Japanese Cheap Pre-paid Sims’ functions and price lists

Pre-paid sim card which you can get directly at card electronics retail stores and online shops in Japan is only for data communication. Which means, you can only use internet
with the amount of data that you bought by pre-paid. This type of pre-paid sim doesn’t allow you to

• use SMS
• make and receive a call

If you want to make a call with pre-paid plan, you can use IP phone app. IP phone is a call method by way of internet. Familiar IP phone apps are What’s app and LINE in Japan. These are for free.

However, if you haven’t installed theses apps with your previous phone number in your country, you wouldn’t use these apps because you need a active phone number to activate these apps. Line or What’s app requires you to input 4 digit numbers sent to your SMS through your phone number.

If you don’t have What’s app or LINE, you could join paid phone apps which you don’t need to have a phone number to activate.

If you join paid IP phone apps, you receive phone number with 11 digits starting from 050.

In major mobile carrier, SoftBank and AU also provides pre-paid Sim.This pre-paid sim allows you to use SMS and make and receive a call.

You need to make one year contract and you repeat recharging as often as you use up data you bought. SoftBan pre-paid sim is not disposable but repeat recharging until the expiry of one year contract.

If you terminate a contract during contractual period, penalty charge will be incurred. It costs you 20,000 yen. You can learn basic charge structure of Japanese mobile carrier from here

Cheap Prepaid Sims which you can see at online shops

OCN

OCN (Open Computer Network) is an internet service provider managed by NTT Communications. NTT Communications is a subsidiary of NTT.

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	OCN 20MB	OCN 50GB
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯	◯
SMS function	×	×
Call function	×	×
IP phone application	○	○
Data Capacity	50MB a day	1GB
Expiry	20 days	3 months
Recharge	Optional Extra package	Optional Extra package
Payment
Pre-paid package price	3,024yen	3,456yen
IP Phone application (optional)	324yen	324yen
Where you buy	online shops, electronic stores
Inquiry to NTT communications
Phone Number	0120 047 427
Web site	https://www.us.ntt.com/en/index.html(English)

If you want to use a IP phone app with a phone number, you need to apply at the same time you buy this SIM.

Basic charge costs you 324yen per month and it costs you 20 yen every 30 seconds of calling other than basic charge.

U-mobile

U-mobile is a mobile carrier run by U-Next that provides mainly video streaming service.

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	U-mobile 7days	U-mobile 15days
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯	◯
SMS function	×	×
Call function	×	×
IP phone application	×	×
Data Capacity	220MB 7days	220MB 15days
Recharge	×	×
Payment
Pre-paid package price	1,944yen	3,024yen
Where you buy	Airport, U-next shop
Inquiry to U-mobile communications
Phone Number	0570 022 056
Web site	https://umobile.jp/lp/prepaid/(Japanese)

Mineo

Mineo is a mobile brand provided by K-OPTI.com, which is a susbsidiary of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	Mineo Single
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯
SMS function	◯
Call function	×
IP phone application	◯
Data Capacity	1GB
Expiry	End of the next month from the day you start using
Recharge	×
Payment
Pre-paid package price	3,700yen
SMS charge	Monthly charge 0yen Sending 3~30yen per sending Receiving 0yen
IP Phone application (Mineo recommending option)	LaLa call. See a price list down below.
Where you buy	online shops, electronic stores
Inquiry to Mineo communications
Phone Number	0120 977 384
Web site	http://mineo.jp/prepaid/(Japanese)

LaLa call
Make a call to	Charge
LaLa Call Business LaLa Call ECO Hikari Office Eco Hikari 050IP Phone	Free
Domestic mobile (Japan)	8 yen every 30 seconds
PHS(Japan)	20 yen every 1 minute
Landline (Japan)	8 yen every 3 minutes
050 IP phone (Paid alliance)	7.4 yen every 3 minutes
International call	6yen every 1 minute

Pre-paid package provided by Mineo is also only for data communication. If you want to make a call to someone, you only have a choice fee IP phone apps Line, What’s app, or paid IP phone apps like lala call.

If you apply for paid IP phone apps like LaLa call, you will receive unique 11 digits number. You will be able to tell your number to someone who you are calling to. It is pretty much like you make a call with phone number.

B mobile

B mobile is managed by Japan Communications Inc. This company is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator providing wireless data communication packages to companies and data communication packages to individuals.

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	B mobile 5GB	B mobile 7GB
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯	◯
SMS function	×	×
Call function	×	×
IP phone application	◯	◯
Data Capacity	5GB	7GB
Expiry	1 month, 6 months, 12 months
Recharge	Each day	1 month, 6 months, 12 months
Payment
Pre-paid package price	1 month 3,380yen 6 months 17,315yen 12 months 29,445yen	1 month 3,500yen 6 months 17,315yen 12 months 27,593yen
Recharge	500 yen is charged every day	1 month 28,171yen 6 months 14,723yen 12 months 25,000yen
Where you buy	online shops, electronic stores
Inquiry to B mobile
Phone Number	03 5776 1700
Web site	http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/5gbnm/index.html(Japanese)

If you exptend expiry date of pre-paid sim, you have to apply for it within 2 days after the expiry date. If you apply after 3 days, you cannot extend and need to buy one again.

Rakuten Mobile

Rakuten mobile is a mobile communication company. It is a subsidiary of Rakuten running worldwide online shopping mall

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	Rakute Mobile prepaid SIM 1 GB	Rakute Mobile prepaid SIM 2 GB
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯	◯
SMS function	×	×
Call function	×	×
IP phone application	◯	◯
Data Capacity	1GB	2GB
Expiry	30days	90days
Recharge	500MB, 1GB, 2GB
Payment
Pre-paid package price	2,980yen	3,980yen
Recharge	30days 1,500yen 90days 2,000yen 90days 3000yen
Where you buy	online shops, electronic stores
Inquiry to Rakuten mobile
Phone Number	0800-6000-100
Web site	https://mobile.rakuten.co.jp/prepaid/en/(English)

Sonet

So-net is is an internet service provider. Sone is subsidiary of Sony Communications Inc.
A parent company of those subsidiary is Sony.

Availability
Types of pre-paid sims	PrepaidLTESIM 1.2 GB	PrepaidLTESIM 2.4 GB	PrepaidLTESIM 3.2 GB
Images
Sim Size	Standard SIM ・ micro SIM ・ nano SIM
Mobile data communication (internet)	◯	◯	◯
SMS function	×	×	×
Call function	×	×	×
IP phone application	◯	◯	◯
Data Capacity	1.2GB	2.4GB	3.2GB
Expiry	30days	30days
Recharge	1GB,
Payment
Pre-paid package price	Open price
Recharge	2,838yen
Where you buy	online shops, electronic stores
Inquiry to Sonet
Phone Number	0120 217 260
Web site	http://www.so-net.ne.jp/prepaid/en/(English)