Phones / Cell Phones

[MarkydNY]

I've done some searching and it looks like you need to be a citizen to get a cell phone or sim card. I will be visiting for a month and when I have traveled to other countries I was able to get a local SIM card so that making local calls would be cheap. What have you guys done when traveling over there? Can you make calls from love hotels?

 

[meiji]

You don't need to be a citizen, just a resident. One option is to get a data-only SIM and get a JP Skype number -- which also technically requires resident status, but it's just a checkbox you agree to when applying for it.

The only problem with this is that many places may not agree to send a girl (including Asian Mystique) if you are calling from a VoIP number like Skype.

 

[MarkydNY]

Thanks Meiji. I am going to go with Mobal. I've used them before with great success in other places.

Why is it that they do not like VoIP numbers? Some safety situation or law enforcement?

 

[meiji]

Why is it that they do not like VoIP numbers? Some safety situation or law enforcement?

Yeah, that's my guess. I would wager that you could pretty easily set up a Skype account, and get a 050 number (which is the VoIP prefix in Japan) without ever giving your real name or payment information tied to a real bank account. I don't know too much about the safety procedures DHs go through, but I'm assuming that having a phone number that is traceable to a real name is a big part of it.

 

[MarkydNY]

That's funny because I know that I can get a "burner" phone and it would never tie back to me and it will have a regular phone number.

That's good to know though, thanks.

 

[meiji]

That's funny because I know that I can get a "burner" phone and it would never tie back to me and it will have a regular phone number.

You can't get phone numbers at all in Japan without residency/ID as far as I know and they don't sell 'burner phones' here like they do in the States. What are you referring to?