SIM Cards and eSIMs for Japan: Pocket Wi-Fi, Airport Rentals and Free Wi-Fi

You step off the plane, the phone buzzes back to life, and the first question is how to find the train, the hotel and a decent bowl of ramen without a data connection. Japan answers it in several ways, from a SIM card bought at an electronics store to a pocket Wi-Fi device waiting at the airport. The right one depends on your phone and on how you travel.

How do you get mobile data in Japan?

You get mobile data by renting or buying it on arrival, or by arranging it before you leave: a travel SIM card, a pocket Wi-Fi router, a rental phone, or the free Wi-Fi that Japan offers in many public places. None of these needs a long contract, and most can be settled in the arrivals hall or at a store in town.

Airports are the easiest place to start looking, since the setup is built for visitors. Narita, Haneda and Kansai all have a mobile phone rental service for arriving travelers, and every major airport has rental kiosks for pocket Wi-Fi devices. Travel SIM cards are also rented or sold at major airports, so you can walk out already connected.

Buying a SIM card on the spot

Travel SIM cards are sold at major airports and at electronics stores such as Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera. Brastel is one of the options on offer. The stores are a good place to browse in person, since the shelves are stacked with prepaid packages and the staff handle visitors every day.

One condition matters before you pay for anything: your phone must be SIM-unlocked to use a Japanese SIM card. A phone still tied to your home carrier will not accept it, so sort that out with your carrier at home rather than at the counter in Tokyo.

Pre-booking for your hotel

If you would rather not shop after a long flight, pocket Wi-Fi can be pre-booked online and delivered to your hotel. Providers include JAL ABC, PuPuRu Wi-Fi, Vision Inc and WiFiBOX. You arrive, check in, and the device is there. It is a router that connects several devices at once, which suits a couple or a family sharing one connection. Whichever route you pick, the same idea applies: decide before landing, because the options at the airport and the options online are the same few categories described next.

What are the options?

There are five main options: a travel SIM card, pocket Wi-Fi, a rental phone, free Wi-Fi, and your own phone’s roaming. Each has a different feel, and a few have a price attached that is worth knowing.

Travel SIM cards

A SIM card gives your own phone a Japanese data plan, so maps, translation apps and messages work the way they do at home. As an indication, a 1 GB data plan for 30 days costs about 3000 yen. That gives you a sense of the scale, though the plans on the shelf will vary.

The SIM route suits people who want to keep one device and not carry anything extra. The unlocked-phone condition is the only real catch.

Pocket Wi-Fi and rental phones

A pocket Wi-Fi is a small router you carry in a bag or pocket, and phones, tablets and laptops connect to it. Rental kiosks stand in every major airport. If you prefer a separate phone with a Japanese number, the rental service at Narita, Haneda and Kansai handles that on arrival. These are practical when several people travel together, or when your own phone is locked to its carrier.

Free Wi-Fi and Softbank’s Wi-Fi Passport

Free Wi-Fi is found in the terminals of Narita, Haneda (Tokyo International Air Terminal), Kansai, New Chitose in Hokkaido, Chubu Centrair in Nagoya and Fukuoka Airport in Kyushu. The way to connect differs by airport, so each airport’s Wi-Fi information page explains its own steps.

Visitors with a foreign phone can also use Softbank’s free Wi-Fi Passport, two weeks of free Wi-Fi at 400,000 hotspots nationwide. You set roaming to SoftBank and dial *8180 to receive a password. Cafes and convenience stores often have free signals too, though some are weak and slow. Paid hotspots exist as well, and some services, such as Wi2, are available in English.

Public phones and calling cards

Public phones still stand in hotels, tourist facilities and train stations. They accept 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.

Prepaid telephone cards cost about 1,000 yen at station kiosks and convenience stores. For calls abroad, a phone marked International and Domestic Telephone, found in airports, hotels and other key facilities, dials direct. Prepaid international calling cards, sold at convenience stores and airports, ask you to dial a call center number and enter a security code.

Which should you choose?

Choose a SIM card if your phone is unlocked and you travel alone, a pocket Wi-Fi if you share a connection or your phone is locked, and free Wi-Fi as a supplement to either rather than a plan on its own.

If you travel alone with an unlocked phone

A travel SIM keeps everything on the phone you already use. You can pick one up at the airport on arrival, or later at a Bic Camera or Yodobashi Camera store in the city. Having data from the first minute helps when you are working out a station exit or a bus stop. If a plan in the range of the 1 GB, 30 days example sounds too small for a long trip of maps and photos, look at the larger packages on the shelf before paying.

If you travel as a couple, a family or a group

A pocket Wi-Fi lets one device serve several phones, and the rental can be pre-booked and sent to your hotel. That removes one errand from the first day. Providers like JAL ABC, PuPuRu Wi-Fi, Vision Inc and WiFiBOX give you a few names to compare before you leave home.

If you just need light connectivity

For a short stay with mostly hotel and airport use, free Wi-Fi may be enough. Airport terminals offer it, and the Softbank Wi-Fi Passport covers two weeks if you set roaming to SoftBank and dial *8180. Keep in mind that cafe and convenience store signals can be weak and slow, so plan your maps and tickets before heading out. Many travelers combine options: free airport Wi-Fi on landing, then a SIM or pocket Wi-Fi for the days in the city.

Good to know before you go

Even with a good connection, a few numbers are worth saving. The fire and ambulance emergency number in Japan is 119, and the JR East Infoline, (050) 2016-1603, answers in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.

Numbers beginning with 0120 are free to call from within Japan through NTT’s Free Dial service. During large-scale disasters, public phones are known to hold better connections than mobile phones, a good reason to remember where the ones in stations and hotels are and to keep a few coins on you.