Short-term mobile plans for Japan with voice calling
I'm going to visit Japan for an extended period of time soon. The visit is long enough that I would want to have a local phone number, but short enough that I won't be considered a resident and get a residence card (the length of my visit falls just a little bit under 90 days).
I've Googled a bit in both English and Japanese, as well as looked at this question, but didn't find a prepaid SIM (or similar) plan that has both voice calling and a period of validity long enough that it wouldn't be tedious to get a new card, like, every two weeks. The SoftBank rental SIM comes close, but it is a bit pricey (110 yen/day).
I am actually on Project Fi and have free global data roaming, so I don't need a data-only plan at all. I also don't really expect to use my Japanese number all that often; maybe just for an occasional phone call or text message. That being said, I do want to have a Japanese number handy, because I expect to need it from time to time. So, is this SoftBank rental thing my only choice, or are there some better choices out there?
Best Answer
You may want to just get a Line.app account and/or VOIP number such as through Skype or other service that’ll give you a local number.
I found in Japan that everyone preferred Line to communicate and no one ever called me on voice except for official business.
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