The short answer
The reader is someone in Germany with a Vodafone contract, going to Japan. Japan is outside EasyTravel, so Vodafone sells it as a ReisePaket World: €9.99 (about $11) for a day with 500 MB, or €34.99 (about $39) for a week with 4 GB, read on 31 October 2026. I compared that with five travel eSIM brands and Ringo Light, priced on 10 November 2026. I would buy Ringo Light for the data, 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $21.99 or 30 days at $54.99, and keep my own SIM for calls.
Unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks for $21.99 or 30 days for $54.99, paid once, nothing renews. Airalo asks $48 for 15 days and $69 for the month.
10 GB for 30 days costs $16 and 20 GB costs $23. It also sells 3 days of unlimited at $11, on KDDI au and SoftBank.
Docomo is Japan's largest network, and Ubigi rides it with KDDI. 10 GB for 30 days costs $16.50.
It rides KDDI and SoftBank. A week costs $27.50, and sharing is limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Vodafone, 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.
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What to see in Japan, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips include, from Tokyo to Hiroshima, with the one thing your data does for you at each. All of them are on the main rail lines and all have good 4G and 5G.
Roam with Vodafone, or buy an eSIM
Japan is not on Vodafone's EasyTravel list, so a German contract reaches it through a ReisePaket World. I read the ReisePakete page on 31 October 2026. World Tag is €9.99 (about $11) for a day, charged only on the days you use the phone, with 500 MB in it. World Woche is €34.99 (about $39) for a week, with 4 GB in it. Three days is €29.97 (about $33), two weeks is €69.98 (about $78) and a month is €159.94 (about $179), because the page shows no monthly pass for Japan.
Vodafone's two weeks in Japan is €69.98, about $78, and Ringo Light's is $21.99. Ringo Light also sells 3 days at $9.99, against €29.97 on Vodafone, and 30 days at $54.99, against €159.94. All of it is unlimited data at full speed, paid once.
The other eSIMs sit in between. For about two weeks, Ubigi asks $39 for 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps, Airalo $48 and Saily $48.99. For a month, Ubigi asks $65 and Airalo $69. For 3 days, Nomad asks $11 and Airalo $11.50, so Ringo Light at $9.99 is the cheapest there too.
Vodafone wins on the things a contract does best. Your own number keeps ringing, with up to 50 minutes and 50 texts a day included, to Germany or within Japan. There is no eSIM to install and no eSIM slot is needed. If you land for a night, one World Tag at €9.99 is a sensible answer. For a fortnight or a month, I would buy Ringo Light.
Networks in Japan, and what changes for a visitor from Germany
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 or Hiroshima, I would not worry about the network.
The World passes switch on when you arrive, as long as data roaming is on in the phone settings, and the day or week appears on your Vodafone bill. The Woche pass can be booked ahead in MeinVodafone or by a text to 70127. The volume is the catch. Vodafone's page gives 500 MB for the day and 4 GB for the week and says nothing about the speed after that. A hotspot or a day of video passes 500 MB fast. I read no Japanese network named for the World passes, so I do not say which one your phone would join.
There is also WorldTravel, €4.99 a month (about $6) for 2 GB, on a 12-month term of €59.88 (about $67). It slows to 5 kbit/s after the 2 GB. I would not buy it for a single holiday.
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.
- Ubigi, $16.50 for 10 GB. It rides KDDI and Docomo, the widest coverage of the six.
- Saily, $17.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB costs $24.99. Every Saily price here is on saily.com.
- Airalo, $18 for 10 GB. Its Moshi Moshi plan gives 20 GB for $25, and buckets start at $4 for 1 GB.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. It sells unlimited: 2 weeks at $21.99 and 30 days at $54.99. For a fixed 10 GB, Nomad, Ubigi, Saily and Airalo are all cheaper in Japan, and their 20 GB buckets at $23 to $25 now cost more than the Ringo Light 2 weeks, though they last 30 days. Buy Ringo Light for unlimited, not for a bucket. I would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What Ringo Light is
I write for Ringo, so weigh my view with that in mind. Ringo Light is its own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. 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 and installs in one scan, with no app.
The eSIM sits next to your Vodafone SIM, so your number keeps working for calls and texts if you leave roaming on for those. The World passes include up to 50 minutes and 50 texts a day. I would install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi before the flight and switch it on for data when you land at Haneda or Narita.
For the cities, see /blog/best-esim-for-tokyo, /blog/best-esim-for-kyoto and /blog/best-esim-for-osaka, and for the region /blog/best-esim-for-asia. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up the page, after the table.
Pick by trip
My pick is Ringo Light at $9.99 for 3 days. Three days of World Tag are €29.97, about $33, and Nomad is $11.
Ringo Light at $21.99, unlimited at full speed. Two World Woche passes come to €69.98, about $78, with 4 GB in each.
Ringo Light at $54.99. Vodafone would run to €159.94, about $179. Ubigi at $65 for 60 GB if you leave the cities, since it rides Docomo.
Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $16.
One World Tag at €9.99 (about $11) is easy: nothing to install, and your own number.
Keep your Vodafone SIM for calls and texts and add Ringo Light for the data. The full Ringo, which Ringo Light funds, ports the number you have.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Vodafone, 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
- Vodafone: www.vodafone.de/de/mobilfunk/ausland-und-roaming/reisepakete, ReisePakete page, read 31 October 2026: World Tag €9.99 for 500 MB, World Woche €34.99 for 4 GB, 50 minutes and 50 texts a day, Japan in the World list; the WorldTravel page at vodafone.de/de/mobilfunk/ausland-und-roaming/worldtravel for €4.99 a month, 2 GB and the 12-month term. The addresses vodafone.de/privat/hilfe-support/roaming.html and vodafone.de/privat/mobilfunk/roaming.html returned not found on the same day
- 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 (1 euro = $1.1172)
- 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.
