At the hospital where I work, everyone is on NTT DoCoMo, so it makes sense to go with these guys if I purchase a mobile phone.
However, I need to find out if it will be economical, because I am paid 50,000 yen a month, and about 30,000 of that is for food expenses. The other 20,000 I can be economical with, I've heard that an average line rental cost is 6000 yen.
I don't want too many frills with my phone. Having decent ringtones would be nice, and I don't want to look uncool with a crappy looking phone. However, video, i.e. 3G technology, I do not need at all, and that would probably put me in the red far too quickly.
The phone would have practical uses, other than just being a means of social interaction. After I'm finished in Kumamoto at the end of February I intend to travel around Japan, most of Japan in fact, for about three months. I will be going places where it would be helpful to have an emergency exit in case I got in trouble, or lost. (Shikoku's 88 temples, Hokkaido 's national parks).
So to summarise, please help me to find a decent phone package, because I can't really grasp the kanji that I encounter when shopping in person or online for phones.
NTT DoCoMo
Polyphonic or better ringtones
Email (Japanese people have a hard time grasping the concept of SMS!)
Will be using the phone for the next 6 months or so
Line rental + additional monthly costs, except phone bill, must not exceed 10,000 a month (hopefully much less than 10,000, but I don't want to be too stingy)
Thank you very much for helping out!
However, I need to find out if it will be economical, because I am paid 50,000 yen a month, and about 30,000 of that is for food expenses. The other 20,000 I can be economical with, I've heard that an average line rental cost is 6000 yen.
I don't want too many frills with my phone. Having decent ringtones would be nice, and I don't want to look uncool with a crappy looking phone. However, video, i.e. 3G technology, I do not need at all, and that would probably put me in the red far too quickly.
The phone would have practical uses, other than just being a means of social interaction. After I'm finished in Kumamoto at the end of February I intend to travel around Japan, most of Japan in fact, for about three months. I will be going places where it would be helpful to have an emergency exit in case I got in trouble, or lost. (Shikoku's 88 temples, Hokkaido 's national parks).
So to summarise, please help me to find a decent phone package, because I can't really grasp the kanji that I encounter when shopping in person or online for phones.
NTT DoCoMo
Polyphonic or better ringtones
Email (Japanese people have a hard time grasping the concept of SMS!)
Will be using the phone for the next 6 months or so
Line rental + additional monthly costs, except phone bill, must not exceed 10,000 a month (hopefully much less than 10,000, but I don't want to be too stingy)
Thank you very much for helping out!