Cell Phones in Japan
Checking out cell phones in Japan.
Japan is a place over-saturated with cell phones called
k-tai's in Japanese. Everyone's got one regardless of age. Grandma's,
young adults, and even middle school students. I'm sure there are
even children in elementary school with them. Why does everyone
have one? It's because they are practically given away on every
street corner and the cost of a plan can be very cheap! A cell phone
is probably the first item purchased by a teenager.
Japanese
Cell Phone Culture
Renting A Cell Phone
in Japan
What's
so special about cell phones in Japan? They're special
because they are so damn cool! They all have nice big lcd screens,
have cameras built in, can send and receive e-mails with attachments
and instant messages, be your address book, schedule book, listen
to FM radio, have GSM built in, and even video conference on them.
The newest's phones have 3.0 mega-pixel camera built-in, memory
sticks to store files and can read excel files! There is practically
coverage throughout all of Japan with the exception of mountainous
regions and small islands.
 What
does a cell phone cost in Japan? Cell phones can be expensive
but at the same time given away for 10 yen. New phone models are
introduced all the time by cell phone manufacturers. Almost all
cell phones are made by Japanese companies such as Sony Ericsson,
Panasonic, Sanyo, Kyocera, and Toshiba. They are all trying to their
phones on the market and release new phone models to the public.
The newest phones may cost 30,000 yen but the average phone is less
than half that. Prices are always falling and when you are a new
subscriber or a long time subscriber, the phones can be purchases
at discounted prices.
Be sure to purchase a bilingual phone if
you cannot read Japanese.
What does
a month of service cost? There are three main cell phone
service provider. They are AU by Kddi, NTT Docomo, and Vodafone.
Each of them offer different rates and different services for their
phones. Check out their English websites below for their latest
promotions and cell phone pricing.
Things
to know: Activation fees are from 2,000 yen
and plans start at around 3,500 yen.
Calling from a cell phone to a cell phone is cheaper than calling
from a cell phone to a land line.
The price of a minute of talking does depend on the distance of
the call. The average price of a call is 15-40 yen per minute.
Incoming calls are all free of charge.
AU accepts attachments from any other cell service providers while
the others may not.
What do
you need when you buy a phone? You will need
to show proof of residency (resident alien card) and a credit card
or your bank account information.
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