Everyday Essentials

How to Get a Phone Contract in Japan as a Foreign Resident

A Japanese phone number is one of the few everyday things you cannot simply walk in and buy. By law, every carrier — from the biggest national network down to the smallest budget SIM — has to confirm who you are before it will switch on service, which is why a real postpaid contract asks for things a tourist eSIM never did: identification, a way to be billed, and sometimes proof you have been in the country long enough for a carrier to extend you credit. Those requirements — and the different ways the big three carriers, their budget sub-brands, and the foreign-resident-focused low-cost SIMs each handle them — are what tend to trip up someone who arrived recently. This guide maps that terrain without crowning a "best" carrier, since the right one depends on where you live, your residence status, and your budget, and plan prices move too fast to quote — treat it as a map, not a shopping list.

The two things every long-term contract asks for

Underneath the marketing differences between carriers, a postpaid or long-term SIM contract in Japan asks for the same two things: proof of who you are, and a way to bill you. Both can be harder to arrange than they sound in your first weeks in the country.

Identification: your residence card

The core document is your residence card (zairyū kādo 在留カード). NTT Docomo's own English support page states that foreign residents must present the residence card, and — unless the subscriber holds permanent residency — a foreign passport as well. SoftBank's English identification page similarly lists "Residence Card + Passport" for foreign applicants. au (KDDI) accepts a residence card, an Individual Number (My Number) card, or a special permanent resident certificate as identification. If you already have your My Number card in hand, our My Number card guide covers what it is and how to get one.

A way to pay

Most postpaid contracts also expect a Japanese bank account or a credit card. This is where the "chicken and egg" problem shows up for people who have just arrived: some banks want you to have been in Japan for a while before they will open an account, and a Japanese credit card usually requires a bank account first. If you have not opened one yet, see our guide to opening a bank account in Japan. It is worth knowing this is not a universal dead end, though — some lower-cost plans are built around not needing a Japanese credit card on day one. povo 2.0, for example, maintains a dedicated official page explaining how to pay without a credit card, through a pay-later service (Paidy) settled by direct debit, bank transfer, or convenience store payment. Beyond that, treat payment-method details with care: providers publish conditions such as the card being in the subscriber's own name and carrying a major international brand, but whether a card issued outside Japan will be accepted is often not stated officially and comes down to each provider's screening at sign-up. Check the official payment pages of any provider you are considering for the current rules, and treat this whole area as "there are more routes than the big three's default forms," not a guarantee.

Why identification is required at all

This is not carrier preference — it is a matter of law. The Act on Identity Confirmation, etc. Performed by Mobile Voice Communications Carriers for their Subscribers, etc. and Prevention of Wrongful Use of Mobile Voice Communications Services (Act No. 31 of 2005, commonly referred to in Japanese as the 携帯電話不正利用防止法, "Mobile Phone Misuse Prevention Act") requires carriers to confirm a subscriber's identity — name, address, and date of birth for individuals — before activating service, and to keep identification records for a set period after the contract ends. The law exists to make it harder to use anonymous phones for fraud, so there is no legitimate workaround: every carrier, from the largest to the smallest MVNO, is bound by the same baseline requirement, even though each chooses its own accepted document list within that baseline.

How your residence status changes what is available

The identity-check requirement is the floor, not the whole picture. Individual carriers layer their own conditions on top, and several of those conditions key off how much time is left on your residence card:

• Short remaining stay. Docomo's support documentation states that if the remaining period of stay on a residence card is under three months, the subscriber must pay monthly charges by credit card in their own name rather than by bank debit. au's documentation describes a similar cutoff around 90 days. These thresholds are set by each carrier and can change, so confirm the current figure with the carrier you are applying to rather than assuming it matches what is written here.
• Device installment plans. If you want to pay for a handset in installments (common for two-year commitments), several carriers require the remaining validity of your residence card to extend beyond the end of the installment period. Docomo's page states plainly that if your card's expiry date falls before the installment contract ends, the installment option may not be available; SoftBank and au describe the same general restriction in their own terms.
• Approval is still discretionary. Meeting the paperwork requirements does not guarantee approval — screening for installment credit and plan eligibility is ultimately each carrier's call, based on factors they do not fully publish. No guide, including this one, can promise a particular outcome for your specific visa category or history; the only reliable answer comes from the carrier itself at the time you apply.

Big three vs. sub-brands vs. budget SIMs

Broadly, the market breaks into three tiers, and it helps to know which tier you are shopping in before comparing specific plans:

• The big three (docomo, SoftBank, au/KDDI). These run their own nationwide networks and have the largest physical store footprints, which matters if you want in-person, in-language help with the paperwork above. Their standard plans have historically sat at the higher end of the market, though all three now sell lower-cost alternatives (below).
• Their budget sub-brands (ahamo from docomo, LINEMO from SoftBank, povo from au). Each runs on its parent's own network — so coverage is generally the same as the flagship brand — but sign-up and support are online-only, with far fewer physical touch points. They tend to be priced lower than the flagship plans in exchange for that self-service model.
• Independent low-cost carriers (MVNOs, "kakuyasu SIM" 格安SIM). Companies such as IIJmio, mineo, and Rakuten Mobile lease network capacity from the majors rather than owning their own towers. Within this tier, a smaller group of providers — Sakura Mobile and Japan Wireless among them — market specifically to foreign residents, with English-language support and sign-up flows built around the paperwork problems described above. Pricing, data caps, and the exact identification rules vary by provider, so treat this as a category to compare, not an endorsement of any single company.

