1 · The short answer
Osaka is where many Japan trips start, through Kansai Airport, and where many travellers base themselves for day trips to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Himeji. Every travel eSIM covers it with its Japan plan. We priced the six that get most of the traffic on the same day and looked at what your phone has to do from the airport island to the street food stalls of Dotonbori.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $26.99 or 30 days at $50.99, nothing renews. It covers Kyoto, Nara and Himeji on the same eSIM.
3 days of unlimited at $11, on KDDI au and SoftBank. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
On NTT Docomo and KDDI, for trips that leave Kansai for the mountains. 10 GB for 30 days at $16.50.
Days, not gigabytes, on KDDI and SoftBank. $27.50 for a week; sharing limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 27 September 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.
Travelling further? Compare the best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
2 · The prices, charted
US dollars, 27 September 2026. Ringo Light and Nomad sell 14 days, the others 15. 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 21 days.
Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited, and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
3 · Side by side
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Get Ringo Light for Osaka, from $26.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
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.
4 · What to do in Osaka, and what your phone does for you there
Seven places for a first trip to Osaka, from the canal lights of Minami to a castle half an hour west by Shinkansen. All are on the Metro or JR lines and all have good 4G and 5G.
5 · Getting online at Kansai Airport
International flights to Osaka land at Kansai International, built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. There is 4G and 5G from the gate, so install your eSIM at home, leave it off, and switch it on for data when you land. Itami, closer to the city, handles domestic flights.
Two trains leave the island. The Nankai Rapi:t runs to Namba, for Dotonbori and the south of the city. The JR Haruka runs to Tennoji, Shin-Osaka and on to Kyoto. Look up which station is closest to your hotel before you buy a ticket: picking the wrong line costs you a change and half an hour.
6 · Signal underground, and the Umeda maze
The Osaka Metro has coverage in its stations and tunnels, and so do the big underground shopping streets around Umeda and Namba. Data works below ground just as it does above.
GPS does not. Under Umeda, where the JR, Hankyu, Hanshin and Metro stations are joined by a web of passages, the blue dot on your map drifts or freezes. Look up the exit number or the building you want before you go down, then follow the signs. On iPhone an ICOCA card in Apple Wallet takes you through the gates and pays at most convenience stores.
Every network covers Osaka and the Kansai rail lines well. NTT Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank all work here; the network your eSIM rides matters only if you head into the mountains of the Kii peninsula.
7 · Osaka as a base: which plan fits
Kyoto is 15 minutes away by Shinkansen and about half an hour by JR special rapid. Nara is under an hour, Kobe about 20 minutes, and Himeji Castle around 30 minutes by Shinkansen. Many travellers sleep in Osaka for a week and ride out every day. A single Japan plan covers all of it.
For three days, Nomad sells unlimited at $11. For a week, a 7-day plan costs $25 at Nomad, $26.50 at Airalo and $27.50 at Holafly; Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, but its 2 weeks of unlimited data at full speed costs $26.99, only $1.99 more than Nomad's week and twice as long. For longer stays, 30 days at $50.99.
If you are going to Universal Studios Japan, plan for data: the park's app shows ride waits and, on busy days, hands out the timed entry tickets for Super Nintendo World after you enter.
8 · What Ringo Light is
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Japan, Osaka included, it sells two trips, both unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $26.99 and 30 days at $50.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
It sells no buckets. For a fixed 10 GB, Nomad at $16 and Ubigi at $16.50 are cheaper. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
9 · Pick by trip
Nomad unlimited, 3 days, $11. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $26.99, only $1.99 more than the cheapest 7-day plan here and twice as long.
Ringo Light 2 weeks at $26.99 covers the whole country on one eSIM.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $50.99. Ubigi at $65 for 60 GB at full speed on Docomo if you also go deep into the countryside.
Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $16.
10 · Frequently asked questions
11 · How we compared, and our sources
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Osaka on 27 September 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: Revolut. It sells Japan data plans of 1 GB for 7 days up to 20 GB for 30 days inside its banking app, for Revolut account holders only. Its website shows the plan sizes and a starting price in pounds, but no price per plan in dollars, and no unlimited plan, so it has no bar in the charts. 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; buckets from esimdb.com/japan/airalo, 23 September 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-japan/
- Saily: esimdb.com/japan/saily, listing dated 1 July 2026; saily.com refused the fetch
- Nomad: esimdb.com/japan/nomad, listing dated 20 September 2026; networks from nomadesim.com/japan-esim
- Ubigi: esimdb.com/japan/ubigi, listing dated 16 September 2026; networks from cellulardata.ubigi.com
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 27 September 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.
