Handset + Contract Options

Hello! I'm taking up a position in Tokyo late September, and I'll only have a few days to get myself set up before starting the job, so I'm trying to get as much organised in advance as possible. High priority requirement will be having a working phone with data pretty much straight away, and I'm looking for something to match the following criteria:

- BYO handset [unlocked Sony Xperia Z1].
- Voice [unlikely to see much use, so rates not critical].
- Data [unlimited or shaped].
- Monthly post-pay contract.
- Same-day activation from a physical store.

Basically, I have a perfectly good phone and don't want the hassle of running out of credit or being stung by a massive bill at the end of the month. The big three carriers aren't giving me a very good indication of what I'd be looking at to pay for these features per month, so what are my best options?

I had pretty much settled on the b-mobile SIM�‚‘¬’èŠz ‰¹�º•t plan @ 2780JPY + tax, but now I'm seeing feedback that suggests the data transfer rate is so slow as to be almost useless.

B-mobile is pretty much the only company that is going to meet all of your requirements. The main restrictions are:

BYOH - at this time the major carriers don't generally support BYOH (except docomo which charges an arm an a leg for it). Drop this and your options increase exponentially

Otherwise, b-mobile is the only other carrier (that I can think of) that supports voice, monthly billing, and can be bought in physical stores with same-day activation.

other than b-mobile,

BIC Camera SIM (Voice+Data) run on IIJMO
http://www.biccamera.com/bc/c/service/bicsim/

Yamada Denki SIM (Voice+Data) run on U-Mobile
http://www.yamada-denkiweb.com/event/unext/#websim_ys03

I don't believe you can activate the voice service on bic camera and yamada denki sims in store, and would instead need to do the activation at home from a computer.

Upon further research, you also might not be able to activate a b-mobile voice sims in store (Yodobashi Camera). Their site is a little unclear, but I presume they follow the same procedures as the other services.

You can register and activate over the counter at bic store.
https://www.iijmio.jp/bicsim/counter.html

Great, that's good to hear. Guess bic is also an option then.

Thanks for all the information, everyone. That gives me a few more options than I thought I had. Just to clarify something, when I said same-day activation from a physical store, I only meant that I would be able to walk out of the store with a sim card in my. Isn't so much an issue if there are activation steps for the voice function after that, I just don't want to be waiting for something to arrive in the post.

Having had a look through the Yamada-Denki and Bic Camera websites linked above, I'm afraid my beginner Japanese skills are letting me down when it comes to deciphering the various plans and their features. Could anyone point me toward the best options based on my criteria above. And any general advice regarding the various merits (or not) of the three providers?

Thanks very much for your help so far!