abroad)
AND have an uber cool phone when you return.
Hit ginza and shop around, preferably with a Japanese friend to haggle for you :) -
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Re: Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 7:40 AMBeing a cellphone luddite (mine barely has text messaging - it's old skool!) I have no idea how much to expect to pay. Any idea how much a sweet quad band phone would cost, and how much you pay per minute? It would also be kickass to have international text capability; I imagine that's pretty easy to come by..? -
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Re: Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 8:49 AMwhat MT said, Japan is literally an island unto itself when it comes to phone services; they are generally not compatible with anywhere else (unlike GSM phones which can roam most anywhere else). I had huge Blackberry (Crackberry) withdrawal when I was in Japan last summer.
some phone rental links:
www.japanphone.com/ratesandservices.html
www.jcrcorp.com/
some of the services will even fedex you the phone in the US before you leave, so you will have your JPN phone # in hand before you depart.
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Re: Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!
Mon, January 7, 2008 - 3:13 PMI rented a cell phone right at Narita Airport when I flew in. I think it was $5 per day plus the cost of the calls/minutes, etc. I barely used my phone but it was really easy to pick up & drop off. I didn't spend more than $40 for the use of the phone the entire week which I thought was very reasonable. If you want simplicity it might be a good option.
TTINLA -
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Re: Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!
Thu, January 10, 2008 - 12:12 PMDid you find the cellphone useful? I'm wondering if it will be necessary. I'll be in the country for a month, and it seems like a phone might really help for reserving hotels, etc. Then again, I don't speak any Japanese, so perhaps email will be more reliable anyway.
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