【2024 Version】Comparison of Short-term Prepaid SIM

photo by mroach

When you travel abroad, you are most likely to take your usual smartphone with you. You can easily roam for phone calls and texts, but overseas roaming costs expensive piling up phone charges. To use your smartphone in Japan without worrying about costs, the best way is to get a SIM that can be used in Japan instead of roaming. In particular, prepaid SIM can be purchased and used instantly therefore best suit short-term visitors. Most prepaid SIM is for data use only, but instead, there is no need to open an account or anything. This column will compare prepaid SIMs for travellers that are sold at airports.

Smartphones commonly used in Japan

To use your overseas model device with a prepaid SIM card in Japan, your device must be SIM-free and suitable to Japanese communications standards. The followings are examples of smartphones commonly used in Japan that can also be purchased worldwide.

• Apple iPhone
• Samsung GALAXY（Global Model）
• Sony Xperia（Global Model）
• HUAWEI nova（Global Model）

It is a good idea to enquire your mobile phone provider whether your phone is suitable to be used in Japan. If your model is unfit to Japanese standards, don’t be sad; you can rent a portable Wi-Fi router.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Prepaid SIM

Duration

Prepaid SIM is typically designed in order for convenience of tourists, then the validity periods tend to be short. A SIM card with the shortest period is valid for 7 days. The longer a validity period is, the larger data supply is given and the higher the price becomes. It is recommended to purchase a SIM card that covers the entire period of your stay in Japan.

Data Recharge

Some SIM plans are data-rechargeable and others are not. Also, there are SIMs that extend validity periods when recharged while other rechargeable SIMs wouldn’t allow validity period extensions. If you are staying in Japan for a short period of time and will use data a lot, purchase a data-rechargeable one. By the way, you need to recharge your prepaid SIM before you run out of data, otherwise you need to connect to Wi-Fi to recharge.

Data Capacity

The most important thing when choosing a prepaid SIM is data capacity. Most SIMs come with fixed data size to be used throughout validity period, but some SIMs have capped daily data usage. Data supply of prepaid SIMs is limited except for SIMs that allow unlimited data usage. It is recommended to use a prepaid SIM with a combination with public Wi-Fi.

Plans

Most prepaid SIMs provide only mobile data. There are a few prepaid SIMs that allow phone calls but these are only available at retailers or online stores, not at airports. In addition, SIM plans with phone calls are more costly than data only ones. You may want to get a SIM with phone calls only if you want to make phone calls in Japan frequently.

Where to purchase

Prepaid SIM are available various locations across Japan such as international airports, convenience stores, tourist information centers and home electronics stores. For tourists, the best place to purchase a prepaid SIM would be shops in airports.

What you can do with 1GB of data

To choose the right plan for your travel, it is important to know what you can do with your mobile phone with 3GB of data.

• Blousing website: 1,800 pages (approx. 36 hours)
• Email (text only)/instant messages: 1,050,000 messages
• Email with attachments: 6,000 messages
• Downloading/streaming music: 600 songs
• Downloading/streaming movie (normal): 6 hours
• Downloading/streaming movie (HD): 1.5 hours
• Skype: 90 hours (voice call), 12 hours (video call)
• Online radio: 48 hours
• Downloading/updating apps: 75 times
*The above is an estimate and may change depending on*The above is an estimate and may change depending on the situation.

Comparison of SIM Cards Available for Purchase at the Airport

※Actual price varies by store.

Summary

If you want to use large size of data

If you use a large volume of data, a plan with unlimited data, which is Japan Prepaid SIM, AnyFone Japan, and Wi-Ho! Prepaid SIM is best for you. The validity period can be selected from 7 days, 15 days, and 30 days which is adequate to cover a short trip. These are most suitable for those who want to enjoy data-consuming activities such as watching movies or playing games without worrying about data capacity. Also, 10GB/15GB plan of JAPAN TRAVEL SIM had a good size of data even though it is not unlimited.

If you want to top up data

If you want to choose a low-cost plan but keep it rechargeable, Prepaid SIM for Travel and JAPAN TRAVEL SIM are best suiting your need. Prepaid SIM for Travel allows you extend your use for another 31 days and you can top up 500MG. It originally comes with 3GB data which is enough to cover a short-time stay using free Wifi as well. JAPAN TRAVEL SIM doesn’t allow you to extend the duration. But instead, you can choose the data size to top up, so it is best for those who use the internet a lot.

If you want to keep the costs low

Among prepaid SIMs sold at airports, JAPAN TRAVEL SIM 3GB plan offers the lowest cost. Also, Prepaid SIM for Travel has 3GB plan. These plans offer rather small data and a long usage period of 30 days. Also, they only costs around 3,000 yen. If you effectively use free WiFi, 3GB is more than enough. These two plans also offer recharge options in case you run out of data. However, recharge might be a little expensive. Also, TRE SIM DATA 3GB plan offers a low price of 3,000yen but this one is not rechargeable.

If you want a good customer service

All SIM cards sold at airports are data-only SIMs with no phone calls. Among these prepaid SIM plans, Wi-Ho! Prepaid SIM offers unlimited data plans and customer support in Japanese and English in a case of unexpected incident. AnyFone Japan offers a variety of plans with many SIM type options including eSIM.

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