price of cellphones

how much do the local cellphones cost? My neighbourhood has a Docomo outlet but its close today. So i should be going to get 1 tomorrow.. hope its not expensive

Keith,

They cost anything from 0 yen upward. Prices and payment plans can vary from place to place, so it is good to check a few shops first if you can.

Ic, AFAIK i have a walk around my neighbourhood today and saw a NTT docomo outlet and also a softbank one too, any suggestion?
i think i will be a light user.

Depends on what you want out of your plan. If you are planning on staying for 2 years or more & don't plan on using very much call time then check out Docomo or AU. They give you so many minutes in your 'plan' to call and also text. Be careful though, it's a lot of extra money if you go over your minutes/text limits, I have 2 friends that got a big shock on their first phone bill that way. But if you have a lot of friends with softbank phones I recommend you get that. You get free calls & texts between softbank phones between 1 am and 9 pm every day. And texting/calling outside to AU or Docomo is like 3 yen a packet (30k) or minute. So not too bad. I didn't think I would use a lot of minutes here in japan when I got here because I don't in the US but my cell here is my lifeline & I use it a lot. Also you will probably get/send a lot more text messages than phone minutes because a lot of places you go have 'no talking' rules for the phone.

But, have you some internet addrese (website) with cell phone price in Tokyo ?

Today Japanese cell phone prices/tariffs are getting more and more complex.
You must not judge only by price tags.

The prices are roughly the same for all three carriers.

The way the companies charge now has also changed as of November.

Au, for example, has 2 models:

1. Full Support Plan: the phones are subsidized by au and cost as little as 0 yen but require a 2 year contract. A typical moderate plan costs about 3500 yen a month plus usage.

2. Simple Plan: you pay the full price of the phone (20000-70000 yen for example) and then have a monthly bill of 1000-1500 yen and no contract.

Keep in mind, depending on your usage and the phone you get, the two plans can actually cost around the same over 2 years.