#Advice on sims for Japan

166 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

split sigil
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Shopping around for my sim for my upcoming trip in March. Seeking personal experiences with different physical and e-sims and opinions to help pick the best one. I used a physical one from simcardgeek first trip and they don’t do physical ones anymore. Thanks!!

gloomy kindle
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Mobal has good physical SIM but I've also purchased some cheap physical SIMs on ebay for my parents and in law. They worked fine.

E-Sim = Airalo. Ubigi disconnected a few times initially before completely disconnecting on day 4 of my 9 day trip. I'll stick with Airalo.

boreal cloud
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So far good experience with Mobal physical, no issues and seems relatively well priced.

Someone mentioned the other day that their eSIM was finicky (then again their brochures always suggest the normal SIM is finicky too, but I've never had to mess around in my phone too deeply to get it to work)

obtuse cradle
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I haven't had any issues with these sims from Amazon even though they are MNVO to docomo and not directly from the telco. https://www.amazon.com/Nippon-SIM-無制限／15日-unlimit-15days/dp/B0BDQKMLFJ/

If you're feeling adventurous enough and for some reason want to have SMS texting (receive only), then there's this new product from Rakuten Mobile (another mobile carrier in Japan). But it is on the pricier end with no way to know if it really works https://www.amazon.com/Rakuten-Prepaid-Countries-Activation-Triple-Cut/dp/B0DNXZTN9N/

Nippon SIM for Japan 15 Days (Unlimited* Edition) 4G LTE Data (No V...

【Expiry Date & Easy Installation】Please start using the SIM before 2026/6/30. Starting after this day means you may not fully utilizing the duration of the period. [Android devices] Please set up APN information on your device. [iPhone/iPad] Simply insert the SIM card. Basically, it will be set u...

Japan Rakuten Mobile Prepaid SIM Card w/Text(SMS) to 73+ Countries,...

No Contract JAPAN Prepaid Rakuten Mobile w/ SMS(Text)
3GB of High-Speed 5G 4G LTE Data in JAPN
1GB of of High-Speed 5G 4G LTE Data to International
Unlimited Global Text (Receive Only) to 73+Countries

split sigil
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@boreal cloud @gloomy kindle My simcardgeek one endedup being a Mobal one, and when it connect it was weird. It showed 0 bar signal and LTE but somehow my phone worked? Maybe thats just how sims work? it was very mysterious

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But worked well. With the third party it was cheaper too lol like 23 USD for 8 days?

gloomy kindle
halcyon bear
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i don’t recommend ubigi. incredibly inconsistent. sometimes works well and high speed, other times it just completely drops and refuses to reconnect even with phone restarts. not even in busy areas, and despite showing full strength signal.

toxic flare
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It was developed by Nord Vpn

hidden kite
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Only used eSIM and only Airalo and had great experience with them in numerous places including Japan.

halcyon bear
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i might try that one this time myself

simple kernel
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I personally have had good experience with Ubigi in 2024 but I think airalo has cleaned up their act, they had a lot of bad posts on Reddit late 2023.

hidden kite
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I used them in Japan in May 2023 - did not have a single issue

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then also used them in EU and in USA and Caribbean - zero issues either

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I sometimes tend to take what people say with a pinch of salt. When you start reading comments half don't set their APN right the other half want to have signal in underground bunker

hybrid granite
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Going to try Ubigi myself when I get to Japan. I do have another JP sim as a backup which I use for Japan services such as Taxi GO and LINE.

lusty valve
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Before I had an eSim phone I used Mobal, and I can say they are great. Fast, and worked all over Japan. Now I just use eSims from Airalo. Never had any issues.

obtuse cradle
hybrid granite
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Yes it does

obtuse cradle
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Is it Mobal?

hybrid granite
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Nope. Bmobile

halcyon bear
hybrid granite
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Yes from 2017.

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You can't get it anymore

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And yes I was paying monthly to maintain it

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The charge used to be about 700 yen per month, now its halved.

obtuse cradle
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Oh wow

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Hang on to that for dear life

halcyon bear
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i need to see if i can find mine from 2019…

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i may have already tossed it by accident though

hybrid granite
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Oh and I use it for eplus and other services where you need JP SMS capability (Cause foreign stuff is out)

split sigil
hybrid granite
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Thats true

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But I have other things that I use a JP SMS number for

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So win win

halcyon bear
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@hybrid granite do you mind sharing a pic of your bmobile sim

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i’m curious if this sim i found is the bmobile one i had lol but it has no branding on it

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this is mine, maybe

IMG_1962.jpg
hybrid granite
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Sec..

halcyon bear
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interesting

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supposedly mine doesn’t cover SMS if i saw the right product listing for it

hybrid granite
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Yeah to get that nowadays, you need proof of residence

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in 2017, this requirement did not exist

halcyon bear
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yeah this sim was from 2019. but that may have been too late

split sigil
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Update: went with the Mobal esim, 50 gb for 3900 yen which seems like an incredible deal!!

cursive delta
split sigil
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I got a good deal through Simcardgeek but they stopped doing physical sims unfortunately

cursive delta
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Yea. Hope setting up part goes well. That's my only complaint. pvg

split sigil
cursive delta
split sigil
halcyon bear
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i’m about to pull the trigger on the mobal 16 day 10gb esim. any issues at this point @cursive delta other than the activation stuff you mentioned

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although maybe i should wait because they don’t say when you actually start the esim service lol. wouldn’t want to pay today if it’ll activate now

toxic flare
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I decided to try the Saily esim (from nord vpn). I have installed it on my phone but will not activate it until I land in Japan. I’ll report how it goes.

