The short answer
A trip that ends in China after Japan, or starts there, is two separate networks and two flights, and your phone should not be the part that needs fixing. I priced six regional Asia eSIMs for a week, two weeks and a month, and I read the fine print on unlimited for each. My pick for two weeks or more is Ringo Light, and I explain below what to do about the firewall.
One eSIM with unlimited data at full speed in Japan, China and 18 more countries, 2 weeks at $34.99 or 30 days at $59.99, nothing renews. Airalo asks $49 for 15 days and $73.50 for the month.
Asialink, 18 countries: 3 days of unlimited at $11.50, with 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. A cheap option for a short hop, if both countries are on its list.
APAC plan, 14 countries: 10 GB for 30 days at $21 and 20 GB for 45 days at $35 (on sale, regular $40).
Best Asia, 17 countries: 7 days with 25 GB at full speed for $25, then 2 Mbps. 20 GB a month for $19 if you can live with a plan that renews.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi 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.
The prices, charted
Regional plans, US dollars, 25 October 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, the others 15 days. Ubigi's 15 days is 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad sells no two-week unlimited; its longest is 10 days at $29.
The 30-day regional plan at each brand. Ubigi's month is 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad sells no 30-day unlimited.
Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited, so it lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Japan and China, from $21.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $21.99
- 2 weeks $34.99
- 30 days $59.99
- 90 days $73.99
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 do in Japan and China, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places that fill a first trip across the two countries, with the one thing your data does for you at each. Both countries sit inside Ringo Light's Asia plan, so one eSIM covers the lot.
One plan for both countries: Ringo Light
Japan and China are a short flight apart, and the second country is the one where you most want your data to work the moment you land. One regional eSIM is installed once, at home, and carries over with no fresh QR code in a Shanghai arrivals hall. With two country eSIMs you set up the second before you fly and switch the line on at the gate.
For about two weeks of unlimited on a regional plan, I read Airalo at $49, Holafly at $51.50, Saily at $54.99 and Ubigi at $45 for a fixed 30 GB at full speed. Ringo Light is $34.99 for 2 weeks. For a month the rivals are $66 to $86.99, and Ringo Light is $59.99.
The sum of two country plans is not close. Japan's 2 weeks is $21.99 and China's is $22.99 on their own pages, $44.98 together, against $34.99 for the Asia trip that covers both, and for 30 days Japan's $54.99 plus China's $35.99 is $90.98 against $59.99. The exception is a month in China alone, where China's own $35.99 beats the Asia plan.
Which plans cover both countries
Ringo Light's Asia plan lists Japan and China, two of its 20 countries. The brands' own pages are linked under Sources.
The lists I recorded for the rivals note what is missing, and Japan and China are not among the gaps I wrote down. Airalo's Asialink has 18 countries, Holafly's Asia plan 16, Saily's Asia and Oceania plan 22, Nomad's APAC plan 14 and Ubigi's Best Asia 17. I could not confirm on the day that each of them includes both Japan and China, so I would open the brand's list before buying.
China has one more catch. Google, WhatsApp and Instagram do not open on a Chinese SIM, and a roaming eSIM usually gets around that by routing data abroad. That is the usual case, not a promise from Ringo Light, and I could not confirm it for China on the day. If one app matters for your work, I would keep a VPN installed as a fallback before you fly.
If you want a data bucket: Nomad or Airalo
- Nomad, $21 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB on its 14-country APAC plan, and 20 GB for 45 days at $35 (on sale, regular $40).
- Airalo, $25 for 10 GB. Asialink, 18 countries, 20 GB for 30 days at $39, with buckets from $4 for 1 GB.
- Ubigi, $28 for 10 GB. Best Asia, 17 countries. The 20 GB for $19 is a monthly plan that renews until you stop it.
- Saily, $35.99 for 10 GB. Asia and Oceania, 22 countries, with no 20 GB bucket on its listing on 25 October 2026.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. The 2 weeks is unlimited for $34.99 and the 30 days unlimited for $59.99. For a fixed 10 GB, Nomad and Airalo cost less across Asia, and for 20 GB so do Nomad, Airalo and Ubigi's monthly plan. Ringo Light is the one I would buy for unlimited, and I would rather you hear that here than at checkout.
What Ringo Light is
Ringo Light is Ringo's own data eSIM, and I write this guide for Ringo, so weigh that. It is sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Japan and China it is the Asia plan: 20 countries, unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks at $34.99 or 30 days at $59.99, nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
The card to buy it sits further up the page, below the table.
Pick by trip
I would buy Ringo Light's Japan plan, 3 days of unlimited at $9.99, or Airalo's Asialink 3 days at $11.50. The Asia plan is more than you need.
My pick is Ringo Light, unlimited, 2 weeks, $34.99. No rival I read charges less for two weeks on one plan.
The same plan. Ubigi's week with 25 GB at $25 is cheaper for seven days, but you would need a second plan for the rest.
I would buy Ringo Light, 30 days, $59.99. If the month is China only, the China plan at $35.99 is the better buy.
I would buy Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $21, if its 14 countries include both of yours.
None of these travel plans does that. 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, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Japan and China on 25 October 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/asia-esim?currency=USD, Asialink unlimited, 18 countries and the 3 GB daily cap read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026; 10 GB and 20 GB buckets from esimdb.com/vietnam/airalo, listing dated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-asia/, prices in dollars and the 16-country list on the site, 25 October 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-asia-and-oceania/, Asia and Oceania plans, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/apac-esim, Regional APAC plans, prices in dollars from the page itself, read 25 October 2026; 20 GB for 45 days is on sale, $40 regular
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/rates-and-coverage/best-asia-data-plans/best-asia-unlimited-30-days/, Best Asia plan pages on cellulardata.ubigi.com, 25 October 2026: 7 days $25, 15 days $45, 30 days $66, 10 GB $28, 20 GB a month $19
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 25 October 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.
