I have always wanted a Japanese cell phone. They’re so functional and even the most basic ones make the iPhone outdated even before it hit the market. Now that I plan on staying here for at least a year, I finally have a reason to get one and honestly, I wouldn’t live without one. Sure you can rent one but it will probably end up costing more. I didn’t think obtaining one would be that complicated, however, buying a cell phone in Japan has been surprisingly difficult and a bit frustrating.
I went with my cousin to Yamada Denki (comparable to a Best Buy in the US) and there were rows and rows of cell phones of all different colors and functions and abilities. They’re all shaped the same for the most part: rectangular, long, flip phones, with a pretty good camera attached to it. In fact, I had my Casio Exilim 8.1 megapixel digital camera with me in my purse and I found a phone that had my exact camera attached to it; even the same lime green color. Needless to say, the selection of the device was overwhelming, but the headache didn’t stop there. Finding the right plan came with another set of mind-spinning choices.
First, you have to choose a service provider. Docomo is the most expensive but it is also the most popular and has the largest network. Since calls made to phones within the same network are free, it might actually be cheaper. The other major carriers are Softbank (anyone see the SMAP commercial?) and AU by KDDI. I chose Docomo because I was able to join my cousin’s family plan.
Once you choose the carrier, you have decide what type of service to include in the plan. In the States, this is pretty simple. Nowadays, almost all plans come with free night and weekend (or something similar), as well as texting, voice mail and call waiting. It’s also pretty standard to have a camera and internet access. Here, however, I found out that you pay separately for each of those services. That is, if you want to have voice mail, you have to pay for it (that was 400 Yen added to my monthly bill). You can get a package of call options for about 650 Yen a month added to the bill. Then you pay extra to have internet access and e-mail (not surprising). However, here’s the real shocker: At least with Docomo there are about 5 different calling rates one can choose from: S to LL, as if they were T-shirt sizes. S, the cheapest, allows for 25 minutes to talk on the phone and 18 Yen extra for every minute thereafter, per month. Yes, you read right. That’s 25 minutes PER MONTH! That’s insane! In the States, I probably spent an hour on the phone a day, at least. There isn’t a plan that will cover that much phone use. I guess everyone here just texts and emails each other. But I like hearing people’s voice and it’s so much faster to communicate over the phone than through multiple text messages, especially when texting in Japanese. Words and meaning get lost in translation. It won’t be easy but I know that eventually I will get the hang of it. Maybe I’ll just write using emoticons and pictures. There are more than just smiley faces. Here, they have a ton of little images you can imbed between words and sentences and some are really random; like a penguin (??).
After fine-tuning your preferences, be prepared to pay a pretty sum. I originally picked out a phone that looked simple and basic. On the back it had an 8 megapixel camera with auto focus and white balance on it (cool!). The total for the day turned out to be over 50,000 yen. I was ready to pay for it but I really wanted a white phone and they no longer carried the color for the model I had picked out. I looked again and found one that looked similar except even simpler, with a 5.2 megapixel camera and it was lighter. As it turned out, the second one I picked was an older version of the first and thus cost half the price. I was relieved but I still had to pay 25,000 yen for the phone, start up fees and all the options. I’ll be billed monthly depending on how much I use the phone, which will probably average 5,000 yen. I guess I can see it as paying for not just a phone but also a camera, a mini TV and GPS (all which already came with the phone), and maybe some other functions I have yet to find.
I see this purchase as a rite of passage for participating and becoming a functioning member in Japanese society. Everyone always has something buzzing in their pockets or their purse and have their nose stuck in one while riding the train or even walking the streets. It’s an electronic extension of themselves. So when in Japan, do what the Japanese do!
