Call/Message to Japanese cellphone

Hello,

I'm taking a friend's cellphone to Japan because he already used it there to send messages to his family in Germany.
So I can be sure that the phone works in Japan.
I will put my German fonic SIM card in, which should also work because fonic does roaming in Japan.

But I still wonder if I can also contact Japanese cellphones, especially sending messages. I read that it doesn't work to send a message from my German phone to a Japanese one but is calling possible?

Has someone done it before or can give me any tipps on how to make it work?

Thanks in advance!

I will put my German fonic SIM card in, which should also work because fonic does roaming in Japan.

I can't read German, but I'm assuming you've check the website to confirm this? Also see if you need to sign up for an international roaming plan ahead of time. Also make sure the phone is unlocked.

But I still wonder if I can also contact Japanese cellphones, especially sending messages.

SMS, MMS, and email should work if your phone supports it. Note that they will probably still be expensive to send and receive since you will be using international data roaming.
Look for wifi spots should your phone support wifi. More info here:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2279.html

I read that it doesn't work to send a message from my German phone to a Japanese one but is calling possible?

Messaging should work now, especially sending to a phone email address rather than to a number. Calling is also possible and expensive.

Thank you for the answer! Very good point that I might have to sign up for something before I can use Fonic's roaming...I'll check that.
Their homepage says that they offer roaming for Japan, one SMS costing 39 cents, also 39 cents/min. calling.
I will only need it once or twice during the trip, so tha't not a problem at all.

I tried to put my card into my friend's phone and it works....so everything should be fine :)