Many people come to Japan just for a short visit. In this case, I highly recommend renting a pocket WiFi since rental fee is not very expensive and you can use unlimited data. I believe it’s more useful than buying SIM card because (1) you must have unlocked phone to use SIM card, (2) it’s usually expensive, and (3) the usage of data is limited.
However, some of you are planning to stay in Japan for a few months. You may be traveling all around Japan for a long time, studying as student, or working for a long term. Having phone number is really important in Japan; however, it is difficult to have phone number at the same time. It has become quite easier but few years ago there was an ironic situation for foreign residents when making phone number. Phone number was needed to open Japanese bank account. Japanese bank account was needed to make a phone number. It was like an assignment which would never finish. Nowadays it became much easier since you can easily make your phone number with credit card.
Yes, it became easier. However, you may think it’s so wasteful to pay more than JPY 5,000-6,000 every month for using few gigabytes of data. Plus, making a phone number requires a contract of more than 1 year in the most of phone companies. If you wish to use your phone number only for 6 months and break the contract, you will have to pay for damages. In this case, you may think you’d rather not have phone number and just look for ways to get online. So how can you get online without having phone number in Japan?
(1) Use WiFi rental service.
What? WiFi rental service? Are you saying paying few dollars every day for few months? I will have to pay JPY 18,000 for a month!
Wait, calm down. In Japan, not small number of houses and companies use pocket WiFi every month. There also are many companies where provide monthly plan. You will have to read some Japanese, but let’s not forget we have google chrome, which will translate all these kanji instead of us. The cheapest pocket WiFi for a month is as cheap as JPY 5,450 for a month and of course you can share one router with others. Since it is very light and small, you can bring it anywhere.
* In case of 305ZT, it’s same that advance mode(unlimited) will not work well if you using it in the subway or basement level. You can change the mode and the usage will be limited to 7GB/month for standard mode.
* This kind of limit applies to almost all types of pocket WiFi in Japan.
(2) Buy Prepaid Sim card
There is a prepaid sim which is rechargeable. SIM card for travel is usually not rechargeable and you can throw away after using it. When I first came to Japan I used this rechargeable prepaid SIM. There are a lot of ways to buy it but I used Amazon to order sim card in advance and got it right after I arrived in Japan. You must go through some complicated procedures to set your SSID but it is very cheap.
If you go to convenience store you will find a card of your carrier company and you can buy it. After scratching up you will find numbers and all you have to do is registering this number in the website. It will be charged and you will be able to use it. Disadvantages of using this SIM card was first, it was very slow, and second, I had phone number but I couldn’t use my number. It literally means you cannot use phone calls or texts by using your number but only can use data. But I used this without any serious problem for more than a year.
(3) Make a phone number and pay for damage
You want to have phone number which you can call and text and want to use data as well? Then there is no choice other than making phone number. As mentioned above, making phone number is not very difficult. The only thing you have to prepare is your residence card and credit card. Big companies such as softbank and au may refuse to have a contract with you unless you have a visa more than 3-5 years. Plus, they only have contract more than 2 years.
So, what I recommend is to make a contract with companies like Y!mobile, Line mobile, and UQ mobile. Personally I use UQ mobile and pay JPY 1,600 every month for using 3GB. I can use phone calls and texts but I need to pay whenever I use it. There are a lot of plans which include free calls and texts so you can choose which one to use. The contract is valid for 1 year and damages more than JPY 10,000 will be applied if you breach it.
best pocket wifi rental in japan
If you want to enjoy things above and make your travel to Japan more abundant, it is necessary to get online all the time. Regardless of its highly-advanced technologies, it is not easy to find free wireless(WiFi) hotspots in Japan. So, what we recommend for tourists who want to stay connected 24/7 and have exciting journey, is to use best pocket wifi in japan.
wifi rental japan is proud of being able to provide competitive price to you. It only costs JPY600(USD4~5) per one day. You can enjoy unlimited data wherever in Japan at any time with reasonable price. This pocket wifi rental in japan let you pick up wifi routers at airport. Enjoy japan with wireless pocket wifi.
*Advance mode only
*If you use more than 10GB within 3 days, speed limit will be applied to avoid congestion.
wifi rental japan wishes that all tourists have more comfortable and meaningful travel in Japan.
If you have any inquiries, please feel free to ask us.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK POCKET WIFI
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