Japanese Mobile Phone

It doesn't seem anyone has an authoritative answer on cell phones in Japan. Zine looked in Thai and I searched in English for how cell phones work, where we could get one and how much it would cost. No one seemed to know. Luckily a friend of ours has been studying Japanese language in Fukuoka and has a resident card.

Resident card? Yes, apparently cell phones are only available to people registered to live in Japan. I read about renting a phone but couldn't find enough information to feel comfortable doing so. Our friend got us a phone and 3,000 yen of pre-paid credit from Softbank.

I'm still a little confused about what happened that day but the phone works…

Update; May 18, 2013: Now that the trip is over and I'm back in Thailand, I don’t think getting a phone was the best use of money. I only used it a few times and it would have been just as convenient to use the house phone at our host or hotel or to use a public phone. If you’re worried about getting a phone in Japan, don't be.