Cellphones and e-mails

Hi, I was wondering, if someone sends an e-mail to a Japanese phone and the phone is turned off, will the phone still receive the e-mail?

Don,

I was wondering, if someone sends an e-mail to a Japanese phone and the phone is turned off, will the phone still receive the e-mail?

Yes, next time they turn on their phone. However, there is a time limit, possibly differing for the different carriers, and it might be as short as 3 days after which emails are returned as undeliverable.

When I've been out of Japan on holiday, I usually receive a huge number of emails when I get back and turn my phone on.

I have even had emails arrive that were sent on the day of my departure several weeks before, so the time limit Dave in Saitama mentions is definitely not universal. Must depend on the carrier as he said.

im puzzled, the term 'email' in this case is it same as sms? In my country we uses sms...but in Japan i keep hearing things on email...is it because their cell phone are different? Or their email actually meant sms?

Xindy,

the term 'email' in this case is it same as sms? In my country we uses sms...but in Japan i keep hearing things on email...is it because their cell phone are different? Or their email actually meant sms?

While many Japanese users do lump both email and sms together and call it "mail", they are actually separate entities. Email uses an email address, whereas sms uses the other person's phone number. The problem is that the sms systems used in Japan seem to be incompatible between the different carriers, so it seems to be more common to use email to/from mobile phones.

Sira wrote:

I have even had emails arrive that were sent on the day of my departure several weeks before, so the time limit Dave in Saitama mentions is definitely not universal. Must depend on the carrier as he said.

This was based on experience with Vodafone about 2-3 years ago, so the situation could well have changed since then. I currently use Au, but haven't had a chance to find out how long emails are held before being returned to sender if the phone is switched off for long periods. I haven't bothered checking the instruction manual either. :-)