Sean MacDonnell Online

One of the things I was planning to do while in Japan, was get a Japanese SIM card and put it into my phone – so I can call the people at home if there is an emergency.

Initially I researched getting a pre-paid sim card on an Japanese provider, as that seemed the easiest thing to do.

Boy was I wrong.

In order to get a pre-paid sim (not rental) at any provider, you first need to register yourself as an alien with your local Japanese municipal office. In order to do this, you need two passport sized photos and your passport – then fill out the Application for Alien Registration with your residency information. You then get a “Certificate of Alien registration” and get a date on which you need to return to the municipal office and pick up your “Alien registration card” which will take approximatly 2 weeks.

Luckily, in the meantime, you can get a “Proof of Alien registration” to get a SIM.

Unluckily, it appears that phone providers inconsistently provide SIM cards without phone purchase; you can get denied at a store which has been confirmed as supplying lone SIM cards, without explanation.

There are a couple of problems with this senario; because I will be moving hotel constantly for the first 28 days of the trip, there is no possibility that the residential address I put on the Alien Registration form will be correct, plus, I can’t guarantee that I will be back at that municipal office to collect it when the card is finished – of that the card will even arrive while I am still in Japan!

I then looked into how much it would cost to rent a SIM card while I as in japan for the duration of my stay.

Softbank provides rented sim cards at ¥105 per day, plus, you can pre-register these cards, get the phone number sent to you and then pick up the card Narita airport when you arrive.

Unfortunately, coupled with the rental fee of the SIM the rates plan of a rented SIM actually turns out worse than using the global roaming on my existing Optus pre-paid account, the only bonus being the rented SIM is better for phoning IN Japan.

So, this is what I need to do on my first day in Japan.

7:00am arrive at Narita airport, then take the train to Narita city office and try to get registered as an alien. If this is possible with the amount of hotel hopping we are going to do, we will then get told that I need to come back in about 2 weeks to actually pick up our card.

I then need to get a Proof of Alien Registration printed.

I take that proof to the Softbank at Narita Airport, and try to get a pre-paid SIM card; which I may or may not get using just the proof certificate.

If they accept the proof, then I try to get a SIM, if they won’t give me a SIM; I then need to buy a cheap phone. (about 5000 Yen)

If they don’t accept the proof; rent a phone.

When I get back to Tokyo, and have registered as an Alien, I need to pick up my Alien Registration Card so I can hand it in to the airport when I leave the country.

Complicated, no?

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