Getting a Phone in Japan.

Au phone company shop

Applying for a phone in Japan is not that hard if you have your Alien registration card and a friends/schools/ office/ home phone number. The first thing to do is decide on which company to subscribe to and if you arrive with your own phone. Sorry but its not going to work in Japan unless you bought it here.

Choosing a phone company can be a bit difficult for some, depending on what your expectations are. For most they decide basing their decision on the price, however, the rates are almost the same. So the next thing to consider is your contacts, how many of your friends or family are using softbank, au or docomo. Because its cheaper to be calling or texting within the same phone company.

For most is the type of phone, those who are interested in getting an iPhone have no option but to go with softbank. The Japanese phones have various unique functions and it varies from company to company. I prefer au phones because of the many useful functions they install but then again with iPhone anything is possible now.

if you cant decide just go to the phone shops and it might help by checking out the phones on display. Maybe you will be able to spot something you like.

After you pick out the phone ask one of the phone people to direct you to the application counter. Sometimes they usually run out of the type of phone you like and might re-direct you to the nearest phone shop or they will call around and have someone bring it over. So do not despair and pick a second choice, just insist that you get your choice. Sometimes they can get a bit lazy and don't want to deal with a foreigner that they ask you to pick another phone.

Then you will have to fill out tonnes of paperwork and you should have your documents ready. All the contracts are for 2 years and even if your visa is only for 1 year they still accept it.

You will have to select your payment plan, insurance and other functions that you wish for. Even if you don't speak Japanese its not that hard to communicate with the sales person. But if you rather have a friend who speaks Japanese with you then that's good too. Sometimes they will have a translator on the phone and will help with the process. If you are lucky enough the sales person might be able to speak English.

After that you will have to hand over your cash card for them to swipe so that they could get the payment directly from your bank account each month. When applying for a phone usually you don't have to pay for anything unless you need the phone accessories.

While they are processing your application they will advise you to return after an hour or 2 depending on how busy they are to collect your phone. Most phone application don't get rejected if you have the right documents and no previous bad records with other phone companies.

Most of the phone companies are weary of foreigners due to the high number of outstanding bills they experience with foreigners. Even softbank, the phone company who sells itself as " foreigner friendly" now place heavy emphasis on having another contact number (a friends would do just fine) and the salespeople can be a bit rude sometimes.

For those who are here for a short trip, you can buy a prepaid phone at the airport or sign up for companies that hire out phones to tourist. The rates are reasonable enough.

The well known phone companies in Japan are Softbank, AU, Docomo, Willcom and they have shops everywhere including the major electronic shops like Yodobashi camera, Bic camera and Labi.