Electronic devices in Japan and other related questions?
Hi :) I'm going to Japan on Wednesday and I wanted to know what was the voltage for electronic devices, such as the charger for the cellphone and cd players which are 220 ~ 240 v. in my case. Am I gonna be able to use them of should I buy adapters? In that case, of what voltage? Another thing that I wanted to know was how expensive are cellphones (I don't want the newst stuff, just a regular cell) in Japan, are there many cyber cafes, how much is a laptop (again, not the newest thing, I'm not going to make much money in a obento factory...) and internet for the laptop? Thanks in advance, sorry if I asked too many questions!
Japan - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
voltages in japan is 100-110.yes you will be needing an adapt or for your cell and CD player. cellphones in japan have different prices depending on the style you can check the docomo,soft bank,Au stores for what type of cellphone do you like.the cell phone in japan are lined.they are prepaid phones but the rates are more expensive than the lined one. laptop is ranged to 100,000 above depends on the maker. you can check the electronics store for more details. they are lots of cyber cafe in japan it is usually called "mangga kissita" or "mangga cafe" Internet? fastest and the cheapest i know is Thru land line phones.you can check NTT. in that case you should get a land line phone first. they will give you a device that you will connect to the USB and to the land lined phone. by the way to get all of this you should show them your alien registration and certificate of residence or "juminghiyo"
2 :
I know nothing about cellphone / cyber cafes / laptop costs, but we had to buy a converter for my son's PS2 (UK version) while he was here in Japan with us. It still has the price ticket on it - Â¥7320!! It might pay you to look around before you come to Japan, it isn't a simple adaptor though - don't ever think it is - you need something that can raise the voltage from 100v to the required 220~240. Do you know what a Japanese plug looks like? http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2225.html You might need a normal 'adaptor plug' so that you can plug in your converter! You need a converter with an input that covers 100v, and an output including 220~240v. Ours is made by a company called Swallow, if you buy one when you're here, and it's called the Trans pal AG-120. We bought it from Yodobashi camera (ヨドãƒã‚·ã‚«ãƒ¡ãƒ©.) This was the cheapest one we could find - about 2 years ago - and you can't plug a UK 3 pin plug directly into it, you need an adaptor to make a 3 pin UK plug work in a 2 round pin socket - type C on this page; http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs Now you see why I recommend that you investigate BEFORE you leave home!! Not only is it ridiculously complicated, but the instructions are all written in Japanese too...!! ; ) (Not surprising, but not helpful!! They're designed for Japanese people who buy electrical goods in other countries and bring them back to Japan.) The insulting thing IS, that the converter that you pay so much for is going to increase the voltage to the UK / Europe voltage - just so that the charger's built in adaptor can convert it to a lower voltage and charge the CD player!! That's what USUALLY happens anyway! If the adaptor is built into the charger - you'll know this because it will either have an unnecessarily large plug or it will have a box somewhere along the flex - maybe you should add details of your product, make and model number, and someone might be able to check and see if you can buy a Japanese charger for it here. It's a bit of a long shot though. BTW, cellphones from other countries only work here if they're quad band - or something like that. Anything else will just say there's no signal. Tri band will work ONLY if it doesn't have the 2 different US frequencies. Make sure before you come, because your provider is only out to take your money, and frankly they don't know what they're talking about half the time - which is why our recent house-guest was told by O2 that his phone WOULD work in Japan, even though it obviously DIDN'T!
3 :
You can easily get a free cell phone from any of the major providers. Just make sure to get your Alien registration card and Work Visa straight before you try to sign up for a plan. Cell phone rentals are almost always terrible deals.
4 :
As for cell phone, you won't be able to find second hand market in Japan (it is small market). Pre-paid phone is cheap. If you wanna buy one, you better buy at the airport. I think tourist can purchase with your passport. Vodafone shop is on 1st floor in the Terminal 1 or B1(basement 1st) floor in Terminal 2 of Narita Airport. Once you entered the city, you need ID with domestic adress (usually ppl show alien registration card) to buy. Maybe this is for security reason (criminals tend to use cells). In some Asian countries, tourist can purchase prepaid card at only airport. As for voltage, Japan is just 100V, not 100-110V. It is said Taiwan and US products work, cos they use 110V. However, ppl say the products go to the dogs (die) easily.
