AU and Docomo accept signatures. I assume Softbank does, too. Inkan are not nearly as necessary to life in Japan as they used to be--the banks are rolling back their inkan requirements as well.

 

Glad to hear as it makes more sense. But if you have to deal with real bureaucracy, such as ku-yakusho or shi-yakusho, as I've had to do recently, inkan still plays a big part.

I knew I had to get my elderly mother to write a note (with her inkan) authorizing me to collect some documents on her behalf, but when I got to the shi-yakusho I realized I had to fill another form in my name on which I needed an inkan. So I had to go back to pick up any old inkan in my mother's house to prove I was the person I claimed to be. (I had my passport with me as a photo ID with date and place of birth etc.)

 

I've never been asked to use a hanko by a government official here and that includes numerous trips to the ward office. They did seem to have problems when I told them my bank doesn't have bank books (it's true).

Initially I didn't produce my hanko when signing up for cable but when I produced it they had me stamp next to my name (despite already having signed and not having used it for my bank account). My gym was quite insistent that I had to have used my hanko with my bank account, so they refused to take money from my bank account. I think the hanko thing is definitely a YMMV (especially based on how one looks).

 

thanks for the all the responses. it seems that getting a service set up is very complicated..or maybe it's just me.

what exactly is an inkan...got that it's a personal seal.(like a notary?).but do i really need one to get a phone service?

guess i will have to get my host family to sign up for me if it's such a complicated process.

it sucks that im not 20 yet..will be later this year. AFTER i come back.

 

As you gathered, inkan is a personal seal, and my understanding is that Japanese have official inkans registered with the ward office. My inkan is just a very simple wooden stamp with my first name in katakana, and wasn't registered with the government. I think it was only about Y1,500 and in addition to being useful, it's kind of a neat souvenir.

I don't know if you need one to sign up for a post-paid cell phone account, but I definitely did not need mine when I bought a pre-paid from Softbank (I got a pre-paid phone for when guests came to visit).

 

An inkan is a personal seal or stamp that is used to identify you like a signature for official business in Japan. You are required to register it with your local ward office that it is your personal seal. Never EVER lose your inkan as people can effectively inpersonate you with the inkan as you can sign up for credit cards and such like with an inkan.

As far as phone service goes getting a prepaid phone is simply a matter of having the required documents - a certificate of registered matters (shoumeisho) and a passport or a gaijin card paying the cash and filling a single form out.

Yes getting a post paid contract is more complicated and you really need a fluent Japanese speaker to help you to make sure you avoid any nasty clauses involving a hefty cancellation fee. That is why it might be better for you to have a prepaid. I'm here for 10 months but even so I didn't sign up for a contract. *IF* you can stick to using emails a prepaid can be very cost effective as 1 short email is 5 yen so you can make a 3,000 yen card last a long time. Granted when you call people it burns minutes like a mofo but even so it's still pretty cheap if you primarily stick to short emails.

-mrploddy

 

I agree. My name and appearance do not help.

For this reason an inkan you register (実印 or jitsu-in) at your local ward office is only used for very special occasions. For other purposes including banks (if they still use them) and the like, most Japanese use other (not registered) inkans.

 

Where would i get an inkan made? Looks like i'll need one to open a bank account and a cell phone service. i'm guessing that they are very common so i could get one pretty much anywhere? Does it take a long time to make one as well?

 

I feel bad for you, man. This discussion is making it sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. Let me try and clear some of this up, as I recently bought a new phone myself:

-You don't need inkan/hanko to buy a phone in Japan, be it prepaid or contract. Maybe years and years ago this was the case, but its not now. You simply sign your name just as you would in your home country.

-I'm not sure why you would need a bank account as a student, unless you plan on working and making significant amounts of money to the point that you wouldn't want to carry around, which I'll assume your visa won't allow you to do anyways. ATMs at Post Offices and 7-11's accept foreign ATM cards, and transaction fees are reasonable.

