Travel in Japan with Mobile Data: Renting Wifi and Phones for tourists

For short-term stays in Japan, you have two options for using Internet on the go or mobile data:

1) Data Roaming from your original country - depending on your data plan/provider may cost more or cost less than the 2nd option - see below.

For example, for the Philippines,

• SMART offers International Roaming Call and Text Flexibundle

Price for 5 days is P149. Price for 6-15 days is P299.
to avail, text ROAMCALLTX149 / ROAMCALLTX299, send to 211.

• SMART also offers Mobile Internet called ALL-DAY DATA ROAMING FLEXIBUNDLE

For Japan and Asia, the prices for this Smart All-Day Surf Abroad is:

1-day = P450
3-days = P1200 (P400/day)
7-days = P2700 (P386/day)

To avail, text SURFABROAD <Packageprice> <Start Date and Time> <End Date and Time>, and send to 211 even while still in the Philippines.
Ex. SURFABROAD1200 10/10/2014 10:00 10/17/2014 18:00

Europe, Africa, and US also has this plan, at higher rates.

2) Subscription to Japan phone , mobile WIFI router, or SIM card rental services of Softbank, Docomo, etc. 
You can pickup the phone or 3G/4G modem at the airport or you can have it sent to your hotel usually. Returning the unit is likewise easy, as they usually have stations at international airports and can also return via courier (FedEx, DHL, etc.)

A few suggestions based on a quick search turns out:

• E-Connect Japan  https://www.econnectjapan.com/products/  
• Another I've personally tried, and was good was: Telecom Square: http://www.telecomsquare.co.jp/inbound/en/ 
• There are a lot more, possibly some better deals than above if you're inclined to do more research