Japanese mobile phone prices

hey
im planning on buying a japanese cell phone when i get there and just wondering how much money it will cost??
I dont care about extras like cameras and games just want to be able to txt and call.

do you want internet? no internet? how much do plan to use it?

It's nice to have GPS maps when you're looking for some place or something, especially when you have a set time to be there and you're running out of time.

Also Internet is nice to be able to search train routes, know the travel times, departure/arrival time, costs and easily compare it with 2-3 alternative routes

How much would a Softbank prepaid cost me? I once read that they only cost around 5000 yen for a basic phone (which is what I want). I tried looking at their website, but they don't list the prices for their prepaid line-up.

a basic prepaid phone will cost you 40.000 - 50.000 . avaible models depends on the shop. then you'll have to charge 2000 yen every 2 months. for 200 yen every 2 months you'll have free mails. but calls will be very expensive (like 1500 yen for 10 minutes) and that phone will be able to make international calls at almost the same price as national calls.
after 2 months your credit will expire and you'll have to charge again. but if you charge before the 2 months your remaining credit won't expire.

The above posters numbers are a bit off. The most basic softbank prepaid phones (like the 730sc) cost about 5000 yen, though more expensive models with more features are available. Phone credit can be purchased in 3000 or 5000 yen increments and expires 60 days after activation. Domestic calls cost 9 yen/6 sec (90 yen per minute), while international calls vary from 36 to 199 yen/30 seconds depending on the country. Unlimited mail service costs 300 yen per month. Your phone number is valid for 420 days from when you last add credit to your account.

With careful usage (i.e. by primarily using mail and avoiding making phone calls) you could pay as little as 23000 yen for a prepaid phone and a year's worth of service.

http://mb.softbank.jp/en/prepaid_service/
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/global_services/voicecall/area.html

Thanks! I was looking at the previous prices and thinking that there was no way they could be so expensive. I just want a phone for e-mail/texting, to contact my mother (who refuses to use Skype or the internet) and for emergencies. So a $900 budget (69000 yen) should cover a basic prepaid phone for a year?

For a Softbank prepaid, if you don't make so many calls and use SMS, then it would cost as little as about 18,000 per year, plus the phone.

As an option, you can get a new "SIM unlocked" Softbank 730SC (or it may have been a 740SC) for 6500yen. This means it will work overseas with any 3G SIM. It is triband GSM plus 2100MHz 3G.

You can get this phone at a small shop in Akihabara.

So a $900 budget (69000 yen) should cover a basic prepaid phone for a year?

Sounds reasonable to me. That comes out to roughly 5000 yen in calling credit per month, or roughly an hour of international calls to the US per month. Note that incoming calls are free, so you could spend even less if your mother calls you rather than you call her.

Until now, I wasn't sure if the incoming calls being free bit was true or not. I had heard it before, but companies in the USA charge for both incoming and outgoing (calls and text messages), so it seemed too good to be true. Thanks for the advice! I'm definitely getting a prepaid now.

If you can though, I highly recommend that you do any of your long phone sessions via Skype, because making overseas calls using a cell phone is unbelievably expensive. I have a contract phone, but it costs 77 yen a minute for me to call to Canada, and the connection is a bit dodgy (there's a slight delay, and it would suddenly cut you off for a few seconds every ten or so minutes).

If you mostly plan on receiving calls though, that shouldn't be a problem, because as far as I know, it's free to receive calls from overseas.