PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post

DRNewcomb · 26-09-2011, 18:24

One issue you may have is the inability to buy prepaid service. The Japanese government has made it difficult for non-residents to buy prepaid service. If you are going there with the US military, you can usually buy prepaid service from an agent on base, but not in town. Prepaid calling is fairly expensive in Japan. I used to use an international prepaid SIM to make both local and international calls, as it was as cheap or cheaper than using a prepaid. For instance the current rates listed for TelnaMobile for incoming calls in Japan is ~US$0.18 and making local calls in Japan ~US$0.23. This comes very close to the total per minute cost of using a prepaid. I used to roam on both DoCoMo and SoftBank. Check their coverage maps to see who covers the outer Ryuku Islands. You may need to rent a PDC phone to get service out there.

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DRNewcomb (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,465 Join Date: 27 Feb 2004 Location: Mississippi, USA Country:	26-09-2011, 18:24 One issue you may have is the inability to buy prepaid service. The Japanese government has made it difficult for non-residents to buy prepaid service. If you are going there with the US military, you can usually buy prepaid service from an agent on base, but not in town. Prepaid calling is fairly expensive in Japan. I used to use an international prepaid SIM to make both local and international calls, as it was as cheap or cheaper than using a prepaid. For instance the current rates listed for TelnaMobile for incoming calls in Japan is ~US$0.18 and making local calls in Japan ~US$0.23. This comes very close to the total per minute cost of using a prepaid. I used to roam on both DoCoMo and SoftBank. Check their coverage maps to see who covers the outer Ryuku Islands. You may need to rent a PDC phone to get service out there.