Studying Abroad in Japan and looking for a cell phone and options for calling back to the U.S.?

I’m going to be studying abroad soon in Japan for a year and was planning on buying a cell phone there. I have had several suggestions from friends on what I should buy and was wondering if maybe I could get some extra feedback here. I’ve heard about Docomo and Willcom being someones that I should look into. So far it looks like they might be the best bets? In addition, I was wondering if someone could maybe tell me if there’s anything special I need to do for getting a cellphone since I’m not from Japan. Or if it’s really hard ^^;
Also, as far as calling back to the U.S. goes, I had originally planned on buying a phone card or just using Skype to call my family. However, right now they’re looking at a bunch of options from companies like Vonage (i.e. buying a phone here for me to use in Japan). If my original plan has any snags, if there are any places my parents should look, or if there’s any alternatives we haven’t seen yet

Answer by happyjumpyfrog
Skype is really good. We use it to phone Canada and Kenya.

Answer by rhi19
Softbank. 980 JPY per month is your basic bill, which includes a lot.

Still, I would recommend seeing what cel provider your friends and contacts are using, because there’s a lot of Softbank-to-Softbank or AU-to-AU free calling benefits.

Skype is very good for calling, we use it ourselves here as well.

Answer by Ken Y-N
If you want to make international calls from your mobile, one of the cheapest ways is to register with G-Call. I use them for both domestic and international calls, and they are very good.

Answer by reefridesurfer
I dont think getting a monthly plan phone is possible but you can get a prepaid phone from 7-11 and for calling the states for cheap, I personally use Brastel. Good Luck

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My Gadget Drawer


Image by craig1black
I have a few friends who think I have a ton of cell phones. Well not so anymore. Here you can see three of my spare phones. I do have a LG flip phone in my work bag as a spare in case of I run out of battery on my main phone. And some of you may remember I have the huge Motorola Select 2000e (brick phone) — its hidden away in the back of this drawer.

my cell phone is a peice of crap, i just got it last yr in july. it does not work. its touch screen

i want to buy a phone off ebay and switch it.
does verizon allow people to switch to another phone?
help! i want to do this asap.
the stupid Glide phone. i hate this phone. they didnt update it. so whenever i touch sumthing it nevvvvvver works i cant stand it anymore. gives me tourettes

Answer by i’m a bird
yes you can do this by shutting off your old phone. then on your new phone dial *228 and follow the prompts. sometimes there are issues and it may ask you to call verizon from a different phone and they will take you through to manually set it up. i’ve had to do this many times because i lose or break cell phones on a monthly basis, what touch screen phone did you have that doesn’t work???

Answer by Jayheazy
You can definitely change your phone all you want! The only two requirements are that the phone is E911 compliant (which almost every phone that was made in the last several years is), and that it’s not reported lost or stolen. I would highly advise caution when buying phones off of ebay because they may be lost or stolen and unless the person who reported it stolen calls in to have it taken off the list you CANNOT activate it. Any questions feel free to call customer service we’re always happy to help:)

Answer by Sha B
yup u can switch. dial *228 send on the phone u are wanting to use. make sure the glyde is off. choose option #3 to switch ur phone. follow prompts n ure good to go. Will ask u for ur phone number and last 4 of social or password on acct. Or logon to ur vzw account. Choose option to activate phone. And u can put in esn # off phone from ebay and switch that way. Then ud need to dial *228 send on that phone and opt 1 to program

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