Using Cell Phones in Japan (Yu Jin Yi)

There are, in the big picture, four hurdles that Korean students studying in
Japan should pass—creating the alien registration card, bank account, train commuting
pass, and the cell phone. The first three on the list are (though not at all easy to make), if
one asks the district office, the bank clerk, or the station employee, manageable. But the
cell phone is a little difficult to handle, as the communication system in Japan differs
quite a bit from the one in Korea.
When first opening a cell phone number, a minor (under twenty years old) has
to get an agreement form from the parent or a guarantor. This is a little problematic for
foreigners whose parents or guarantor lives in a different country from them—but
nonetheless parents’ signature and the name stamps are crucial in buying a cell phone.
The one who the cell phone is for has to have a name stamp as well. Since a name stamp
is essential in living a life in Japan, individuals should make one anyway.
Assuming that the parent’s agreement form is available somehow, one should
be okay with a name stamp, a copy of the bank book, identification form of some sort,
and the alien registration card. The real problem for Korean newcomers though, is when
they start using the cell phones.
In case of the Japanese cell phones, the communication fee differs a lot
according to what mobile phone company one uses. There are mainly three huge mobile
phone companies in Japan, namely Docomo, Au, and Softbank. In Softbank’s case (the
most common one among foreign students), from nine in the morning until nine in the
evening calls amongst Softbank phones are free. Other two mobile phone companies
have similar policies as well. Moreover, when one opens a number in Japan they also
receive an email address that ends like @softbank.ne.jp or @docomo.ne.jp (just like an
actual email address on the computer) besides the phone number. This is because in
Japan SMS messages (the kind of text message Koreans would think of) are
transmittable only among the phones from same mobile companies. When sending a text
message to another company’s phone, one has to email that phone to the email address
given. This is a little confusing at first, but once you get used to it, there are convenient
aspects as well (since directly sending an email from the computer to the phone is
possible, and vice versa).
Plus, in Japan both the sender and the receiver of an email have to pay. SMS
messages are free, but in case of an email the longer the text is, the more one has to pay.
So it is really disturbing when one receives a spam mail—one reason Japanese people
make their email address very complicated, to prevent spam mails.
This is also one of the subtle differences between Korea and Japan.