Coverage is amazing but unfortunately for many travelers the Japanese mobile phone system has traditionally been incompatible with other parts of the world. Japan uses a completely different phone system to the rest of the world, with the USA being one of the few exceptions. Fortunately the new generation 3G phones which are now becoming popular are usable Japan and many of the local carriers have roaming agreements with overseas phone companies.

Some of Japan's largest corporations are phone companies, with NTT DoCoMo, Vodaphone - Japan, Willcom and KDDI "au" being among the largest. They are also one of Japan's biggest advertisers with ads everywhere, on TV, radio, billboards and huge neon and LCD signs.

Recently the rules of ownership of a mobile phone in Japan has changed and it is no longer possible to buy a phone unless you are resident of Japan, this rule is to stop illegal use of phones. All purchasers must have some form of Japanese official documents, e.g. passport or Japanese Alien Registration Card. It is possible for foreigners to rent phones at the international airport but prices are usually high.

With all the mobile phones in use, surprisingly there are still plenty of pay phones available. Whether it be in a convenience store, a shopping mall or on the street these coin operated phones are easily identifiable with local calls costing Y10 for the first three minutes and anther Y10 for each minute thereafter which is very cheap.  

Pink pay phones only accept Y10 coins while the grey and green ones will accept Y100 coins. Some even accept phone cards which can be purchased from news stands, convenience stores and several other shops, with prices starting at Y1000.

Many of the pay phones have animated LCD displays with friendly little characters instructing you how to use the telephone. This doesn?t quite help the non Japanese reading user but adds to the fun.