On Jul 24, 2:58 pm, "Sigi Rindler" <srind...@da2.so-net.ne.jp> wrote:
> > You need an Alien Registration Card to get a prepaid phone, so renting is
> > usually the best option for short stays. The airport is the best place to
> > do this.
>
> Thanks! He'll rent one right after his arrival since this is the only option
> for someone who hasn't got an Alien card...
> I wonder whether it is as difficult in the USA or in Europe to get a phone
> for short time use.
>
> *******
> Here is some additional information on this subject from a TPC member:
>
> Your friend can also rent a phone from any one of several keitai agents set
> up at Narita.  It's not cheap -- about 500 yen per day, but I think the rate
> per minute is less than the prepaid phones.
>
> Depending on the lenght of his stay, you can buy a prepaid phone (it has to
> be in your name) and give it to him to use.  That's what I did because I was
> there for about 6 weeks, but it's actually no less expensive than the phones
> rented at the airport, although the expense was in the talk time, not the
> daily rental.

This thread is just about cold, but I will add my recent experience.
Since I have an address I can refer to as residence in Japan (Japanese
relatives), I was persuaded that getting prepaid is better than
getting rental phone at the airport.  It turns out that DoCoMo has
stopped doing prepaid but that Softbank and another company (which at
the moment escapes my sieve like mind) still do them. Several Softbank
locations told us that they were out of prepaid but I suspect only
limited locations handle them due to the extra ID requirements.  A
year or so ago convenience stores handled prepaid phones but seems not
the case now and no general retailer that we tried had any either.
That said the process wasn't onerous (one we found a location in
Akihabara) but the price is not advanteous over temporary rentals.
You buy the phone for 4000 yen and get a prepaid card for 5000 yen.
Some other service fee brought the cost to 9700.  Cards come in 3000
and 5000 denominations but the 5000 as a starter seemed required.  The
airport rentals start at about 3500 - 4500 and include minutes.  Since
in Japan you are not charged for minutes when you receive calls, if
you plan minimal use and mostly receive calls you could get one of the
cheapest plans and not likely need to buy more minutes.

The prepaid would only be worth is if a person is regularly coming to
Japan and thus you would like to have a regular phone number in
Japan.  When you add minutes with card, the minutes are good for only
up to 60 days.  The phone number is reserved for that phone for 360
days from the end of the 60 days.  I guess you could reactivate the
phone after a year, assuming Softbank is still supporting the
program.  Plus the phone is very basic, no camera or other extras.

jahnee.