Oh, I'd just pay the host family back for any International calls you make; if they have a land line. Grab a rental or prepaid if you absolutely HAVE to be accessible by mobile phone.

People made do 10-15 years ago with being tied to a cell phone as public phones are so accessible.

$150 seems a little pricey for MMMs example of 2 weeks. However if he made calls... yes it can add up quickly. I used JAL ABC before I got the dual mode phone: http://www.jalabc.com/rental/domestic_eng/index.html

The rates aren't bad. JAL ABC does want an application ahead of time.
Others at the airport don't. Apparently they still don't do phone mail (they are still the oldest phone rental service). I've seen others that do.
So for 6 weeks just keep the phone active and getting all the free calls you want: 10500 EN. Any calls you make are extra.

You do have to make time to return the phone before you flight, so be careful there. Some airports, <cough> Fukuoka, have the damn kiosk in a different terminal than the departing flight.

Correction... JAL ABC doesn't do Phone E-mail and Internet without the cost of an arm and leg. After actually looking at the rates... the do E-mail and Internet now.

This is the company I used. Looks like basic service is about $150 for a month.

PuPuRu: Cell Phone Rentals Japan

if used only locally, then it shouldn't be too bad. You can pick up the airport, and they give you a prepaid return envelope, just drop it in the mail the day you leave (or have your host family do it)...it just has to be postmarked 3 days after the contract is up

If you get a Japanese phone, you will need to pay out of pocket for the phone and pay a large surcharge for a short term service. Prepaid phones have really fallen to the wayside and are very hard to get these days - harder than a normal phone - as they were popular for crime and the like.

If you`re only going to be here for a month, quite honestly there is no way it would be worth it to jump through the hoops to get a very short period of service.

Rental looks expensive, but compared it is really not. All the cheap carrier deals are for year + contracts. If you aren`t going to be making too many calls, and just want something that people can contact you by - it`s really the way to go. Even a prepaid phone is going to put you back about the same amount - likely even more. (Example - 9800yen for the phone itself, 3000 for charge, and 3000 for setup fee) Not to mention that the prepaid models are complete and utter crap.

MMM says "used locally" - but there is no "local" for cell phones in Japan. There are three tiers for calls from a cell phone - same carrier cell phones, other carrier cell phones, and land lines. It doesn`t matter where in Japan the person you call is as the cell phone itself isn`t "local" to any area.

So.. to sum it all up.. My phone won't work and any method of obtaining one other than contract is pointless? gotcha - payphones it is!

Where can I get a phone card?

You have chosen wisely.
You can purchase domestic phone cards at the airport (just ask at information) or you can usually purchase where you find a bunch of payphones grouped.
Also usually at the lobby of department stores where there is a payphone.

Insert your card first, then dial. The display usually tells your minutes remaining as the calls progress. The remaining amount of the card is displayed on the card by the phone punching holes on the phone card.

There isn't much difference between green and gray phones anymore (unless you plan to do fax, analog dial-up or ISDN (gray phone)). I like the gray phones because of the giant display on them.

Okay.. I'm the guy who submits payphone picture to 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

You can always grab a prepaid or borrow someone's phone later if the even arises.

Japanese phone
 

Hi! I understand if you dont want to buy a phone for a couple of months, I wouldnt do it either. You can rent a phone, remember that the technologie for the phones its different than here. I used a rental company in the past for Europe, I havent tried them for other countries, but you should check with them how much it will be to rent a phone, Cell phone rentals - Satellite phone rentals - GPS rentals
good luck! :vsign:

Ok guys, thanks for all your help!

I should have been more clear. The US is the same way, so when I said "used locally" I mean "used domestically - in Japan".

I used my iPhone 3G back in 2008 and it ended up costing me an arm and a leg as well. Ouch!

I noticed that you can now rent a 3G SIM card from Softbank for 110 yen/day. Airtime is 105 yen/minute but incoming calls are free.

My provider (Rogers) sells a "travel pack" which gives me a roaming rate of $1.57/minute which is ok considering I don't have to pay the 110 yen/day SIM rental but I'm sure incoming calls are charged at that rate as well.