Joyless J-Phone Yeah, I tried to get a J-Phone the other day, they denied me because I had only 88 days left on my visa (which I'm going to renew anyway), and I need to prove I'll be in the country for 90 days. I offered to pay for the 90 days access up-front (I really wanted the little digital camera in the J-Phones), but the just looked at me strangely. I've since heard many bad things about the company and the quality of reception. Stay away. posted by JetsamSeptember 11, 2001 at 12:56 [ e ]

JPhone not all that bad You can get a J-Phone with no questions, no ID if you have a credit card. Something you can NOT do at DoCoMo. DoCoMo requires you to have (a) your passport your Alien Registration Card and only has one pay plan, the plan where they send you a bill every month and you have to pay it by taking it to the convienence store or the DoCoMo office. JPhone, if you have a credit card, will let you bill automatically to the card which is why they don't care about anything else. You will need to pay cash for the phone itsself, and, you will need to tell your credit card company to let you use the card to sign up for a foreign service which by default they will decline unless you call and arrange it. First USA was able to give me permission immediately, Citibank took a week. Also, at the moment, J-Phone seems to be kicking ASS. They have these wonderful commericals where they decided to name the act of taking a photo and sending it in e-mail with all their camera phones as "Sha-Mail" (Shashin = picture) so "Sha-mail" = "picture mail". (most of their models have cameras at the moment) Anyway, it seems like everybody I know is switching to J-Phone to have the camera. Even though the cameras have been available for 9 months they only got popular since this ad campaign. posted by greggmanSeptember 13, 2001 at 19:07 [ e ]

Are you sure? It could be. I bought my J-Phone phone last December and I had waited because I thought I needed my ID since I had needed it 3 years ago when I got my first DoCoMo phone. But after waiting for my ID and then going to get the phone they told me I only needed it if I wasn't using a credit card and having the bill automatically charged to it. When I switched to DoCoMo this last June, DoCoMo made me go though all that crap again (ID, Passport, etc) and when I asked the guys selling me the phone, which was not DoCoMo but one of the many different stores that sell cellphones they told me it was a DoCoMo thing. If I choose one of the other services, J-Phone, KDDI, etc they all have more options. posted by greggmanSeptember 24, 2001 at 14:29 [ e ]

JPhone... No ID at JPhone? Hmmmm It became law sometime earlier this year that you have to show ID and have a proof of a mailing address to get a phone anywhere. Maybe JPhone really wanted the sale or they are just very trusting of the Greggman. Chris posted by turtleJPSeptember 24, 2001 at 20:53 [ e ]

Yeah I'm sure now.... I went to go and sign up for a new phone last week and the first thing the asked for was my id. I ended up going with AU Prepaid. Heck for a 10,000 yen prepaid card you can get a years worth of phone service. Not a bad deal considering incoming calls are free for a year or untill your card runs out. It is bout a 100 yen a minute though outside of Kantou ,which is steep if you plan on using the phone even for a call a day, but inside Kantou its only like 5 yen a minute. Whatta deal! "I don't need no stinkin phone mail! If you want to tell me something just call me and tell me. It would be quicker that way." Chris posted by turtleJPOctober 4, 2001 at 12:50 [ e ]

Ah, yea right Hmmm, Like getting called during an interview? Like getting called while your in a movie theater? Like getting called while your in a meeting? It's for those reasons that e-mail rules. You'll find that in Japan you'll be the exception without e-mail. Most of my friends contact me through e-mail if it's for something slighlty in the future (as opposed to today) since they know they won't be interrupting something and I can read/respond when I have time. If I didn't have e-mail they'd risk the chance of interrupting plus they might also have to be rude on their end. Of course lots of people don't care about being rude but the majority do. For whatever reason it's considered rude to talk on a cellphone in the train, in a restaurant, bar etc but it's not considered rude to tap out an e-mail. Just somethings to think about. I'll ask about J-Phone again. posted by greggmanOctober 5, 2001 at 11:20 [ e ]

J-Phone, no ID needed, confirmed So, just for you, I went to the relatively new Shinjuku J-Phone office today that's just outside the east exit, on the 1st floor of the basement of My City and I asked about needing an ID if you use a credit card to automatically pay your monthy bill. Not only did the guy tell me, yes, I did NOT need an ID but he also gave me an English brochure which states it very clearly. It lists all the ID you need then it says at the bottom of the page, "If you use your credit card, no attached documetns or seal registered at a financial institution is required." So, if you decide you want a Japanese phone with lots-o-gadgets (the main reason I don't like the pre-paid services since you can't choose your phone). Well, now you know you can do it at J-Phone. The Sanyo SA-03 with built in camera for "Sha-mail" is only 5800 (about $45) at the time of this writing and that's at the J-Phone store which is guaranteed to be the most expensive price vs one of the non J-Phone stores that resell J-Phone service. The Sharp SA-07 with camera and 3D Java is 13800. About $120. Note: Like I said before, your credit card company will probably deny the charge because the charge is tagged as a subscription in a foreign country. Before you go to J-Phone you need to call your credit card company and tell them that you are in Japan and to allow those kinds of charges. When I went the first time that's what happened, I got denied. It took me a couple of days to figure out why. When I called Citibank they said it would take a few days to turn on that feature but when I called First USA they did it instantly and I got my phone. posted by greggmanOctober 8, 2001 at 13:23 [ e ]

OMG  Dood u obvoisly dunno how to use a phone in japan cuz damn either ur place didnt have good reception or ur phone was on SILENT and u messed wit the ringers or vibrator on ur phone. and for the weird calls?? Hell, everyone in japan is having that problem wit that, its not just you, and its not jphones fault, all my life living in japan, my first phone was the jphone and i had nooooooo problem with it. If you dun want those weird calls calling you just block THAT number and not ur friends (ykno u can do that unless u dunno much about ur phone) Wats so unacceptable bout that?? Ur just makin it more harder on urself, if youre friends dun wanna be listed then are they ur friends? Better think twice bout that. Just cuz u dunno how to use a jphone doesnt mean they suck. Moral: IF you dunno how to use ur phone, DONT BUY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. posted by KatJanuary 19, 2004 at 20:06 [ e ]

Wow, did you even read the page? I do know how to use the phone.  In fact I know how to use Japanse cell phones better than the majority of my Japanese friends. No, the phone was not on silent since I could get calls from other people and have it ring.  My apartment does not have bad reception.  I had a full 3 bars.  This not ringing at all thing only happened some of the time but it happened several times when the phone was less then 1 ft in front of my face between my arms as I was typing at the computer.  By the way, I've never in my entire life put my phone in silent mode.  I've put it in vibrate only mode but again, being between my arms on the desk I would have noticed it vibrating if it was in that mode. As for blocking the #, it wasn't a specific # it was an unlisted number.  Blocking all unlisted numbers would mean no friends using caller-ID-block could call me as well as any friend using a pay phone (like any friend that is visiting from out of the country)  That's not an acceptable solution. As for all people getting those kinds of strange calls, I have well over 100 friends here in Japan and not one of them has reported that problem.  I've also since that time, you'll note the page is almost 2.5 years old, I've had both DoCoMo and AU and have not had that problem. posted by greggmanJanuary 20, 2004 at 12:02 [ e ]

J-Phone does suck. The only reason people sign up with J-Phone is because it's cheap.  And that's what you end up paying for. AU is the best.  GMan, you should sign up with AU.  I've never had a problem with them. posted by AUistheoneJuly 11, 2006 at 2:21 [ e ]