“Don’t buy!!!! Beware of upselling scam and very low speed and high latency!
When buying an eSIM you have to double check not to buy an upselling package for a weekly subscription for a useless “antivirus” product. Immediate cancellation is not possible and support not helpful. Wouldn’t buy again. Be aware! And the speed and latency is just horrible. Shows 5 bars reception but 800ms and less than 1 Mbit in the middle of Hiroshima. No way!”
“DO NOT PURCHASE, THEY WON'T REFUND YOU IF THEIR SERVICE DOESN'T WORK. Didn't work at all. Went round and round with their support with no resolution and no connection. I wasted several hours of my day trying to get it to work. To add insult to injury, they refused to issue a refund for their nonfunctional service, and I've had to pursue a chargeback with my credit card company.”
“Had a great experience with Ozly in Japan. The eSIM had trouble connecting at first but eventually succeeded after some fiddling in the phone settings (the provider's AI chatbot actually gave me a helpful tip). Got a local IP so no geoblocking. Speed was satisfactory and I got signal in every city I visited (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sapporo and a few smaller ones) except in one rural area in Chiba-ken. For the price I paid, it was an incredible deal.”
“I noticed that the pay-as-you-go option does not appear in the plan listings on esimdb, which caught my attention a little. After actually using it, I personally feel this is the most convenient option.
Because it is fully usage based, you can keep using it seamlessly even when moving between countries, which is incredibly convenient. With cheaper flight tickets, long layovers at airports in China are common, and sometimes you may want to head into the city for a short while. In those situations, it feels a bit wasteful to purchase a one day plan or a large data package, so this option fits perfectly.
Airport WiFi is available, of course, but connections can be unstable, and SMS verification is sometimes required, which often makes it more troublesome than expected. That is why having the reassurance of being able to connect immediately on your own mobile line, even during immigration, feels very valuable.
Overseas roaming is also available with ahamo and Rakuten Mobile, but there are still countries that are not covered. Having this set up as a dual SIM feels like something that could really help in an emergency. I also appreciate that LINE and WhatsApp continue to work even after the main data allowance has been used up. It is a small detail, but genuinely useful.”
“I bought 4 esim for Japan travel. Very bad experience. For the first day, it auto connected to Softbank service, and extremely slow and lost connection from time to time. Checked the usage, it's less than 1GB usage. The customer support was useless. Will not buy it again”
“I do not like eSIM888’s Japan eSIM. The internet kept going off during the trip. It was not stable. Also, their customer service was very hard to find. No one answered us. It made our trip bad. I will not use it again.”
“Great service and inexpensive; you can switch providers by selecting the network option on your phone if one network has poor reception. I used for usa and japan, great”
“Bought unlimited 5g from billionconnect. I was reaching to support every 20 minutes to reset my network.Turns out the unlimited is just 1gb.You can't find this detail anywhere... And you can't get your money back.Very dissapointed.”
“The connectivity is so-so. Network carrier is SoftBank and it reconnects from time to time. Not very satisfied with the stability and channeling through HK. But it’s cheap price.”
“The first time I used an international eSIM from this website with this company, I had no problems at all. I generally got 5G, and I was even in small towns in Japan—I honestly didn’t expect it to work that well.
I highly recommend it. To avoid any issues, and since it was 20GB, I disabled several apps so they wouldn’t use data in the background. By the way, I was also sharing it with my wife.
“Not that fast but okay-ish speeds in Japan on the KDDI (au) network. However, the biggest drawback is that this eSIM routes through Hong Kong (HK IP address), so ChatGPT doesn’t work which is a real shame.”
“I used the Global eSIM 1GB with a coupon for use within Japan. It worked very smoothly. When I went to Hakone where the signal tends to be weak, it stayed connected by switching between SoftBank and KDDI depending on the location. I think it’s good to keep one as a backup in case of network outages. The IP address will be from overseas so be careful with Japan-only services.”
“I tried ordering the FREE plan and set it up on my iPhone SE2. At first, the eSIM activation stayed in “processing on the server” status for about 10 minutes without any response, so I just left it for a while until it finally completed. After that, the phone stayed out of service and couldn’t connect to the network for over an hour. I had almost given up, but eventually, it just started working on its own.
