The short answer
Telstra's International Day Pass works in Japan for A$10 a day, on days you use the phone. I compared it with the six travel eSIM brands and Ringo Light, with Telstra read on 31 October 2026 and the eSIMs priced on 10 November 2026. For a long weekend I would buy the Ringo Light 3 days at $9.99, for two weeks its $21.99, for a month its $54.99.
Unlimited data at full speed for 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $21.99 or 30 days at $54.99, nothing renews. Telstra's Day Pass is A$140 (about $98) for two weeks. Airalo asks $48 for 15 days and $69 for the month.
For light use on KDDI au and SoftBank: 10 GB for 30 days at $16, 20 GB at $23, and 3 days of unlimited at $11.
One of the few brands on NTT Docomo, Japan's largest network, along with KDDI. 10 GB for 30 days at $16.50.
You buy days, not gigabytes, on KDDI and SoftBank. $27.50 for a week; sharing limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, Ringo Light, European Central Bank on their own sites or listings, Ringo Light from its catalogue. All in US dollars unless stated. Treat every number as a snapshot.
See the full price index for every country.
Travelling further? Compare the best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 10 November 2026. Ringo Light sells 14 days, the others 15. Nomad's unlimited now stops at 10 days. Ubigi's 15 days is 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Ubigi's month is 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad stops at 10 days.
Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited, and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
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Get Ringo Light for Japan, from $9.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 3 days $9.99
- 2 weeks $21.99
- 30 days $54.99
We sell data eSIMs for now to fund the full Ringo service. Ringo is self funded. Every plan bought here pays for the build of one plan that works everywhere.
Want to keep your own number abroad?
That is the full Ringo service: one plan that works everywhere, with your own number included.
It is a separate product from Ringo Light and it is still being built, so it is not on sale yet. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
What to see in Japan, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most trips to Japan include, from Shibuya to the floating torii of Itsukushima. Each one shows what a phone does for you there, and one eSIM works at every stop.
Roam with Telstra, or buy an eSIM
On 31 October 2026 I read Telstra's roaming page, which puts Japan at A$10 a day on the International Day Pass. A day is charged when the phone makes a call, sends a text or uses data. That is A$30 (about $21) for three days of use, A$140 (about $98) for two weeks and A$300 (about $211) for 30 days, because the page shows no monthly pass for Japan. I turned the Australian prices into dollars at the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026, A$1 = $0.70.
In Japan, Telstra's Day Pass is A$30 (about $21) for three days against $9.99 for Ringo Light's 3 days, A$140 (about $98) for two weeks against $21.99, and A$300 (about $211) for a month against $54.99. Of the other brands, the cheapest unlimited for about two weeks is Ubigi at $39 for 15 days, with 30 GB at full speed and then 2 Mbps.
Here is what Telstra wins. Your own number keeps ringing, calls and texts are included, nothing needs installing, and a phone with no eSIM slot works too. For a single day of use, with zero setup, I would stay on the pass. From a second day, the Ringo Light 3 days is already ahead.
Networks in Japan, and what changes for a visitor from Australia
Japan has three big networks: NTT Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank. All three cover the cities and the Shinkansen lines well, and Docomo reaches furthest into the mountains and rural Hokkaido. Most travel eSIMs ride SoftBank or KDDI, and Ubigi is the one brand here that names Docomo. For Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, I would not worry about the network.
The Day Pass is billed per day used, on your own Telstra plan. It includes 2 GB of data a day and unlimited standard calls and SMS, and unused data expires at the end of each day. Telstra sells a 2 GB data top up at A$10 (about $7), valid for 31 days. The page states no roaming speed, so I cannot tell you how fast it runs in Japan.
If you want a data bucket: Nomad or Ubigi
- Nomad, $16 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB and the cheapest 20 GB at $23, on KDDI au and SoftBank with 5G. For maps and messages, I would buy this.
- Ubigi, $16.50 for 10 GB. On KDDI and Docomo, the widest coverage of the six.
- Saily, $17.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $24.99, with every price read on saily.com.
- Airalo, $18 for 10 GB. Its Moshi Moshi plan gives 20 GB for $25, with buckets from $4 for 1 GB.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Ringo Light's 2 weeks is unlimited for $21.99 and its 30 days unlimited for $54.99. For a fixed 10 GB, Nomad, Ubigi, Saily and Airalo are all cheaper in Japan, and their 20 GB buckets, $23 to $25 for 30 days, cost more than the Ringo Light fortnight but last a month. Telstra sells no bucket, only the 2 GB a day. I would buy Ringo Light for unlimited, not for a bucket.
What Ringo Light is
I write for Ringo, so you should know that Ringo Light is its own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere. For Japan it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $21.99 and 30 days at $54.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
The eSIM sits next to your own SIM, so your Australian number keeps working for calls and texts if you leave Telstra roaming on for them. A day with a call or text still counts as a Day Pass day at A$10, so I would keep roaming off unless I needed a call. The Telstra page is at /blog/telstra-vs-ringo-for-japan and the city pages start at /blog/best-esim-for-tokyo.
I put the card to buy it further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
I would buy Ringo Light, 3 days, $9.99, against A$30 (about $21) for three days of the Day Pass. Nomad sells 3 days at $11.
I would buy Ringo Light, 2 weeks, $21.99. Fourteen days of the Day Pass is A$140 (about $98).
I would buy Ringo Light, 30 days, $54.99, against A$300 (about $211) of Day Pass.
I would buy Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $16.
Stay on the Telstra pass for calls, or put Ringo Light on for data and keep your own SIM in the phone for calls and texts.
The Day Pass works on the plan already in the phone. Ringo Light needs an eSIM.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, Ringo Light, European Central Bank, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Japan on 10 November 2026, all on the same day, in US dollars. Each rival's price comes from its own website where it showed dollars, otherwise from an esimdb.com listing, and every source and its date is listed below. Ringo Light's prices come from the catalogue our checkout charges.
We compare the trips people actually book: a week, two weeks and a month of unlimited data, and a 10 GB bucket. We read each brand's fair use and speed rules and quote them as the brands state them. We did not run speed tests, so this page makes no speed claims for any brand.
Ringo Light is our own product. We put it in the table on the same terms as everyone else, and where a rival is the better buy the page says so.
Left out: Maya Mobile. We could not read its own prices for this country on the day, so it stays out rather than being guessed.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/japan-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, read 10 November 2026; buckets from esimdb.com/japan/airalo, listing dated 4 October 2026, not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-japan/, prices in dollars on the site, read 10 November 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-japan/, prices in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/japan-esim, prices in dollars on the site, read 10 November 2026; 10 GB and 20 GB on sale at $16 and $23; unlimited now sold for 3, 5, 7 and 10 days only
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/data-plans-and-coverage/ubigi-esim-data-plans/?destination=JPN, prices in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Telstra: www.telstra.com.au/international-roaming, International Roaming Day Pass zones, A$10 a day for Zone 2 with Japan listed, the 2 GB a day allowance, billing on days used and the A$10 2 GB top up, read 31 October 2026
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/japan, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- European Central Bank: www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml, euro reference rates of 30 October 2026, the latest published on 31 October 2026, used for the dollar figures (A$1 = $0.70)
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 10 November 2026.
Written and priced by the Ringo team. Prices change often; if you spot one that has moved, tell us through the contact page and we will update the table.