None of these tiers is objectively "the right one" — the table and notes below lay out which one fits which situation. Cells are deliberately qualitative: this guide does not quote plan prices, which move too fast to stay accurate for long.

The main providers at a glance

Cells marked "see official" are conditions we could not confirm on the provider's official pages as of July 15, 2026 — check directly rather than assuming. Price cells are deliberately qualitative (High/Mid/Low), following how each tier positions itself; plan prices change too fast to print.

Which is right for you?

• Big three. A good fit if you want in-person, in-language help with the paperwork in your first weeks, or value the widest store network. Constraints: standard plans sit at the higher end, and your residence-card validity can affect the payment method and installment eligibility.
• Sub-brands (ahamo, LINEMO, povo). A good fit if you are comfortable signing up and getting support online and want the parent network's coverage at a lower price. Constraints: online-first and self-service — ahamo sells paid sign-up assistance at docomo shops, but its site is Japanese-language, while LINEMO and povo publish English pages; screening still applies to all three.
• Foreign-resident MVNOs (Sakura Mobile, Japan Wireless). A good fit if English-language support through the sign-up process matters most, or you are still stuck in the newcomer paperwork problem — Sakura Mobile, for example, states it accepts credit and debit cards issued outside Japan. Constraints: independent low-cost carriers whose data caps, pricing, and ID rules vary by provider — confirm each.
• Other MVNOs. A good fit if the lowest recurring cost is your priority and you can handle a mostly Japanese-language sign-up. Constraints: English is not their focus, and conditions vary widely from provider to provider.

Store vs. online sign-up

The application channel affects your options as much as the carrier does. au's own support pages note that applying through its online shop limits payment to credit card only, while in-store applications allow other payment methods — but require the contract holder to be physically present with their documents. Carriers also sometimes treat sign-up handling fees differently between the two channels, so it is worth checking the fee terms on the official online-shop pages before choosing where to apply. In general: online sign-up tends to be faster and sometimes cheaper, but is usually credit-card-only and self-service; in-store sign-up takes more time (and sometimes a reservation) but allows more payment methods and gives you a staff member to walk through the residence-card paperwork with you in person.

A general checklist of what to bring

Exact requirements vary by carrier and plan, but a typical in-store application for a long-term contract asks for some combination of:

• Your residence card (front and back)
• Your passport, unless you hold permanent residency (some carriers waive this for permanent residents)
• A payment method — a Japanese bank cash card/passbook with registered seal, or a credit card in your own name
• Proof of current address if your residence card does not show one (a utility bill or residence certificate within the last few months is commonly requested)
• Your My Number card, if the carrier accepts it as identification and you already have one

A realistic sequence

If you are starting from nothing, a workable order is: apply for your residence card at the airport or your local ward office if you have not already, open a bank account once you are eligible (see our bank account guide), and apply for your My Number card in parallel since it is useful well beyond phone contracts (see our My Number card guide). Once those pieces are in place, compare a big-three flagship plan, its sub-brand, and one or two foreign-resident-focused MVNOs against your actual remaining period of stay and preferred payment method, and apply with whichever channel — online or in-store — matches how much in-person help you want. If your remaining stay is short or you do not yet have a Japanese bank account or credit card, start by asking the specific carrier or MVNO you are considering whether their entry-level, no-device plan fits your situation, rather than assuming any single option will. For everyday shopping once your phone and bank basics are sorted, our Japanese supermarket guide covers the next layer of settling in.

Sources

All sources below were checked on 2026-07-15.

• Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice) — official English translation of the Act on Identity Confirmation, etc. Performed by Mobile Voice Communications Carriers for their Subscribers, etc. and Prevention of Wrongful Use of Mobile Voice Communications Services (Act No. 31 of 2005): japaneselawtranslation.go.jp
• Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省) — overview of measures to prevent criminal use of mobile phones: soumu.go.jp
• NTT Docomo — Documents Verifying Identity (English support page): docomo.ne.jp/english
• SoftBank — Identification documents (English): softbank.jp/en
• au (KDDI) — Items to prepare for a new contract (English): au.com/english
• LINEMO — Identification documents / application procedure (official, English): linemo.jp/en
• povo 2.0 — How to use the service (official, English): povo.jp/en
• povo 2.0 — Paying without a credit card (official, English): povo.jp/en/support/payment-no-card
• ahamo — Support (official, Japanese; paid web-application support at docomo shops, and the list of accepted financial institutions and credit cards): ahamo.com/support
• LINEMO — Payment methods (official, Japanese; credit card, bank account debit, PayPay balance): linemo.jp/plan/payment_method
• Sakura Mobile — official site (English-language service including support; accepts credit/debit cards issued outside Japan; monthly plans for residents staying 90+ days): sakuramobile.jp
• Japan Wireless — official site (English; pocket WiFi rental and eSIM): japan-wireless.com