In terms of speed, there were no issues. While using the service, I kept checking the data usage on the website, but after reaching 0.01GB, the connection stopped working completely. I thought maybe the usage display was just delayed, but even the next day, it hadn’t updated. It felt like I had used more data than what was shown, so the website’s usage display doesn’t seem very reliable.”
“I’ve used Billion Connect for multiple eSims abroad now, and I’ve found them great every time. Their customer service responds pretty quickly to any issues, and the sims are cheap and work well. Be aware the sims are mostly based in Hong Kong so if you’re geographically far from there the latency might be a little high, and you may need a VPN for things like TikTok to work, but I’ve had very few issues.”
“Do not buy the Clearance esim. It's not mentioned on the website, but it's routed through Hong Kong. The connection is very bad and 5G seems capped at slow speeds. I had issues keeping a consistent connection and ended up buying a MobiMatter esim that has worked flawlessly.”
“The product claimed to support multiple carriers, so I decided to try out the "eSIM, 3GB, 30 Days, Japan" for use in Japan. It seems the APN "vmobile.jp" (iij) can be used, but... is this really multi-carrier?”
“Used without issues in both Tokyo and Osaka. The latency wasn't great due to roaming connection through Singapore, but was manageable. At least it’s more convenient than eSIMs that go through Hong Kong and don’t work with services like ChatGPT. The network was au’s LTE or 5G, and signal was solid everywhere, no complaints.”
“The internet worked perfectly everywhere – airports , even on road trips. No annoying "loading..." screens! Plus their customer chat is LEGIT. Messaged them at 1AM (jetlag lol) and replied in 2 minutes. She literally stayed on chat while I set it up, double-checked everything. Way cheaper than my phone plan back home. Never going back to regular SIM cards!”
“Doesn't work! Waste of money! I was only able to see if it works after arriving in Japan in March '25, but I never got connected when automatic carrier selection is on. I chatted with the BNESIM support and was told to select KDDI manually. After that I was able to get connected, for no more than 2 mins each time in a series of unsuccessful attempts. I then chatted with the support again. This time they said this case will be escalated to the advanced team and I'd be hearing from them within 24 hrs. Yes, you're right! The never responded to me afterwards! Sadly speaking, this is the second time I run into the same situation with them. I bought another esim in 10 mins from EIOTCLUB and I got continuous, stable connection ever since. So which one is the scam?”
“I used their unlimited 3-day plan and could use more than 20GB of data, so it seems to be indeed unlimited. However, the speed was capped at 10 Mbps the whole time.
Traffic was routed through Hong Kong, so the latency was not great but not too bad.
The issue with a Hong Kong IP is that I couldn't access some services like ChatGPT.”
“The price is good and the speed is fine but in my case I suffered from several outages of even a few hours without service which can be a very negative factor.”
“My first time using a cheep esim provider. Thought I would get scammed, but that was not the case! Gave me all ten gigabytes I bought! Around the first 5GB I used, data stopped working. I than proceeded to follow there instructions on setting the apn settings to the right value and was able to continue using data. Wish they told me to do this right after I installed the esim.”
“It worked well, no trouble setting up. Speed was comfortable, had no issues with this. But unfortunately, unlike advertised tethering was not possible.”
“Had some trouble setting this up at first. The eSIM supports many of the major networks in japan (KDDI, NTT Docomo, SoftBank) and I had to manually force it to connect to Docomo before it would work.
On android: Settings -> Connections -> Mobile Networks -> Network Operators -> disable "select automatically"
“Much better than I expected for a travel eSIM. The Japan eSIM I bought from Airalo wasn't the cheapest, but latency was surprisingly good (below 40ms) even though the IP address was from USA, which probably means they are doing a local breakout. The speeds were good, more than sufficient for travel needs, and the coverage was also satisfactory.
It would have been the perfect option if the price were cheaper.”
