What cell phone providers work best in okinawa, japan?

Question

Im moving to Kadena AB on OKinawa, Japan this fall. My husband is on a command sponsored tour. We found out that our sprint phones wont work over there. What are some good cell phone providers that work great in the united states and in other countries?

Answer 1

I am with Soft-Bank. They seem to be the cheapest and  I just got an Iphone through them, the only company here to offer it.  It is great but no signal inside BX or commissary.  We also were with AU for a while and the signal was great but the plans were a bit pricey and you pay by the half minute. Also soft-bank has international plans. My hubby can call me from mainland and from Alaska, but there are cheaper routes for when you travel.  Like a prepaid sim card.

Answer 2

omg the cell phones over there were so expensive.

The biggest mobile phone companies in Japan are NTT Docomo, au by KDDI, and Softbank (formerly Vodafone, and before that J-phone). Docomo is the most popular company with about 50 million subscribers. Au is next with about 30 million subscribers, while Softbank has about 15 million subscribers. we lived on kadena for 3 years. i miss it so very much. if u have any ? about oki just ask.

Answer 3

Sprint or Verizon hahahahahhah!

Answer 4

It depends if you are going to sign up to a contract or rent a cell phone when you get there.  If you sign up to a year or more contract with any company you will get a better deal with regard to cell model and call charges.  

Docomo is strongly connected to the Japanese government which means they may have connections with the military base where you are moving.   There may even be a special deals for military  - worth checking out...  

Docomo also tend to have the best coverage throughout Japan - even in rural locations although it is more expensive than the others.  Because of the connection to the government there may also be a lot of cell phone antena around the base - (my Japanese friend is guessing this!)  

When I last visited Japan I rented a softbank cell phone as this was the best deal, and the only one that offered a 3G service.  But if you are going to stay for a longer time I would recommend you sign up to a Docomo contract.  There are family deals with Docomo for more than one cell too.

My friend from Japan is currently visiting me in the UK with his Docomo cell phone and has had a good service so far.  We don't know about the states yet... but if you get a 3G or 4G model I guess it will be fine.

I hope this helps!