Mobile Phone Service in Japan

This week I am back in Tokyo and glad I have an international plan built into my mobile-phone service. It is always helpful when my airplane lands in a city outside the United States to immediately get a text from T-mobile telling me I have free data and texting. Should I want to make a regular phone call, I can do that as well for very inexpensive rates. Instead I actually just find a WiFi spot, like at the hotel, put my phone in airplane mode, and use WiFi calling to talk to someone.

Yesterday I had a bit of extra time to do some sightseeing and so I left my hotel early hoping to avoid rush-hour on the trains. Nobody likes being shoved into an already crowded train and out of respect to the locals, I wanted to get to my destination early. Then I could return early and get some important work done.

I assumed I could buy an entry ticket at my desired destination and didn't worry about purchasing it online before leaving the ubiquitous WiFi of my hotel. I got to the famous Japan site only to discover I needed to purchase my ticket online. Furthermore, I needed to download a special app to display the ticket. This is where you really need an international plan for your mobile phone.

There are always lines in Japan and so I used my time in line to download the special app. This is where my limited data plan broke down. It took about 30 minutes to download the app. At my hotel it only would have taken a minute or two. This is something I wish I had known before heading out- to do some sightseeing. I waited rather impatiently for the thing to download and then purchased an entry ticket. Once the app could display my ticket's QR code, I obtained entry and could visit the site. The only casualty of the day is the extra time my phone spent sucking the life out of my battery. At the end of my sightseeing trip I returned to my hotel with only 6% of my battery life left. I quickly put it on the charger before going out and doing anything else.

I know I am not the only tourist that has drained their smartphone trying to get into this attraction. Inside they had a battery-rental service so you could top up your electricity needs. I sort of felt like it is a racket though. Let's charge people a fee to get in only to make it almost impossible and need a battery charging service once inside. That is the life of a tourist. They don't vote in local elections and so nobody opposes extra fees and taxes for people visiting the area. Don't believe me, just look at your hotel bill the next time you have one and add up all the taxes.