Buying Japanese phone for use in Norway

Hello,

I understand that there are many similar questions on this forum, but I am still confused after reading a lot of the threads as buying a Japanese phone can be really complex.

I am an exchange student in Tokyo, and my phone has stopped working. I will need to buy a new phone here in Japan, and I have some questions about it. I move back to Norway in early August.

After talking to two different network providers in Norway, they both concluded that the Japanese Pixel 3 (G013B) & Pixel 3a (G020H) will work on their networks. But, they had a concern if a Japanese phone would need to be 'activated' by a Japanese SIM-card before working with the Norwegian network frequences.

I have read something similar on this forum; that some Japanese phones can be region-locked, and would need to be activated by a Japanese SIM.

I am planning on ordering a Sim-free Pixel 3a from Google's Japanese site, and supplying it with a Japanese SIM-card with a phone contract from my old phone. Will this be enough to 'activate' the phone? Are there more things I need to consider before buying a phone in Japan?

Thank you!