EU Nexus 6p in Japan

Hello,

I'll be visiting Japan for 3 months on a tourist visa and I'm very confused about the whole mobile phones situation.

Right now I need to buy a new smartphone so I'm trying to understand what is necessary for it to work without any issue in Japan.

The phone I'm looking to buy specifically is a Google Nexus 6p: https://www.google.com/nexus/6p/
This is an unlocked / sim-free phone.

I've checked the supported bands for LTE and UMTS and they work both in my home country and in Japan.

Now my mobile carrier has roaming agreements with both NTT Docomo and SoftBank so I should have no issues utilizing my own SIM.

As you can imagine the rates for international roaming are incredibly high so I was looking into prepaid SIMs.

I've come across radio wave regulations (often mentioned on carrier's websites) requiring every device to carry a "Technical Conformity Mark" that I believe is nowhere to be found on the European version of the Nexus 6p.
Will this prevent me from acquiring data-only prepaid SIM cards from so-net or similar?


Furthermore I will be visiting the country again later in the year with a student visa, and I will be looking to get a voice+data plan from the usual carriers (NTT, SoftBank, au) will I be able to get a SIM card for an European Nexus 6P without any issues?

Now my mobile carrier has roaming agreements with both NTT Docomo and SoftBank so I should have no issues utilizing my own SIM.

As you can imagine the rates for international roaming are incredibly high so I was looking into prepaid SIMs.

Good call. Roaming is only really viable for short term stays (or if you are fabulously wealthy or are not the one paying the bills)

I've come across radio wave regulations (often mentioned on carrier's websites) requiring every device to carry a "Technical Conformity Mark" that I believe is nowhere to be found on the European version of the Nexus 6p.
Will this prevent me from acquiring data-only prepaid SIM cards from so-net or similar?

No, the mark only indicates that a device has been verified to work. It is not required, and may not show up on foreign model phones that have verified domestic counterparts. Generally it is not an issue.

Furthermore I will be visiting the country again later in the year with a student visa, and I will be looking to get a voice+data plan from the usual carriers (NTT, SoftBank, au) will I be able to get a SIM card for an European Nexus 6P without any issues?

I'm not positive how softbank views off carrier phones, but NTT has plans for them. I believe they are rare and relatively expensive though. au is not an option. Overall you're probably better off with a prepaid sim option instead.