In Japan, there are two types of cell phones: sim free and sim locked cell phones.
Sim-locked cell phones are restricted by cell phone companies to use only their own phone lines.
A sim free phone does not have this restriction and can be used with any phone line by inserting a sim card.
If you want to be free to choose your cell phone carrier, you need to buy a sim-free phone or unlock your phone.
This article explains about sim locks, how to unlock a sim lock, and where to buy a sim free phone.
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What is a Japanese sim-locked cell phone?
When you buy a cell phone at a major carrier store in Japan, you cannot use another company’s sim card.
This is called sim lock.
If you want to be free to choose your cell phone brand, you should buy a sim-free cell phone or unlock your cell phone’s sim lock.
If your phone was purchased from docomo、au、Softbank、uq mobile、Y mobile, your phone may be sim locked.
How to unlock a cell phone sim lock
You can unlock your sim lock by paying a fee of 3300 yen at each carrier’s store.
If you want to unlock your phone without paying a fee, you can check each carrier’s website to find out how to unlock your phone and unlock it yourself.
Each carrier has their own instructions for unlocking the sim lock.
You can find the unlocking instructions for each carrier at the following website.
However, all the instructions are written in Japanese, so please use machine translation to check the instructions.
How to buy a sim-free cell phone
I have explained about sim locks.
You may be thinking. “I want a sim-free phone.”
If you want to buy a sim-free phone in Japan, there are several places to buy one.
There are four ways.
These four ways are
Purchase at an electronics retail store.
Purchase at an online store.
Purchase from an MVNO carrier.
Purchase a used one at a second-hand store or auction site.
Below are notes on each of these purchases.
Purchase at an electronics retail store.
You can buy a SIM-free cell phone at an electronics retail store.
If the item is in the store, you can buy it that day and take it home.
However, if you are not fluent in Japanese, you may not know the specs of the phone or you may be sold something else.
I recommend that you research and decide what you want before you go to the electronics retail store.
Purchase at an online store.
You can buy them at e-commerce sites Amazon, Rakuten, and other stores.
And you can also use the online stores of the official websites of cell phone manufacturers.
Purchase from an MVNO carrier.
mvno phone companies sell SIM-free devices (smartphones and tablets) with a SIM card contract.
mvno companies do not have their own phone lines.
Because they lease phone lines from other companies, phone rates are very inexpensive.
However, although the phone rates are low, the devices they sell can be expensive.
Please check the amount carefully.
Also, be sure to check the mvno’s plans carefully before signing a contract.
Purchase a used one at a second-hand store or auction site.
Cell phones are owned by all people in recent years.
Therefore, many used cell phones are sold.
Many used cell phones are sold in used stores around town.
There are also used cell phone stores on the Internet.
And used cell phones are also traded on the private sale sites Yahoo Auction and Mercari.
Please note the following points for these used phones
Is the phone SIM-free?
Is the device damaged?
Is the battery degraded?
Is the phone restricted for use due to theft or misplacement?
The above should always be checked when purchasing used equipment.
Be especially careful with private sales.
If you are not fluent in Japanese, I would recommend purchasing a new cell phone or signing a contract at a major used cell phone store.
Please avoid private sales.
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