1 · The short answer
Every travel eSIM sells Tokyo as part of its Japan plan, so the question is which Japan plan fits a Tokyo trip. We priced the six that get most of the traffic on the same day, for a long weekend, a week in the city and two weeks with day trips, and looked at what your phone has to do between Narita, Haneda, the subway and Shinjuku Station.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $26.99, less than Holafly or Saily charge for 7 days. 30 days at $50.99. Nothing renews.
3 days of unlimited at $11 for a short Tokyo stopover, on KDDI au and SoftBank. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
On NTT Docomo and KDDI. In Tokyo every network is strong; Docomo matters later, in the mountains. 10 GB for 30 days at $16.50.
Days, not gigabytes, on KDDI and SoftBank, installed from a QR code. $27.50 for a week.
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
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Tokyo, 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 Tokyo, and what your phone does for you there
Eight places for a first week in Tokyo, from the old temple district to the neon of Akihabara, plus one day trip. All are on the subway or JR lines and all have good 4G and 5G.
5 · Getting online at Narita or Haneda
Most flights to Tokyo land at Narita, about an hour east of the city, or Haneda, on the bay about half an hour from the centre. Both have 4G and 5G from the moment the plane taxis in, so the simplest plan is to install your eSIM at home, leave it switched off, and turn it on for data when you land. You then have maps and messages before passport control.
From Narita the Narita Express runs to Tokyo Station and Shinjuku, and the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno. From Haneda the Keikyu line and the Tokyo Monorail reach the city in well under an hour. A route app on your phone picks the right one for your hotel, and tells you which car to board for the exit you need.
6 · Does your phone work in the Tokyo subway?
Yes. The Tokyo Metro and Toei lines have mobile coverage in the stations and in the tunnels between them, so you can keep reading, messaging and streaming on the train. Your data works the same underground as on the street.
The harder part is the stations. Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shibuya and Ikebukuro each have dozens of exits, and the wrong one can put you ten minutes away from where you meant to surface. Look up the exit number in your maps app before you arrive, then follow the yellow signs. On iPhone you can add a Suica or PASMO card to Apple Wallet and tap through the gates with your phone.
All three big networks, NTT Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank, are strong everywhere in Tokyo, so for the city itself the network your eSIM uses barely matters.
7 · Which plan fits a Tokyo trip
A long weekend: Nomad sells 3 days of unlimited at $11 and Airalo at $11.50. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
A week: this is where Tokyo trips get expensive at other brands. Seven days of unlimited costs $25 at Nomad, $26.50 at Airalo, $27.50 at Holafly and $28.99 at Saily. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, but its 2 weeks of unlimited data at full speed costs $26.99, which is less than Holafly's or Saily's week and within $2 of Nomad's and Airalo's. You simply have days left over.
Two weeks or more, with Kyoto and Osaka after Tokyo: Ringo Light 2 weeks at $26.99 or 30 days at $50.99 covers all of Japan, not just Tokyo, with nothing to change at the next city.
8 · Day trips from Tokyo
Kamakura is about an hour south by JR, Nikko about two hours north, and Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes around two hours west. Coverage holds along all of these routes and in the towns. On the hiking trails above Hakone and Nikko the signal can thin out, so download the area in your maps app before you set off.
9 · 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, Tokyo 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.
If you want a fixed amount of data instead, Nomad, Ubigi, Saily and Airalo all sell 10 GB for less than our 2 weeks. Ringo Light sells no buckets. The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
10 · Pick by trip
Nomad unlimited, 3 days, $11. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $26.99. It costs less than a 7-day plan at Holafly ($27.50) or Saily ($28.99), and $0.49 to $1.99 more than Airalo ($26.50) or Nomad ($25).
Ringo Light 2 weeks at $26.99 covers the whole route on one eSIM.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $50.99.
Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $16.
11 · Frequently asked questions
12 · How we compared, and our sources
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Tokyo 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.
