Unpaid cell phone- blacklisted?
 

Yes, I know. I'm one of those gaijin deadbeats who left Japan without paying their cell phone bill, making all of us look bad. I can only say in my defense that I'm not some irresponsible college kid, have lived as a responsible citizen in Japan for twenty years, and the reason that I left it unpaid was due to a bankruptcy of my business. With all the complications, I did a yonige back to the States, fully intending on coming back.
Now I am coming back (I'm a true expat), and I do have permanent residency status. But I will need a cell phone of course, and I'll be living on a shoestring for a while. The company in question is AU, and they've sent my account to a collection agency, to whom I owe about 50,000 yen.
Call me every name in the book, I know I deserve it. But everyone makes mistakes. Any idea on how I can get a cell phone when arriving to Japan? I can't afford the 50,000 right off the bat.

They have prepaid phones you can get at the airport.