“Great experience. Got the eSIM in a sale. Activated while still at home, immediately got connection after deactivation of air plane mode. Speed was good, coverage OK. One downside: location was sometimes detected as Singapore, which was not always great (Microsoft send me a lot of warnings because it was routed through SingTel Mobile in Singapore). ”
“I didn't buy it in the end since the price with a discount was zero, but when clicking the activation button, it was asking for a 0.5 EUR payment with no description for the purpose of that extra hidden cost. ”
“Used eSIM4Travel for a 2-week stay in Japan. Easy purchase, simple installation, and worked fine with a Hong Kong IP. Good price and decent latency. Connected to SoftBank 5G, not super fast but okay (sufficient). Recommend.”
“I tested Ubigi (5G) and TravelKon (Docomo IIJ) (LTE only).
Both have Japan IP address.
But TravelKon is faster ping (45ms) instead of Ubigi (120ms) even on 5G.
TravelKon (Docomo IIJ) is recommended. ”
“USA ip. LTE/4G only. works ok, but not super fast.”
Japan Travel eSIM FAQ
Everything you need to know about using eSIMs in Japan
How many travel eSIM brands (providers) are available for use in Japan, and how many prepaid data plans are there?
More than 250 travel eSIM providers and over 20, 200 prepaid data plans are available for use in Japan, offering a wide variety of options for travelers to find plans that suit their needs.
Are there any unlimited data eSIM plans available for Japan?
Yes, several eSIM providers offer unlimited data plans for Japan. These plans typically come across a broad range of prices, from about $1.48 to $14.95 USD, and feature validity periods that can be as short as one day or extend up to ten days. While the data allowance is unlimited, most providers specify that speeds may be throttled once usage thresholds are reached; common speed limits after throttling include 1 Mbps, 5 Mbps, 10 Mbps, and in one case 20 Mbps for a higher‑tier option. All plans allow tethering, and the network is 5G for virtually every provider listed. Some plans also include additional restrictions such as eKYC or a hard 1 kbps speed limit for certain longer‑term options. These details should help when selecting a plan that meets your usage expectations while staying within budget.
What are the major mobile networks available for a travel eSIM in Japan?
Japan's mobile network infrastructure is primarily supported by the following major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs):
NTT Docomo: Japan's largest telecommunications operator, known for its extensive coverage area and high-quality network.
KDDI (au): The second-largest telecommunications provider in Japan, offering extensive coverage with a focus on strong connectivity in urban areas.
SoftBank: One of Japan's most innovative telecommunications companies, providing excellent network quality in urban areas and expanding its 5G coverage.
Rakuten Mobile: The newest major operator, launched by Rakuten, Inc. in 2018, known for its affordable and innovative pricing models with 5G coverage.
In addition to these MNOs, Japan has several Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) that offer mobile services by leasing access from major carriers. Notable MVNOs include:
UQ Mobile: A subsidiary of KDDI Corporation, primarily offering mobile data services.
IIJmio: Leverages Docomo’s network and focuses on high-speed data plans.
It's important to note that most travel eSIMs rely on MNO infrastructure, not MVNOs.
Can I get a travel eSIM with a phone number and SMS for Japan?
Travel eSIMs that provide a phone number and SMS for Japan are offered by several providers. GlobaleSIM, Orange Travel, RedEx eSIM, Stixrs, and Simbye all sell plans that include inbound and outbound voice and SMS. The phone numbers are local only for RedEx eSIM, which uses the Japanese dialing code +81; the other providers issue numbers with foreign dialing codes (+1 or +33). Prices for these plans start around $4 for a 1 GB, 7‑day GlobaleSIM package and rise to about $69 for a 50 GB, 30‑day GlobaleSIM plan, while Orange Travel’s 20 GB, 30‑day plan is $25.99, RedEx eSIM’s 20 GB, 30‑day plan is $35.89, Stixrs offers 20 GB for $32.00 and 50 GB for $63.00, and Simbye sells 20 GB for $31.99 and 50 GB for $49.99, all with 30‑day validity and many allowing tethering.
Summarized by AI, Last updated:
All Travel eSIM Providers for Japan
Browse a list of eSIM providers offering data plans for Japan
