Presently I am in Tokyo. Upon arrival it is not possible to buy a SIM card for phone calls, only for data.

So how does an American tourist in Tokyo call the USA?

Who is your carrier?

From your smartphone’s phone keypad interface, dial “+” by holding the zero number longer, then followed by country code 1, then followed by the 10 digits US phone number.

+1 xxx xxx xxxx

You’ll pay your carrier’s international phone charge.
Some carriers offer a $10 per 24-hour plan for use of phone and data if you sign up for the plan. Check with your carrier’s offer and sign up online if you are going to call a lot,

I use Skype on my laptop. I have T-mobile and their charge is 0.25 a minute - good for an emergency call......

Thank you for the replies.

I have gone to several phone stores, hotel concierges, information offices and they all tell me the only way to have a sim for voice calls is with a
phone contract. A phone contract can only be obtained if you have a local bank account.

My carrier is AT&T. When I go online to sign up for the international plan, to verify the account AT&T sends a text to my USA phone number.
Of course I cannot receive a text message.

Is it possible to rent a cell phone in Tokyo?

Are you sure? I was able to send & receive texts in Asia, including Tokyo, with my regular no-frills Verizon service.

If calling someone else's cell phone I use facetime (if we both have an iphone) ,or what's app (both need to have the app)....

Either of those can be done with data only.

You can get a data only esim from airalo dot com. Cost is as low as $4.50 for 7 days, and you get it instantaneously after buying.

An American tourist in Tokyo without a SIM card can use public phones, phone booths or rental phones, or messaging apps to make international calls to the USA. I hope this help!

When your smartphone is connected to WIFI, then you can send/receive text messages.

If you have AT&T, you can sign up for International Day Pass, which is $10 / day: International Day Pass - International Plans from AT&T (att.com)

I've used it around the world and have had no problems with it.

Thank you for the replies.
There are very few places here to buy a SIM card and I paid $15 to one installed.

Also to call international I rented a phone.

BTW I asked at Tokyo Station information, the concierge at three five star hotels and they all had no idea how I could acquire international calling.
In the U.S. I have AT&T and could not connect to enable international calling.

I believe it's best to set this up before you leave the US when you can contact AT&T.... not waiting until you land in a foreign country.

Yes, setting it up while in the States is easiest but setting it up while Japan is also possible.

So now it seems you have one phone with a data SIM card and another phone that you rented. So can you call ATT now and set up your phone for the international service that others have mentioned? Or are you ok now with what you have rented?

Unfortunately it seems the main point is to do your research while still at home...

Thanks to all for the replies.

For the last four months I have been living in Europe so I could not have set it up prior to arriving. In my travels throughout Europe and the Middle East I would always purchase a SIM upon arrival near my hotel.

As I stated my hotel is located in Ginza and there are very few locations that sell even a data only eSIM.

Finally I have rented a phone with a Japanese phone number. This arrangement is working.