And the Winner is... Rakuten Mobile!

 

Finding a Phone Carrier in Japan in 2023

Hello, welcome to the blog! I've been off for a while but I decided to get back into writing a bit. Let's get started on today's topic - phone carriers. I've written before many times before on how to select a phone carrier in Japan. Click here for a more in-depth article. It's a bit out of date but what I wrote still holds true. But there are some updates to the market in Japan that I'd like to address.

Let's jump ahead a bit and go to the conclusion.

The answer is Rakuten Mobile. That's a link to their main page or click here for info in English. Their newest plans plan is still a steal, but now even better. Rakuten offers unlimited talk and 5G data, and the price is cheap. It's a tiered plan - up to 3 gig costs you ¥1,000 (I'm rounding costs here to be simple), 3 - 20 gig costs ¥2,000, and if you go over this you're still only charged ¥3000. It's quite the steal considering that currently the big 3 - Docomo, Au, and Softbank - now have plans that all cost around ¥3000 with a hard data cap, and no free calling at all.

Not only that, but since Rakuten has only 1 plan you never have to worry about running out - you just have to be concerned if you (like me) would rather not jump over 20 gig and save a little money. This is different from most carriers who if you want to change your data limit, you have to change plans.

Now there are some caveats, of course, as there always will be. Rakuten still does not have quite the coverage that the big 3 have. In deep subway tunnels, or in the middle of nowhere I occasionally am out of area where someone standing next to me who's on Docomo may have a perfect connection. Also, to use the free calling you have to call with Rakuten's App - but it does show your phone number to the people you call, and from my experience the call quality is good.

Finally, for people like me who travel outside of Japan there's another bonus. If you leave on a trip to most countries, Rakuten still has you covered. You get only 2 gig of data a month while abroad, so there is a limit in this case, but I've found so far in Taiwan and the US that while roaming I rarely lost my connection, and the only thing I needed to do for it to work was restart my phone when I arrived at the airport. No swapping sim cards, not inputting info. Just works.

As a final note I'll add options for people who don't want Rakuten, and in my mind this can only be for people who often travel out of cities in Japan, or who happen to be working in a huge concrete structure that may not have coverage.

If you use a reasonable amount of data and you NEED the good connection but don't make calls, go for one of the big 3, and go for their ¥3000 plans. I would recommend Ahamo from Docomo, as the connection is going to be stable.

If you want more data, want to choose your data plan exactly, or need to have some calling and data, and want a more reliable connection, check out the post I mentioned above, or just go to OCN. They work well and have some plans that allow unlimited voice (with an app), too. 

OK, that's all for today! Glad I could help, and if anyone has any questions about phone plans, leave a comment below. Have a good one!