How to get BEST prepaid sim card in Japan

ドイツ人の友人が3ヶ月間日本に滞在すると言っていて、日本のSIMカード探しに苦労していたので、各社のプランを調べてまとめてメールしてあげた。がんばってまとめを作ったので、記事にする。しょぼい英語だけどそこは目をつぶって見てほしい。
As one of my German friend had a difficulty to find a cheap and convenient SIM card for staying in Japan for 3 month, I've summarized price/available-traffic/available-days of each SIM card for a smart phone. Even for a Japanese native guy, it was a touch process...  Hope this effort also help someone coming to Japan soon!

 

 

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As with many things, buying a prepaid sim card in Japan is a tough process for a foreign tourist/worker.

....you cannot find prepaid card at a drug store, web site is written in Japanese and so on.

Then I have  compared Japanese prepaid sim cards with some aspects (cost, availability and etc.) and summarized them for my German friend who is going to visit Japan for a few months.

(Today, 1 USD = apx. 100 yen, 1 Euro = apx. 140 yen)

 

 

The first and second prepaid sim cards are for foreign visitors (Easy and Expensive).

 

1. B-mobile visitor sim

You can buy it online (English web site) and receive it at airport post office or your hotel.

There are two course,

(1)1GB for 14 days, best effort speed, 3791yen  (37USD, 27Euro)

(2)14days, unlimited internet at 300kBps, 3791yen (37USD, 27Euro)

 

2. So-net prepaid LTE sim

 

You can buy this from machines located at Narita airport(Tokyo), Kansai international airport(Osaka), some places in Tokyo (Shinjuku and Ikebukuro). And English telephone service is available.

 

 

 

Both two above prepaid sim cards are very convenient for foreign tourists, especially in short-stay ones. The advantages are you can buy/get it at Japanese airports.

But these are tourist price (expensive!).

Given a tourist stay 3 weeks in Japan, he/she needs to pay 7600yen and 6500yen, for 1st and 2nd sim respectively.

 

The followings are cheaper prepaid sim.

 

3. b-mobile 1GB 30days pack

3315 yen, 1GB flat internet for 30days.

You can buy this at electronics shop (Yodobashi-camera, Big-camera) and amazon.

 

4. OCN mobile one (OCN モバイル one)

This is the cheapest, OCN mobile one, 100% network-covered,

Speed

150Mbps maximum (200kbps if exceeded)

Price

To buy SIM  1699～3240yen

Monthly charges

50MB/day  972yen

80MB/day  1,490yen

1GB/month 1,188 yen

2GB/month 1,566yen

 

You can buy this from online, amazon, rakuten and so on.

But you need to register and select plan on Japanese website.

 

 

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