Living in Japan

[kryss]

8000!? Our combined monthly bill was 4400 on softbank, although I hear they've stopped the 990/month they used to have.

[randombs]

Off the top of my head:

~800Y for phone(no free calls)
5000Y for 7GB data(I was paying 4000Y for 3GB but had to move to 7GB to get the 5S)
500Y for SP-Mode or whatever
500Y for AppleCare

It's annoying because I hardly use data. Maybe 2-300MB/month. Now that I have it I use it a lot for HD Youtube stuff on the train but I could easily just cache the videos on my home/work internet if I had to.

In hindsight I should've gone with Au, Softbank or one of the new MVNOs who've appeared but I've learned the hard way and switching wouldn't save me much.

My company will pay 75% of my monthly phone bill if I start getting calls outside office hours. So far that hasn't happened but it's a good motivation to hurry up and get back to studying Japanese

[Ghost]

Damn thats quite expensive, at the moment Im paying ?15 a month for 200 minutes any network, 2000 texts and unlimited internet allowance lol I guess they don't have anything like that in Japan. I have an iPhone 5S which I bought outright so its completely unlocked but if mobile internet is that expensive I probably wont use it that much so being limited to 3G probably won't be a problem. Last time I was living in Japan phones didn't even have SIM cards and you were locked to whatever provider you were with.

[randombs]

That site I linked to has a good comparison of the various mvno sims. I'd recommend having a look.

I tried b-mobile but found the data slowed down to a crawl after a few weeks. They piggyback Docomo's network so I think their users aren't prioritised.

Like I said, my package was a bit of a mistake.

[Ghost]

Ive checked the website you listed, seems it might be a better option to sell my iPhone here and get a new phone when I get to Japan as even though it is unlocked there are still going to be some headaches getting a sim to work with it. Ive just been checking some of the carrier websites and SoftBank seem to be the best one Ive come across, with a flat-rate 4G data plan (which I assume is unlimited usage) for ?6,934/month. If that also allows me to use tethering that would be by far the best option for me as I wouldn't need to get a landline or broadband installed, but all of the information is in Japanese so I can't read up on the details.

[randombs]

No one does unlimited data here. Highly likely it has a limit after which it slows down. Mine is like that: after 7GB it drops to 128kbps which is nigh-on unusable. I hit the limit once and it was only for about two days but horrible when I was outside using maps, etc. Docomo also allows tethering but I don't know what their prices are now.

About our home internet:

Cancelled OCN and cable company will visit on Saturday to set us up which is great.

No installation or cancellation fees and no fees for changing speed.

Also, the first month is free so we'll start on 160 and then drop to 30 next month.

[Yakumo]

Yeah, my phone (4G) is limited to 10gb per month but to be honest at home it's always using WiFi and in work I use it to tether my laptop to the net but never go over 6gb per month since its mostly Web browsing or a little YouTube here and there.

My home connection has no limit though.

[Anpanman]

I made the mistake of getting an unlocked 3g phone with the thought of getting a pay as you go sim when I'm over there as it seems you can only get contracts.

[randombs]

Well, the law here is that you have to be a resident to get a voice contract(payg or monthly) but data is no problem. Apparently it's to do with terrorism but ne'er do wells can just use Skype, etc. In fact, they've been pushing to make data sims residents-only as well.

B-Mobile is good. A few stores are starting to get in on the act, as well. Bic Camera has their own payg sim.

Basically what you're doing is signing up for a monthly rolling contract that disconnects when you stop paying.

Bear in mind that, if you get a data-only sim, your battery will get hammered(up to 1% per minute) as the phone will keep checking for a voice signal but never find one. There's a fix for Android phones but nothing for iPhones that I can see.

If you know someone in Japan you could get them to sign you up for one. I was considering registering a B-Mobile sim for when mates come and visit but need to check what happens if it's not topped up regularly.

[Anpanman]

Wife's a national and has a contract phone but I just wanted a pay as you go sim then I could swap when in Japan. I'm not paying for a contract when I only need for a couple of text messages etc.

[randombs]

Cable internet is all installed and working fine.

I did one last speed test on the OCN VDSL line before it got disconnected. I was hesitant in case it was amazing and I'd feel like I was missing out, but:

1.5Mb down, 30Mb up

Which is the exact opposite of the speeds we get on cable

Plus they gave us a dual-channel ABGN router. So far, so good!

[Anpanman]

Yep, upload speeds seem high, ours in Japan is 10mb/10mb, in UK 30mb/2mb.

[Ghost]

Need some more advice if you guys can help, just got it confirmed what I had suspected, nova doesn't provide any health insurance Now would it be better for me to get it from a provider in the UK before I leave or should I sign up with a japanese company once I'm out there? Any recommendations?

[Darwock]

If you are planning to stay long term, get on the kokumin kenkou hoken (national health insurance). To be honest, to prevent future headaches and the government chasing you for years of backdated contributions, you should get in the full shakai hoken (social insurance) which your employer is more or less obligated to do for you AFAIK. Laws have changed over this in recent years, many dodgy employers did not enroll their foreign staff in the system, and when such people move to a responsible employer, the lack of previous payments comes back to bite them in the arse. The employers are not held accountable, we are...

[randombs]

@Darwock:

Wow, that's interesting and also worrying. I was under the impression that, if you're self-employed(or on a dispatch/haken contract) you don't have to pay social insurance/pension if you don't want to but I'm reading up on it now.

@Ghost:

My employer's tactic was to say we don't work more than six hours a day as ALTs but I was told that was to get out of enrolling us in company health insurance. Unless whoever told me meant pension as well. From what I understand, you and your employer pay 50% of the contributions so you can see why these companies try and weasel their way out of it!

As Darwock said, the kokumin health insurance will be fine for you. It's arranged through your local town hall. If you move to a responsible employer then you simply visit your town hall and cancel it.

I'm not sure how travel insurance works if you're going somewhere to live instead of on a trip but it might be worth getting a few weeks just to cover you from when you land. You never know...