eSIM for Japan

How we rank Japan eSIMs

Every sort on the results page is a fixed rule, written out below. No provider can pay for a higher place.

Updated

Best

Each plan gets a score from 0 to 100, built from five parts. Highest first; equal scores go to the lower price.

  • Value40%

    The trip price against the median of the plans on screen. At the median: half marks. At half the median or less: full marks.

  • Network25%

    Docomo, au or SoftBank: full marks. Rakuten Mobile on its own: 60%. Network not named: 30%.

  • Features15%

    Half for hotspot allowed, half for top-ups.

  • Review rating10%

    The provider's rating from customer reviews: the mean of its star ratings for speed, coverage, setup, support, value and the app. 5 stars: full marks. 1 star: none. No rating: 50%, the same as 3 stars.

  • Data fit10%

    Up to twice the data you need: full marks. Up to three times: 75%. More: 50%. Uncapped unlimited: 80%.

A plan on several networks scores as its best network. Value and data fit are measured against your search, so the order changes with your trip length and filters.

Best for countryside

Plans are ordered by 4G coverage at the place you pick under “Where in Japan?”, or at 28 rural and mountain places when you leave it on All over Japan: onsen towns, trails and national parks. A plan on several networks counts its best network at each place. With a place picked, the tab reads “Best coverage”.

Equal coverage goes to the network with the wider reach outside the cities:

  1. NTT Docomo
  2. KDDI (au)
  3. SoftBank
  4. Rakuten Mobile

Plans that don't name their network come last. Then 5G first, then the lower price.

Cheapest and cheapest per GB

Cheapest sorts by the price for your trip, lowest first; equal prices go to the plan with more data.

Cheapest per GB divides each plan's price by its own data. Only plans with up to 3 times the data you need compete for the top, so a 300 GB plan never tops a one-week search. Bigger plans follow them, then unlimited and day-pass plans, which have no total, by price.

Prices

Every price is the total for your whole trip, with the cost per day and per GB under it.

Plans shorter than your trip are left out.

Prices are in US dollars unless you pick another currency. Prices sold in other currencies are converted at ECB reference rates of .

Ratings from reviews

We collect customer reviews from Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and other review sites, then rate each provider on speed, coverage, setup, support, value and its app from the reviews that mention each one.

A rating needs at least 10 reviews that mention it, and each one is smoothed toward the average so a handful of reviews can't swing it. Data and refund problems show as the share of reviews that report one.

No daily cap

The No daily cap filter keeps plans that never slow you down part-way through a day: no daily allowance and no speed limit. Fixed-data plans count, because their data runs out instead of slowing down. Unlimited plans that slow down after a usage limit don't.

Every plan shows its data rules in plain words: the full-speed allowance, the speed after it and when it refills.

Networks we don't know

When a provider doesn't say which Japanese network a plan runs on, the plan shows “Network not disclosed”. We never fill in a network from a guess.

It scores 30% on the network part of Best and sorts last for the countryside.

No paid placement

No provider pays to be listed, and no provider can pay for a higher place in any sort.