Pocket Wi-Fi in Japan: Rental Options, Airport Pickup and Pocket Wi-Fi vs. SIM Cards

You step off the plane, the phone finds no signal you trust, and the first train map you need is sitting on a screen that will not load. That is the moment the pocket Wi-Fi question comes up for almost every traveler in Japan. A small rented router is one of several ways to stay online, and it sits alongside free airport Wi-Fi, a travel SIM card and a SoftBank offer for foreign phones.

What is pocket Wi-Fi?

Pocket Wi-Fi is a small portable router you rent for your trip, which turns a mobile data connection into a private Wi-Fi network for your phone, tablet and laptop. You carry it in a bag or a pocket, switch it on, and connect your devices to it the way you would to a hotel network. Because the connection lives in the router, your own phone does not need a Japanese SIM card and does not need to be unlocked.

The appeal is simple. Several people can share one device, so a couple or a family can map, translate and message from a single rental. Your phone keeps its usual number and apps, and the router does the work of finding the signal. The trade-off is one more gadget to charge and keep track of, and a battery that has to last through a day of sightseeing.

How it compares with the other ways to get online

Pocket Wi-Fi is one of four routes. Airports give free Wi-Fi in their terminals, so you can connect before you have chosen anything else. Visitors with a foreign phone can also use SoftBank’s free Wi-Fi Passport, which gives two weeks of free Wi-Fi at 400,000 hotspots nationwide. To use it, you set roaming to SoftBank and dial *8180 to receive a password.

Then there are the free spots in cafes and convenience stores. They are handy for a quick check, but some have weak, slow signals, and paid hotspots exist too, with some services such as Wi2 available in English. A rented router is what you reach for when you want a connection that follows you from street to street instead of one you hunt for.

The old-fashioned backup: phones and calls

Public phones still stand in hotels, tourist facilities and train stations. They take 10-yen and 100-yen coins and telephone cards, and no change is given for partial use of a 100-yen coin. A local call in the 23 wards of central Tokyo and other metropolitan cities costs about 10 yen for one minute, and prepaid cards cost about 1,000 yen at station kiosks and convenience stores.

A phone marked International and Domestic Telephone, found in airports, hotels and other key facilities, can place a direct international call. Prepaid international calling cards are sold at convenience stores and airports, and you dial a call center number and enter a security code. During large-scale disasters, public phones are known to hold their connections better than mobile phones.

Where do you rent one?

You rent pocket Wi-Fi at the airport on arrival or book it online beforehand and have it delivered to your hotel. All major airports in Japan have rental kiosks for pocket Wi-Fi devices, so you can walk up to a counter after landing and leave with a router in hand.

At the airport

The kiosk route suits travelers who decide at the last minute or who like to see the device before they pay. Providers include JAL ABC, PuPuRu Wi-Fi, Vision Inc and WiFiBOX. A mobile phone rental service is also available on arrival at Narita, Haneda and Kansai airports, which matters if you would rather borrow a Japanese handset than a router.

Connecting while you wait in line is possible, since the major airports offer free Wi-Fi in their terminals. That list covers Narita, Haneda (Tokyo International Air Terminal), Kansai International, New Chitose in Hokkaido, Chubu Centrair in Nagoya and Fukuoka Airport in Kyushu. The way to log on differs by airport, so each airport’s own Wi-Fi information page has the steps.

Pre-booked and delivered to your hotel

Travelers can also pre-book online for delivery to their hotel. This is the option for people who prefer to settle everything from home, and who would like the router waiting when they check in instead of queuing at a counter after a long flight. The same providers named above, JAL ABC, PuPuRu Wi-Fi, Vision Inc and WiFiBOX, are the ones to look at when you compare plans.

When you compare, think about how many people will share the router, how many days you will be away, and how much data your group tends to use on a normal day of maps, photos and video calls. Those three answers matter more than any brand name.

Calling and emergencies

Whichever way you connect, a few numbers are worth saving. The fire and ambulance emergency number in Japan is 119. The JR East Infoline, (050) 2016-1603, gives train information in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. Numbers starting with 0120 are free to call from within Japan through NTT’s Free Dial service, a detail that helps when a hotel or a company gives you one.

Is it better than an eSIM?

It depends on who is traveling and what they carry: pocket Wi-Fi wins for groups sharing one connection, while a SIM card suits a single traveler with an unlocked phone. The sources describe physical travel SIM cards, so that is the comparison made here.

What a travel SIM asks of you

Travel SIM cards can be rented or purchased at major airports in Japan and at electronics stores such as Bic Camera or Yodobashi Camera. Options include Brastel. As an indication, a 1 GB data plan for 30 days costs about 3000 yen. The condition that decides everything is that your phone must be SIM-unlocked to use a Japanese SIM card.

If your phone is locked to your home carrier, a SIM will not work, and a rented router becomes the simpler answer because it asks nothing of the phone. If your phone is unlocked, a SIM keeps everything inside one device, with no second gadget to charge or leave behind in a hotel room.

Who should choose what

• A group or family that wants one connection for several phones, a tablet and a laptop: pocket Wi-Fi.
• A solo traveler with an unlocked phone who wants one device and nothing extra to carry: a travel SIM.
• A traveler with a foreign phone who wants a free start: SoftBank’s Wi-Fi Passport, with its two weeks of free Wi-Fi.
• Someone who only needs a quick check at the airport or a cafe: the free Wi-Fi in terminals and shops, weak signals included.

Many travelers mix these. They connect to the free airport network on landing, pick up a router or a SIM at the counter, and keep the free hotspots as a backup. Nothing stops you from changing your mind after the first day, since rental kiosks and electronics stores are the same places you will pass anyway.

Good to know before you go

Public phones, free terminal Wi-Fi and the SoftBank offer give you a thin safety net if a router runs out of battery or a SIM does not work. Carrying a few 10-yen and 100-yen coins keeps a public phone usable, and a prepaid card covers the rest. Charging a pocket router overnight, along with your phone, is a habit worth building from the first evening.