The Cheapo Guide to Internet & Mobile Network Services in Japan
The trick to unlocking the best deals lies in smartly combining introductory offers to construct your own cost-effective bundle
In Japan, navigating the sea of utility providers, each peddling their own package deals, all in very convoluted Japanese, can feel like overwhelming.
The thing they don’t tell you is that it’s almost always cheapest to make your own bundle, especially if you use all the bait offers providers use to reel you in (which I will share links to here).
I've sifted through the clutter to bring you the cheapest Mobile Network Service & Home Internet. This straightforward list spotlights only the cream of the crop deals—no frills, no second-guessing, just the best bang for your yen:
Mobile Network Service:
Rakuten Mobile
There is no beating around the bush: Despite all the setbacks, Rakuten and its CEO Hiroshi Mikitani has had building out their mobile carrier service from scratch, it is finally done, and boy does it deliver!
Due to having a higher frequency bandwidth their cell towers, Rakuten Mobile offers the fastest average speeds in Japan and a 99% coverage ratio of the other main carriers (source).
* The company even has decent English support
The craziest part is their prices:
I do not care what other campaigns say, Long-term, Rakuten Mobile is Japan’s cheapest carrier!
Campaign code:
Click HERE to get the above campaign offer
When Rakuten Mobile Might Not Suit You:
Rakuten Mobile's free calls require using their app, which has ads. This can be inconvenient, especially when needing to transfer numbers from the native phone app to Rakuten's for a free call.
For frequent international travelers, Ahamo might be a better choice, offering 20GB abroad compared to Rakuten's 2GB. Note that after a month, both carriers stop free internet services abroad.
Internet Service
* If you live alone and don’t game or stream in 4K, you can make it with only a mobile service
Otegal Hikari (おてがる光)
First, whatever internet providers like you to think, 99% of your performance will depend on the fiber connection in your home. Hence, you should go for the cheapest provider which is a little known company called Otegal!
This is their pricing structure:
Fixed-term contract fee: Free (you can cancel any time)
Basic monthly charge: 3,608 yen (tax included) per month
Initial cost: 0 yen
Equipment cost: 3,300 yen
Installation cost: 22,000 yen which they then give back to you over 11 months.
Maximum speed: 1 Gbps Up/Down
Unlimited data usage
I have seen cheaper deals, but no other company offers this pricing level without any contract period.
Campaign Code:
Click HERE for this campaign
When Otegal Hikari Might Not Suit You:
If you know you will stay in the same place for many years to come, there are cheaper offers
If you need 10Gbps. Then you should get Otegal Hikari Cross
Alternative Choice: So-Net
Alternative Choice: So-Net So-Net is a more budget-friendly alternative to Otegal Hikari, offering monthly savings of about 204 yen. However, it comes with slower average download speeds of 92.52 Mbps compared to Otegal Hikari's 302.06 Mbps (source). Importantly, So-Net also currently has a campaign where they waive the administrative and installation fees, much like Otegal. But there's a catch: So-Net spreads the installation fee discount over 24 months, meaning if you cancel early, you'll need to cover part of the network installation fee. In contrast, Otegal spreads this discount over 11 months, making the overall cost much cheaper for those who might cancel within a year.
For more info on So-Net and their latest campaings, click here.
After researching myself recently I came up with the following:
- So-net as an internet provider: ¥3400 basic monthly fee without fixed term contract
- Nuro Mobile as a mobile carrier: ¥990 for 5GB per month
The bonus is if you apply to So-net then you can get a ¥792 discount on the Nuro Mobile for 1 year.
Hi Rei: Interesting article. My wife and I use our U.S. T-Mobile cell plan when we travel to Japan. We pay an extra $10/month per line for almost unlimited calling to Japan. With this plan, my wife takes her T-Mobile cell phone to Japan and uses it just like in the U.S. She makes calls to cell and land lines and uses as much data as in the U.S. Because calls to a small number of lines in Japan cost 2-3 cents/minutes, for each month my wife uses T-Mobile in Japan our cell bill for her phone bill increases only about 20 or 30 dollars (any my wife uses her phone for talk, text, and data ALL THE TIME!) This is the best deal for cell usage in Japan for American users which I have seen. BTW, I was in Dubai for two weeks a few years ago and used the same type of plan there for the same price.