Cellular phone service
 

I'm traveling to Tokyo for three days. Would you advise on renting a cellphone; where and what's standard; any helpful tips. THanks,

I will be going to Japan in October and I am planning to rent a cell phone for a week. My understanding that the standards in Japan are similiar to the US in that you can not bring in a cell phone and be able to use it. If you have a cellphone that you can change SIM cards then you should be able to use the phone if you get the SIM card for Japan. How long will you be in Japan all together? Is it 3 just days or you will be staying longer and will only be in Tokyo for 3days?

I want to rent a phone when I visit Japan, can anyone give me some idea what company is the best to rent from (best rental price and best incoming/outgoing per min. cost)?

Thank you,
Amit :)

The Japanese cell phone system is different from the US and many other countries. The last time I went to Japan I stop by at a cell phone rental counter in my departure city(Bangkok) and rented a Japanese standard phone with a temporary sim card with my original phone number on it. You should be able to do the same in the US or even upon arrival in Japan - please check as I'm not sure.

Try this web site for phone rentals in Japan;

rentafonejapan.com

Bob

We are currently here and did some research about phones:
The Japanese phone system is different and your American phone will not work here.

You can rent a phone at the airport when you arrive - there are many options.

We found that it was cheaper to buy a phone (prepaid type) and buy phone cards to use. The phone was $89 (cheaper than renting for us as we are here for a month) and the cards are reasonable. We used Vodafone at Narita airport.

For a short stay, a rental might be the way to go, but check the small print on the contract and know the per-minute rates (which can be quite high compared to the prepaid card rates). lastly, ask for a map of cell coverage to make sure you will have good coverage.