How to buy and use a Windows Phone in Japan
So I've been living in Japan since 2007 and have become a Windows Phone fan. My first phone here was an HTC 8X, I owned the AT&T and the general unlocked model. I have since upgraded to a Lumia 930.
I have been using Softbank as my provider by using the black SIM from my iPhone.
To set up the phone you have to manually enter ( Settings > cellular+SIM ) in the internet and MMS APN settings as follows:
Data Connection: on
Network Selection: Softbank
Manual APN: on
Internet APN
APN: smile.world
User: dna1trop
Password: so2t3k3m2a
Authenntication type: PAP
IP type: IPv4v6
MMS APN
APN: smile.world
User: dna1trop
Password: so2t3k3m2a
Authenntication type: PAP
MMSC(URL): http :// mms/
MMSC port: 8080
Maximum MMS size: 30720
IP type: IPv4v6
Leave the other fields blank and it should work fine.
In Japan each phone company operates different frequency bands so it's good to find the phone that best matches the bands used by each company.
A quick google search of the frequency bands for your specific provider should tell you what you need to know.
I don't know the APN settings for other networks and it may be best to search which will best match your Provider and SIM. In my case these are the settings that work best for the black SIM that is offered with iphone.
Finding Windows Phones in Japan can be a bit of a challenge as Amazon sellers don?t usually ship to Japan. There are some sellers on eBay located in other parts of Asia that will ship to Japan.
I bought one of my phones from a website called Expansys. They ship quickly and you can pay by both credit card or cash on delivery. They typically only carry the most current model and once their stock runs out they may not order more.
The other alternative I found more recently is a place called IOSYS located in Akihabara. They have several other shops around Tokyo and you can also purchase from them online. If you look at their site under the SIM Free section you can find their selection of Windows Phones. The prices may be different when you visit the actual shop. I bought my second Lumia 930 for 34,000 yen while they are listed on their website for 43,800. In my case I asked the guy for a discount and he sold the phone for 800 yen less if I paid cash. Not much of a discount but it covers transportation.
I have found the bands of the Lumia 930 don?t match with the Softbank network so well so I don?t get as good coverage as I did when I was using a Softbank issued iPhone but it?s enough for daily use.
The other difficulty I have found with the Japanese market is that there aren?t any strong navigation/map applications for Japan. The maps are not downloadable as with other countries so I typically would rely on a ?Google? Maps app made by random college kids which worked well enough but wouldn?t always face the direction you would face on the map.
I hope this is a useful guide and we can further build the Windows Phone community in Japan!
So I've been living in Japan since 2007 and have become a Windows Phone fan. My first phone here was an HTC 8X, I owned the AT&T and the general unlocked model. I have since upgraded to a Lumia 930.
I have been using Softbank as my provider by using the black SIM from my iPhone.
To set up the phone you have to manually enter ( Settings > cellular+SIM ) in the internet and MMS APN settings as follows:
Data Connection: on
Network Selection: Softbank
Manual APN: on
Internet APN
APN: smile.world
User: dna1trop
Password: so2t3k3m2a
Authenntication type: PAP
IP type: IPv4v6
MMS APN
APN: smile.world
User: dna1trop
Password: so2t3k3m2a
Authenntication type: PAP
MMSC(URL): http :// mms/
MMSC port: 8080
Maximum MMS size: 30720
IP type: IPv4v6
Leave the other fields blank and it should work fine.
In Japan each phone company operates different frequency bands so it's good to find the phone that best matches the bands used by each company.
A quick google search of the frequency bands for your specific provider should tell you what you need to know.
I don't know the APN settings for other networks and it may be best to search which will best match your Provider and SIM. In my case these are the settings that work best for the black SIM that is offered with iphone.
Finding Windows Phones in Japan can be a bit of a challenge as Amazon sellers don?t usually ship to Japan. There are some sellers on eBay located in other parts of Asia that will ship to Japan.
I bought one of my phones from a website called Expansys. They ship quickly and you can pay by both credit card or cash on delivery. They typically only carry the most current model and once their stock runs out they may not order more.
The other alternative I found more recently is a place called IOSYS located in Akihabara. They have several other shops around Tokyo and you can also purchase from them online. If you look at their site under the SIM Free section you can find their selection of Windows Phones. The prices may be different when you visit the actual shop. I bought my second Lumia 930 for 34,000 yen while they are listed on their website for 43,800. In my case I asked the guy for a discount and he sold the phone for 800 yen less if I paid cash. Not much of a discount but it covers transportation.
I have found the bands of the Lumia 930 don?t match with the Softbank network so well so I don?t get as good coverage as I did when I was using a Softbank issued iPhone but it?s enough for daily use.
The other difficulty I have found with the Japanese market is that there aren?t any strong navigation/map applications for Japan. The maps are not downloadable as with other countries so I typically would rely on a ?Google? Maps app made by random college kids which worked well enough but wouldn?t always face the direction you would face on the map.
I hope this is a useful guide and we can further build the Windows Phone community in Japan!
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