Cell Phones

So right now I’m in the process of getting a cell phone. I should have one by the end of the day. Cell phones in Japan are pretty crazy. Depending on the phone you can get things like HD video recording, an 8.1 megapixel camera, 3D gaming, a solar panel on the front to charge the battery, and other things like that. The phone I got has the 8 megapixel camera since I don’t know when my current camera will end up freezing for good. With the excitement of looking at the phones though, comes the confusion of setting up a plan. There are three major cell phone providors in Japan: Docomo, au, and Softbank. For those of you with Iphones, Softbank is the only provider compatible, but also has the worst coverage (from what I hear). I went with au. First you pick your provider, then your phone. After that you go through getting a plan for calling minutes, a plan for data (texting, downloading, etc), and then a plan that goes along with your circumstances. Like a special deal (family plan, data plan, friends plan – whatever works best for you). With each choice the other prices change, so it’s like a puzzle trying to figure out wwhat combination is cheapest but will still work for you. On top of that there is the base pay for just having the phone and using the service, and you pay for your phone in installments over the months instead of up front. Also, you can decide on contract time which will also affect the amount of your monthly payment. When the craziness of figuring out a plan and everything is over however, you are left with an awesome phone. Here’s a link to a page of some crazy au phones and here's a picture of the phone I got, the SH001 by Sharp.