# How to get an Iphone4 in Tokyo



## watchman

From what I know you have to sign up a contract with a telco to get a mobile phone over here and u’re not supposed to buy the phone without contract or pop in another carriers sim card into the iphone unlike Singapore for eg. where anything goes. 

in very simple steps then... 

1) go to softbank, its the only telco that can sell the iphone officially in Tokyo. for me i headed down to the roppongi branch. if u take a train to roppongi station, pop out exit 4a and walk straight a little and u should see it. 

2) press the ticket machine to get a ticket for an english speaking staff. after the wait, get to the counter and have your temporary or actual alien registration card, passport and credit card for the monthly payments.

3) counter dude or dudette will let u know about plans and costs etc and ask which one u want to have with the iphone. effectively the iphone is 'free' with a 2 year plan signup and unlimited surfing. i got a double white plan so am paying 6200 yen a month plus whatever charges i get by calling non-softbank numbers or softbank numbers from 9pm to 1am. if the phones in stock u should be able to get it then and there after some wait time for activation. if not in stock, then you'll have to reserve a set and come back another day to get it. i got mine after a 4 day wait. 

hope this helps  

cheers


----------



## Joppa

watchman said:


> From what I know you have to sign up a contract with a telco to get a mobile phone over here and u’re not supposed to buy the phone without contract or pop in another carriers sim card into the iphone unlike Singapore for eg. where anything goes.
> 
> in very simple steps then...
> 
> 1) go to softbank, its the only telco that can sell the iphone officially in Tokyo. for me i headed down to the roppongi branch. if u take a train to roppongi station, pop out exit 4a and walk straight a little and u should see it.
> 
> 2) press the ticket machine to get a ticket for an english speaking staff. after the wait, get to the counter and have your temporary or actual alien registration card, passport and credit card for the monthly payments.
> 
> 3) counter dude or dudette will let u know about plans and costs etc and ask which one u want to have with the iphone. effectively the iphone is 'free' with a 2 year plan signup and unlimited surfing. i got a double white plan so am paying 6200 yen a month plus whatever charges i get by calling non-softbank numbers or softbank numbers from 9pm to 1am. if the phones in stock u should be able to get it then and there after some wait time for activation. if not in stock, then you'll have to reserve a set and come back another day to get it. i got mine after a 4 day wait.


There are a lot of iPhone 4 - unlocked - on sale on auction sites like Yahoo. Handsets are mainly from Hong Kong, but are otherwise identical to those sold in Japan - just choose Japanese language option (or English etc). Going price is around 80,000 yen. Or you can order from Expansy, a UK company that will fedex the phone from HK:
????????Pocket PC & ????????PC??? - eXpansys Japan
SoftBank will almostly certainly not give you a prepaid micro SIM card for your iPhone (they only give you if you have a SoftBank handset), but there are other mobile networks that will give you one, such as J-Com:
b-mobile 3G & b???? ????????????????????????
Cost around 30,000 yen a year. While it may not save much money initially, you will have an unlocked phone and when you go abroad, you can get a local prepaid micro SIM and avoid crippling roaming charge.


----------



## watchman

Joppa said:


> There are a lot of iPhone 4 - unlocked - on sale on auction sites like Yahoo. Handsets are mainly from Hong Kong, but are otherwise identical to those sold in Japan - just choose Japanese language option (or English etc). Going price is around 80,000 yen. Or you can order from Expansy, a UK company that will fedex the phone from HK:
> SoftBank will almostly certainly not give you a prepaid micro SIM card for your iPhone (they only give you if you have a SoftBank handset), but there are other mobile networks that will give you one, such as J-Com:
> Cost around 30,000 yen a year. While it may not save much money initially, you will have an unlocked phone and when you go abroad, you can get a local prepaid micro SIM and avoid crippling roaming charge.


great info joppa. thanks. i guess theres always the official and non-official routes so now folks have both. cool. 

cheers


----------



## Joppa

watchman said:


> great info joppa. thanks. i guess theres always the official and non-official routes so now folks have both. cool.


There is nothing illegal or underhand about sourcing iPhone 4 from abroad. b-mobile has specifically released a microSIM that does speech and data at a very competitive price just to meet such demands. SoftBank may not like it, but hey, it's a free world!


----------



## pnkjdwivedi2

ok, good .............


----------

