RAKUTENMOBILESIMGUIDE

ThefollowingisaguideforapplyingtoRakutenMobileforasimcard/newphonetouse
insteadofDocomo/AU/Softbank.IvebeenwithRakutenforaboutamonthandamhighly
satisfied.NotonlyisitjustasfastasmypreviousDoCoMoplan,butIget10gbofDATA
insteadofjust3GBfornearlyoftheprice.Iwanttosharejusthowtodoitwitheveryone!
Beforegettingstartedyouwillneedafewthings:
An
unlocked
smartphone(Phonecompanies,includingJapan,arenowadaysunlocking
phoneseitherfreelyorforaprice)
Theknowledgeofwhat
TYPE
ofSIMcardyourphoneiscompatiblewitheitherMicro
orNanoAquickgooglesearchcantellyouthis.
Your
ZairyuCard
(ForeignResidentCard)
A
CREDITCARD
aspaymentmethod(EitherJapaneseorForeignwillwork)
*Optional:MNPnumberforphonenumbertransferbetweenSIMs.

1. Goto
http://mobile.rakuten.co.jp/sim/
2. Onceonthe
/sim/
page,therewillbealistofdifferentpointsdealingwiththeRakuten
Mobilesimcard,suchas:
a. ThedifferenttypesofSIMcardsavailable
b. Thedifferentplansandpoints(DATA,SMSandDATA,orCall/SMS/DATA)
c. Thedifferentpricesforeachplan:
d. ABIGREDBUTTONthatsays(Start
HereforRakutenMobileApplication)
3. Pushthatbigredbutton.Atthenextpage,itwilltellyouwhatyouwillneedtocomplete
theapplication.Aslistedaboveyouwillneeda
CreditCard
andyour
ForeignResident
Card
.Italsohasanoptionfora
MNP
numberifyouwishtotransferyourcurrent
JapanesephonenumbertoyournewSIM.
4. Following,therewillbealistofphones/tabletsthatyoucanchoosefromifyoudesirea
newone.Forthepurposeofthisguide,clickonthefarrightoption:
SIM
5. Belowthat,youwillneedtochooseyourplan.
Data
OR
SMS/DATA
OR
Call/SMS/DATA
.

Afteryoudecide,presstheBIGREDbuttontocontinue
6. Nextpage,youwillneedtoreviewyourdecisionthusfarandchooseaDATAplan:
Priceasfollows:

DATASIM

DATA/SMS

CALL/DATA/SMS

Speed

Basic

525

645

1,250

200kbps

3.1GBPack

900

1,020

1,600

5GBPack

1,450

1,570

2,150

10GBPack

2,260

2,380

2,960

From50
mbpsto150
mbps

8. Choosewhiceveroptionworksbestforyou(Ipersonallywentallinandgotthe2,960
option)
BEAWARE
thereisa3,000yen
administrationfee
.But
Currently,asof
September2015
,thereisacampaignthatgivesyouamonthserviceforfree,
basicallymakingthefeeinconsequential.Afterthat,continuetothenextbox.
9. Here,youwillneedtorememberyourphonescompatibleSIMcardtype.
Dontmess
thisup
asitisveryimportantandchoosingthewrongonewillgarneryourSIMuseless
toyou.
10. ClicktheBIGREDbuttontocontinue.
11. ThenextpagehasalistofoptionaladdonsSmartphone
support/Voicemail/InternationalTelephoneservice/etcnotnecessaryfortheuseofthe
SIMcard.
12. ClicktheBIGREDbuttontocontinue.
13. Thenextpageasksforyour
RakutenID
.Ifyouhaveone,clickthe
RED
buttonand
youllbeabletoskipagoodportionofwhatcomesnext.Ifyoudont,clickthe
GREY
buttonunderneath.
14. Thenextpageiscustomerinformation.Thebeginningwillaskaboutyour
MNP
to
transferphonenumbers.Ifyoudonthaveone,selectthefirstoption:
(
)
15. NextboxoutlinesaRakutenPhoneservice,seemsprettystandardbloatware.Click
thefirstoption
()
tosayno.
16. NextisCustomerinfo.
ENTERALLINFORMATIONEXACTLYASITAPPEARSON
YOURRESIDENTCARD.

ANY
variationfromyourcardtoyourapplicationcanvoidthe
application.
BECAREFUL
.
Eachletterindicatestheproceedingboxontheapplication:
a. Firstisname.
*IMPORTANT*
Enteryourname
EXACTLY
asitappearsonyour
ResidentCard
.Eventhe
smallestvariation
canvoidthecustomerverification
andresetyourapplication(Happenedtome3times).Romajifirst,Katakana
secondineachrespectivesetofboxes.IdontbelievetheKatakanahasany
effect,asitdoesntappearonyourResidentCardeither.
b. Checktheboxindicatingyouare20yearsold
c. BirthdayandYear.Usewesternstyle(i.e.1988)
d. MaleorFemale
e. Emailaddress
f. PostalCode
NoHyphen
g. Address.
1)
FindTokushima(

)inthedropbox.
2)
EnterAddress.3)Enter
buildingroomnumber.
*IMPORTANT*

MustenterinJapaneseandmust
matchthebackofyourResidentcard.
h. ContactPhonenumber.(Ifyoudonthaveone,justputyourschools)
i. Specifyapasswordforyouraccount.
*IMPORTANT*Must
containletters
AND
numbers
AND
symbols(symbolsfromthelistgiven).
j. ChooseatimeanddateofdeliveryfortheSIMcard
k. Enterallofyourcreditcardinfoincludingsecuritycode.Prettystandard

17. Continuetothenextpagewhereyoucanrevieweverything.
18. NextpageisTermsandConditions.ReadandAccept.
19. TheApplicationportionisnowcomplete.

Youwillreceiveaconfirmationemailindicating
thisaswellasthefinalstepintheprocess.
CustomerVerification.
20. Severalminutes/hourslater,youwillreceiveasecondemailthathasalinkembeddedas
wellasaonetimeusepasswordtologintoyourapplication.Youwillusethatpassword
andyourbirthdaytologin.
21. Onceloggedintothe
CustomerVerification
page,youwillbeaskedtoattachpictures
of
BOTHSIDES
ofyour
ResidentCard
.Thisisbecauseyouraddressiswrittenonthe
back.Picturephonequalityisfine,aslongasitisclearandinfocus.
22. Submitthe
CustomerVerification
form.
23. CONGRATULATIONS!Ifallgoesaccordingtoplan,youshouldreceiveyournewSIM
cardinthemailthedateyouspecified.ifnot,startbackat#1!

*Ifyoukeepfailing
CustomerVerification
,dontgetdisheartened,justpayspecialcare
duringtheapplicationprocessandyoushouldmakeitthroughalright.
*WhiletheNameonyour
ResidentCard
isimportantandneedstomatch,yourCredit
carddoes
NOT
.(Icanpersonallyverify)Sodontworryifthereisadiscrepancybetweenthose
two.

GOODLUCK!

J.BrocSewell