If you want to plan a vacation to a location that is such a great distance away that it requires a cell phone rental, Japan is a good place to start your planning. Japan, like the majority of other overseas countries, uses a different network for its cell phone systems than the United States. Therefore, to be able to communicate with friends and family while in the country, you will have to rent a cellular phone from a Japanese service provider. There are several ways in which to rent a cell phone for use in Japan. These ways include purchasing cell phone plans or purchasing pre paid SIM cards.
For a purchased cell phone rental, Japan has many service providers who can help you to get the rental package that is right for you. These packages are available on a short term contract basis and have varying minute times. The price of the package depends on the amount of airtime that you contract for. This is simply a miniature example of the long term service plans that are offered in the United States. In addition, just like these plans, overage charges apply for any minutes that you use past your allotted amount. One way to avoid these charges is to use a pre paid plan. These cell phone plans allow you to pay for a certain amount of minutes. However, instead of being able to keep talking, your phone will become unusable after your limit has been reached.
Another option that is offered by many cellular phone service providers in Japan is pre paid SIM cards. With certain phones, all that you need to make it work in countries like Japan is a different SIM card. This card is the brain of your phone. As long as the phone is compatible, you can simply insert the card. As long as you have an operable phone, this option is much cheaper because it avoids the cost of the phone itself.