What to know BEFORE you move to Japan: SIM cards, phone numbers & more (Mobal CEO Declan Somers) | Japan Station 173

On this episode of Japan Station, we're talking about some of the annoying things people have to deal with when moving to Japan. Our guest this time is the CEO of Mobal, Declan Somers.

👉Topics Discussed

• About visiting Japan for the first time
• About moving to Japan and working in a Japanese company in the late '90s
• Japan in the '90s versus Japan today
• About job possibilities for foreigners in Japan today
• About moving to Japan today
• About how difficult it can be finding a hotel in Tokyo
• Why you need a phone number as soon as possible when you move to Japan
• About the trouble getting Japanese apps from the Apple app store
• Why you should change your region setting to Japan before moving to japan
• What ti's like ordering a Mobal SIM card
• About setting up a bank account in Japan
• About Mobal's data and voice plan
• About the Mobal Pay card
• About sign up bonuses for Japanese apps
• About point cards and points in Japan
• About the 99% population coverage claim made by Japanese cell service providers
• About Mobal's charitable work
• About Mobal's pocket wifi service
• And much more!

👉Subscribe to the Podcast!

• Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/japan-station-a-podcast-by-japankyo-com/id1440454968
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6lDoFFt4M0HyyKaVeDyKkB

👉Support on Patreon & Ko-fi

• Support for as little as $1 a month to get early access to episodes, ad free versions and occassional bonus content
  • Support on Patreon https://patreon.com/japankyo
• Support via a one time donation!
  • Ko-fi: https://www.ko-fi.com/japankyo
  • Venmo: https://venmo.com/tonyrvega
  • Paypal.me: https://paypal.me/tonyrvega

👉Support on Patreon & Ko-fi

Use my Mobal affiliate link to get a 10% discount on their voice & data plan. Their voice & data plan is perfect for those who want a Japanese phone number while in Japan. Using this link gets you a discount and it provides me with a small commission which I use to fund JapanKyo.

• Get 10% of Mobal's Voice & Data plan: https://www.mobal.com/tonyjapan

👉Links, Videos, Etc.

If you'd like to get a Mobal voice & data SIM card, consider using my affiliate link! This will get you 10% off your order.

• Mobal Japan Voice & Data (Includes Japanese phone number)

👉Follow on Social Media

• X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/japankyonews
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tonyrvega.bsky.social
• Tony R. Vega Personal Instagram: https://instagram.com/tonyrvega
• The Anime Linguist YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theanimelinguist
• Japan Station YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@japankyonews
• Website: https://japankyo.com/
• Tony R. Vega Personal X/Twitter: https://x.com/thevegatony