Japan expenses/ Phone bill

[mighty58]

So 仕方なく、I continue to pay a lot of money for the Softbank unlimited plan.

仕方ない? Really? How much data do you need? Aeon's plans allow much more than 1 or 3GB for much less than what you're paying. e.g. 20GB for 2,180yen, or 40GB for 4,980, for example. Personally I have the 7GB for 1,580yen plan... if I'm planning to watch lengthly videos or podcasts while out I'll usually just download them beforehand. Otherwise, for casual use I find it's more than enough.
https://aeonmobile.jp/plan/

[jcherni]

Wow, thank you people.

I admit it has been a while since I researched about it.
I have dismissed these other carriers since then because of the low data volume they (used to) offer.
(To be fair, the TV commercials and such only focus on these small plans of 1, 2GB, which definitely don’t work for me).

I have seen some good options on your comments, so maybe this weekend I’ll choose a cheaper carrier

[Bushiman]

Just, this very week, changed my plan from the Iijmio Family Plan to their new Gigaplan offer...
Iijmio offers SIM cards for both the Docomo (which I use) and AU networks...
Anyway, the wife gets calls and 2GB of data for about ¥800 yen, and I get calls and 20GB of data for just over ¥2000...
The phone (Pixel 4a) I bought outright from Yahoo auction for just over ¥3man, so it all works out way cheaper than using a major carrier, even though we use the Docomo network...

[moly]

Switching from Softbank to any carrier’s mean you need to change your number as well. That’s also one of my concern when changing. But I’ve been hearing a lot about Ahamo!

[RetireJapan]

Switching from Softbank to any carrier’s mean you need to change your number as well. That’s also one of my concern when changing. But I’ve been hearing a lot about Ahamo!

This has not been true since 2006. The my number portability (MNP -nothing to do with that My Number) system means you can keep your phone number when changing carriers.

[moly]

Thank you! Would be my long term visa (1 year) a concern fot Ahamo or Aeon? Softbank does not let foreigners with 1 year long-term visa register for a plan so we always ask our Japanese friend but I don’t want to rely on anyone so much.

[seb]

Aeon has no contract term so you can show your driving license only if you want they don't care.

I use Aeon with 4Gb per month and barely use 3 because I am always between home and office (and commute by bicycle) so I actually use wifi 90% of the time.

I counted that buying a new iPhone cash on this Aeon Mobile plan was cheaper than staying with my old White Plan on Softbank. This and changing my internet plan is saving me close to 10,000¥ per month.

My girlfriend wants to do like me but she still owes money for the devices she bought (kids iPhone, an iPad, etc...) and cancelling would be too expensive until the end of the contract... They make sure to make those plans, cancelation fees and all details as confusing and hard to calculate as possible...

[RetireJapan]

Aeon has no contract term so you can show your driving license only if you want they don't care.

I loved Aeon. They were so relaxed about everything. Even let me use my Japanese name (alias) and pay with a credit card in my official name.

Then from this April they just reduced all their fees. Very happy with the company and the service so far.

[pfdsa]

When I first came to Japan used ijmio (not sure about the spelling) and now I'm using line mobile (around 2,500 yen per month for 10GB and the Line app doesn't use up any data). Didn't had any problems with both due to my 1 year visa, name length, etc. Line mobile also don't require you to have a credit card, which was the reason that I chose it back then. You can create a virtual card on Line pay, and then top it from your bank account or 7-eleven atm.

If you have a sim free phone definitely pays out to look around for promotion campaigns. For example, Rakuten mobile was offering a free 1 year contract until some months ago. Applied to it and still have the SIM card, but the place where I work isnt covered by rakuten mobile network.

[OkiBum]

Aeon has no contract term so you can show your driving license only if you want they don't care.

I loved Aeon. They were so relaxed about everything. Even let me use my Japanese name (alias) and pay with a credit card in my official name.

Then from this April they just reduced all their fees. Very happy with the company and the service so far.

Do you have to use their own app for making calls, texting etc? I switched to Rakuten Mobile but unable to use the native phone app for calling, messaging etc. (extremely annoying)