Back in Japan for a month. Things are slowly getting better for the world traveller, but problems remain. Meanwhile, my little solution is holding up well.
Here’s an article in the Japan Times that is typical of recent campaigns:
Which leads to the official site:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/mobiletips
… I am not convinced.
Once again,my favorite is http://asahi-net.jp/en/
And, no…. I don’t get anything from them, or from anyone for recommending them in this blog. I hear that the above tourist promo campaign is shelling out for blogger mentions, but I have no idea how to cash in on it and besides, I am ornery and prone to writing what I think, so that might rule me out of a well-run promo campaign.
So.. Update time!
Haneda Airport’s Softbank counter RAN OUT of Y3000 refill cards for my Softbank pay-as-you-go flip-phone. GRRRRRR! The nice counter lady directed me to the 7-11 store one floor down and at the opposite corner of the airport, where they had some, but 7-11 wouldn’t take my Canadian credit card. I had to use up hard currency. GRRRRR.
Just to be a jerk, I dragged the card all the way back to the Softbank counter, waited in line again and politely asked the nice lady to enter the recharge info and set up the text messaging. Now I have a working cell phone in Japan again. Hooray!
Note to Softbank: Run out of prepaid recharge cards? At the Airport counter?
Once at my friend’s house I pop open the envelopes from Asahi Net. In one is the usual NTT DOCOMO data sim and the other envelope (a security thing) contains the setup info and password. As usual, I ordered it up back home, by phone at 10 o’clock at night by calling Asahi Net and giving them my Canadian credit card number, info and Japanese address. My phone plan charges 6c/min to Japan, so no big expense there.
Here’s the page for the LTE plan I use: http://asahi-net.jp/en/service/mobile/lte/
Note they now offer a voice (that’s regular cell phone with data) plan for Y1.600/mo. No idea if they will make it available to folks on a tourist visa. I use the Data sim plan for Y900/month for 3 Gigs. If I go over the speed drops to 2x an old landline modem speeds – which will still do Google Maps for me in a pinch. I haven’t gone over yet.
So…. Into the newer Android smart phone, a Huawei running android 4.4. Visit the settings and enter the APN info, per the LTE/4G Device Settings section:
http://asahi-net.jp/en/support/guide/mobile/lte/index.html
And I have DATA.
Better still, android 4.4 seems to understand data-only sims and is NOT running my battery down looking for a voice connection. I am getting 2 days on a charge, rather than 2 hours. Conclusion, use a modern android smart phone, give the old Android 2.3 machines a rest.
Must remember to notify them that I am ending the service at the end of January before January 15. I will pop the sim in an envelope and mail it back the day I leave Japan.
Meanwhile, I am getting my email,browsing, using Google Maps and uploading cheesy vacation pix to twitter to my heart’s content. Google photo is making cheesy gifs for me and all is well in the world.
The only thing that MILDLY ANNOYS me is the rumour that big tourism bucks are being spent to web-hype an official campaign that is clearly not ready for prime time.
Throw some of that cash at me and I’ll proof-read the clunky Engrish on the official campaign site: http://www.jnto.go.jp/mobiletips/eng/sim/
SALES PLACE IS THIS?
…And stop using the term “Sim-free” The term is “Unlocked” device or phone. Geh!
A price comparison chart would be a nice thing too, but the sponsors would yelp. And don’t hide the jump-bar for the sub-menus only in the masthead graphic on the main page. Replicate the sections in the text area! We are reading SMART JOURNEY IN JAPAN and wondering WTF the content is.
Got questions? Drop a line in the comment section. Otherwise have a great holiday season and a happy and fun New Year!
My Japanese Cell Phone 