halcyon bear
toxic flare
halcyon bear
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nice! let us know

toxic flare
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For reference, 30 days 30 gb was 20usd. (Had a code for 15% off.)

halcyon bear
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wow that’s way cheaper than the one i’m looking at for mobal

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do they say which network they use for the saily one?

toxic flare
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I believe that it connects with the "best available network" in each location.

halcyon bear
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ahh

toxic flare
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If you look into it the code for 15% off is, "Megan."

halcyon bear
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ty! will probably wait in your report but i’m sure we all appreciate that 🥹

toxic flare
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Absolutely! It's good to save a little money (if it's good.)

cursive delta
split sigil
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50 gb 16 days for $27

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It was only a couple more dollars for 40 more gb @halcyon bear

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Like $3 more

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Basically unlimited data for 16 days

split sigil
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30 days 30 gb is a great deal for $20

toxic flare
halcyon bear
simple kernel
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I ended up with journey japan this trip because i was curious if a youtuber esim would work out, mostly ok! sometimes been slow but has been LTE ~everywhere. sadly no 5g. $49 usd/50gb 30day

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not as cheap as other options though

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seems to use IIJ which I understand is docomo

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ive actually used nearly 20gb in less than 2 weeks lol

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but i am one of those people who just puts youtube on when im stuck on the train

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and listens to music in the car

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and not all of it is preloaded

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yeah since i reset tracking its youtube, twitter and Music mostly lol

toxic flare
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I arrived in Japan & the saily esim was an easy transition. I had installed it on my phone while in California & activated it when I landed. No issues so far!

simple kernel
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verdict on journey japan esim: mostly worked, was never in 5g, sometimes slow for inexplicable reasons but only a couple times in the middle of my trip and i assume it was a mobile proxy/nat issue of some sort, didn’t have hotspot though.

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used 25gb of 50gb in 2 weeks lol

split sigil
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I scanned the QR and it didn’t even give me a chance to put the other codes in

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Is this what it said before you got to Japan?

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@cursive delta

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I had to block the number out because idk if that’s a dox

cursive delta
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We probably don't have same phones, so that looks pretty foreign to me. pvg
Either way, I only started to fiddle with it when I was already in Japan.

split sigil
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Oh ok lol

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It told me to get the QR code the day before leaving so I did

halcyon bear
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that’s for mobal right

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i still can’t decide if i want to do that or airalo

split sigil
halcyon bear
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good luck

toxic flare
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The Saily eSIM is fine but is patchy in certain areas. Messages between John & myself were delayed in sending.

cursive delta
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Lost net totally today. Though the culprit was google and not mobal. pvg What happened, there was new update for android and I updated before leaving hotel. Then later realised net wasn't working. After bit of looking, the update had reset my data back to my home sim. So switching it back to mobal and I had interwebs again. kumamon
Glad I had roaming disabled, because if it had switched to my home sim and kept interwebs rolling, I might've never noticed and amassed hundreds of euros in roaming fees. (used 13 megs of roaming back at airport while setting up mobal and my home provider wanted 2€ for that ffs. That's like 160€+/Gb)

split sigil
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Lmaooo

cursive delta
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But other than that. Mobal has still been solid.

halcyon bear
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i just decided to do Mobal and paid for their 10gb 16day esim. the instructions look ok ish? so we’ll see how it goes in roughly 24 hours

split sigil
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Activated it as we touched down and powered up immediately

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Easy setup too

halcyon bear
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nice

halcyon bear
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mobal was super easy to set up

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only minor issue i had was i couldn’t use the qr code. had to enter the stuff manually

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but it was ezpz

obtuse cradle
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Is it because you can't scan the QR code that's on the same screen?

split sigil
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iOS was easy

halcyon bear
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but for what it’s worth their instructions do say that happens sometimes and provide easy instructions just in case

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so maybe certain phones have something that doesn’t allow it

obtuse cradle
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Interesting

halcyon bear
obtuse cradle
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I see. It wasn’t available on the app

halcyon bear
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yeah. not sure what about ios determines whether you can or not

split sigil
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My sim is somehow letting texts in? @halcyon bear

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At my same number

obtuse cradle
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What carrier?

split sigil
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Is iMessage technically data? Could be why

obtuse cradle
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SMS is different

split sigil
halcyon bear
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imessage is just internet messaging like fb or whatsapp or whatever

cursive delta
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Another mobal ordered. My 31 days are almost up, so another 16 days order placed.

halcyon bear
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i’m sure i’ll be doing the same by the end of the week

cursive delta
halcyon bear
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i did the 10gb for 16 days

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but i use social media and stuff

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i’m guessing i’ll need another 10gb

cursive delta
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Ah ok. Yea that can eat it up fast.

halcyon bear
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yup

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i’m at 4.3gb now

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after about five days

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four actually

cursive delta
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I used 2 gigs in a month lol. Just google maps and some occasional discord.

halcyon bear
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nice lol

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fwiw i still use a lot of public wifi also

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it just still adds up haha

cursive delta
hidden kite
cursive delta
hidden kite
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yeah, it puts me off considering using mobal to be honest

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I don't need to deal with this stuff on holiday

cursive delta
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Well problem was that my trip is longer than any offered package. pvg

hidden kite
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packages get extended every time you top up

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so it's enough to top up before it expires ad you got extra time added

cursive delta
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Oh I'm just talking about mobal.

hidden kite
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ah

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well I still prefer flexibility of top ups

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without faffing aroind reinstalling teh eSIM

cursive delta
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Understandable. Though this was just: add new e-sim, paste code, done. kumamon

cedar inlet
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Okay.. Leo's original request has been resolved, so I will make a new post about #general sim discussion

split sigil
halcyon bear
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perhaps

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lesson learned