-For a phone, what you do need is one of two things:

-A gaikokujin-toroku-shomeisho(外国人登録証明書）(alien registration card)- This is what you will apply for at your local ward office. You will need to know your address in Japan in order to apply for this, and you will also need two copies of a passport-sized picture of yourself. Depending on the ward office, these cards usually take around a month to make. Therefore, what you will probably use to get a phone is Option #2:

-A gaikokujin-toyoku-genpyo-kisai-jiko-shomeisho (外国人登録原票記載事項証明書）PLUS your passport. The first thing is basically a certificate that you can have printed out for use during the month they are making your actual card. You can usually print this out either the day you apply for your card or a few days thereafter. Bring this and your passport to the phone store and you should be good to go.

As far as phones themselves go, for a 4-month stay, I recommend either a Softbank prepaid phone or, depending on your use, an AU contract with the student discount (学割). I would imagine your host family can be of some help in helping you decide what to do as well.

Enjoy your time in Japan!

 

:-: There's one point of warning with AU's Student Discount (and any of the services, really) - you have "mobile web," picture mail, downloads, etc., available, but be careful because any data usage uses your "minute allowance" - and once you go through that, you can end up paying WAY MORE than you expected.

If you decide to get a post-paid phone, and were planning to use a lot of data features - like I do/did - you'd rather have a plan that you can add unlimited data to.

If you're not, and you just want to be able to call people for 50% off, the AU student discount is super inexpensive.

 

could you tell me how the AU plan works? Looked at the website and looks simple course L and S are cheapest. So what does 2500 yen per month include? just the service right? I'm guessing it's not like the US, where there are a set number of minutes per month. If this is so, I think im going to stick with original plan and go with softbank white... it's only 980 per month and if i get my friends that are going with me to japan to sign up, it's free mobile to mobile..just haven't figured out what the cancellation policy is on that one.

Thanks for everyone's input...at least i know now that i don't need to get an inkan(Maybe as a souvenir)

 

I have plan S on AU which includes 2000 Yen worth of talk time , which any talk time that is not used is carried over month to month. I never spend more than 3800 Yen per month and it also includes 1000 Yen worth of packets for email and internet use.......

The white plan does allow free calling between other Softbank users during certain times of the day, and I now believe to people who have BB internet landline phone service......take care not to call outside the free time as it is quite expensive.

 

softbank's off hour and calls anywhere else are not that expensive. if you compare it to the prepaid service , it's only half. 90 yen/minute versus 40 yen with the white plan. I guess i'll just have to send SMS after 9 PM which are free.

sorry about all the questions...but where can i get a cheap phone that works? don't really care about the feature. are the phones at the phone carrier's store usually expensive?

My budget for the phone itself is about 7000-10,000 yen. any certain stores that sell phones for cheap?

Thanks

 

Okay. If you went with the Simple Plan, it seems it does work with the Student Discount. And additionally, it also appears there is no cancellation fee until November 2008 (which means you might actually make out like a bandit).

Basically, the Simple Plans don't include any "free calling" minutes. This means that you pay a lower price, but you'll see all the charges at the end of the month - so if you have a Simple Plan, and you make 100 minutes of calls, you'll pay Y1000 more for that month. Unfortunately, I can't figure out the cost of other services, such as receiving text messages and all.

However, you can get the Simple Plan with the Student Discount. So you'd be paying Y1250 for plan L, Y5/minute to AU phones, Y8/minute to non-AU phones, and 1.5Y sending text messages to other AU subscribers (you'll pay for emailing non-AU subscribers)

Unfortunately, that's about all I can glean for you there. As far as what I'd suggest right now? I think given your cost-consciousness, you're better off working with Softbank Mobile's White Plan. It's much less complex, and will cost a cancellation fee of Y5000. (Unless you just let the contract run out, and then it will cost you about Y2000, but you may not be able to just walk away, they may auto-renew.)

 

Just one last question...

I read that Softbank is going to have a White Plan Student Discount for FREE starting in March. It does say that there is a contract of 36 months.

Question is: Do you think i could cancel and get out of the contract after 4 months of Usage?

From the Website: "White Plan Student Discount will apply for 37 billing months beginning with the subscription month. This service may apply for less than 37 months in the case of a billing date change or other reason."

Maybe?

Thanks