A prepaid sim card is a great option for easy and convenient access to the internet in Japan without going through the hassle of finding free WiFi hotspots and its security concerns. There are tons of travel SIM cards for Japan tourists, making it especially hard to figure out the difference among all these brands.
In this article, we will list out some popular SIM cards in Japan and their features to help you quickly make your final decision.
Here are three options for you to buy your Japan SIM card:
- Ordering it online
- In-store/Retail Stores (BIC Camera store or Yodobashi Camera)
- Airports
For first time visitors, we would recommend you to order SIM cards online so you could pick up SIM cards easily at the airport. It would save you a lot of time and effort. However, if you prefer to buy the SIM card locally, you may visit retail stores like BIC Camera or Yodobashi Camera when you arrive in Japan.
SIM cards are mainly categorized into two different types in Japan—data only, or data+voice. For most tourists who don’t necessarily have voice calls needs, we would recommend data-only SIM card more as it is easier to order and more economical. Although you won’t be able to get a Japanese phone number, you could still make phone calls through apps like WhatsApp or Messenger.
Japan Data SIM Card
The table below is a comparison of the data-only SIM card options in Japan for short-term travel (mainly 30 days or less). These are the most common types of Japan SIM cards for tourists.
(Source: GoWiFi 2019/7)
As you can tell from the table, each company offers quite different deals. Thus, it’s really hard for tourists to figure out which one suits them best. From our experience, it depends on what your priority is. Normally, price and data usage would be considered two of the most important factors when it comes to choosing the perfect SIM card in Japan.
Combining both factors, price and data usage, Japan Roaming and Mobal stand out due to their affordable price and higher data usage per day.⚡️⚡️⚡️
For data usage, both have unlimited 4G speed data for the usage of 3GB per day. This is considerably more than what you need for your daily data usage. I personally think the higher the data usage the better because you wouldn’t have to worry about internet speed being throttled during your trip.💫💫💫After all, you would want to explore the city more rather than keep worrying about how much data you’ve left during your trip. As for the price rates, Japan Roaming offers a better deal if you choose their 31-day SIM card. Averagely, you would only have to pay $1.5 per day. In conclusion, we would highly recommend Japan Roaming if you are going to travel for more than a week!!!
Source: Japan Roaming
Japan Roaming 🌟🌟🌟
- Rates: 8 days $27.67 / 31 days $46.25
- Network: NTT Docomo 4G LTE
- Data Usage: Unlimited 3GB/day 🏅
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Allow Hotspot / Tethering Use
- Airport Pick up
- Return: No need to return
Rent your mobile WiFi router in Japan through Japan Roaming now!
Source: Japan Wireless
Japan Wireless
- Rates:
7 days $30.09 / 15 days $35.10 / 30 days $40.12
- Network: DoCoMo 4G LTE
- Data Usage: Unlimited 500MB/day
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Airport Pick up
- Return: No need to return
Source: Sakura
Sakura Mobile
- Rates:
7 days 3GB $35.76 +$0.46/day
7 days 5GB $45.05 +$0.46/day
7 days 10GB $68.26 +$0.46/day
7 days 30GB $198.29 +$0.46/day
(The rates depend on how long you rent. The longer you rent, the cheaper.)
- Minimum rental of 3 days.
- Plus $0.46 per day for SIM Card rental.
- Network: Docomo 4G LTE
- Data Usage: Unlimited 3GB/5GB/10GB/30GB for 7 days (or the period you rent).
If you exceed your data limit, your internet speed will slow down.
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Allow Hotspot / Tethering Use
- Airport Pick up
- Return: To return, simply drop the package into mailboxes. Package includes a prepaid return envelope. Please drop it before midnight of your return date.
Source: Mobal
Mobal
- Rates:
8 days $37.06 / 16 days $55.63 / 31 days $69.56
- Network: Softbank and Docomo
- Data Usage: Unlimited 4G LTE speeds are available whenever possible. Please note, however, that data speeds may be restricted during busy times or if large amounts of data are used. If you use more than 3GB of data in a day, your data speeds may be reduced for 24-48 hours.
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Allow Hotspot / Tethering Use
- Airport Pick up
- Return: No need to return
Source: KLOOK
KLOOK
- Rates:
6 days 1GB $9.75 / 8 days 3GB $14.80 / 8 days Unlimited 4G data $22.20
- Network: NTT Docomo 4G LTE
- Data Usage: Unlimited
1GB traffic flow at 4G data speeds, reduced to 200kbps after exceeding 1GB. 3GB traffic flow at 4G data speeds, reduced to 200kbps after exceeding 3GB.
Unlimited 4G data connection (with no reduction of speed) Due to the rules of Japanese telecom companies, when the traffic flow exceeds 30GB, the data speed will be reduced to 3G.
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Allow Hotspot / Tethering Use
- Airport Pick up
- Return: No need to return
Source: Japan WifiBuddy
Japan WifiBuddy
- Rates: 6 days $40 / 12 days $51 / 18 days $66 / 24 days $78 / 30 days $90
- Network: NTT Docomo 4G LTE
- Data Usage: Unlimited
For 6-,12-,18-,24-,30-day plans we don’t often see much throttling, but will occasionally see it if the user regularly exceeds 10GB of usage for a few days in a row.
- Area: 99% 4G LTE Population Coverage Nationwide
- Allow Hotspot / Tethering Use
- Airport Pick up
- Return: No need to return
Stay connected with your prepaid card in Japan!
Get your Japan SIM card now!
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