So I was talking to some guys at the English Cafe Friday night (which by the way is packed on Fridays) and guy from London was looking to get a phone. Another guy from Japan agreed to take him because the process of getting a cell phone seems daunting in Japan and this guy from Japan worked before at a cell phone shop. So anyway, I didn`t agree to come but I figured if I decided late at night the night before that I wanted to go (because I did want a phone) then I would just show up at the time and place I had heard them discuss. Well.....after waking up earlier than I would have wanted to I arrived at the meeting spot precisely 3 minutes late and apparently they were already on their way to the shop.
I thought about catching them at the shop but besides the fact I couldn't`t remember if they were going to Shibuya or Shinjuku there are also a ton of cell phone shops in Tokyo. Figuring I already woke up early and spent some money on the train why not attempt to purchase a prepaid phone all by my lonesome. Let me just say......it wasn`t that bad. Between my bad Japanese and the store clerks bad English we manage to pretty easily get me a prepaid phone. It wasn`t horribly expensive either, about $45 for the actual phone and $28 for some minutes. The minutes are about 84cents/minute which is kinda ridiculous but its free incoming so I pretty much just wait for others to call me and since the majority of my friends are Japanese locals or other long time residents with monthly plans and contracts they can afford to use their minutes. Also for about $2.80/month I get unlimited text messages and email which we all know is what really counts. Out of 5 Japanese people you see, 4 will be texting the 1 calling. The items needed for obtaining prepaid phone are passport, home country address, Japan address, and Japan home phone number.
Cell phones are pretty important in Tokyo both for personal contact and jobs and it was a bit of a pain not having one. Problem solved!
Besides SMAP endorses SoftBank!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMAP
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