Tokyo eSIM
In Tokyo you connect to KDDI or SoftBank, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 74 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- KDDI and SoftBank
- Real speed in Japan
- 74 Mbps median, 21 Mbps for the slowest tenth1,284 travellers across Japan, rolling 90 days
- 5G
- yes, standalone and non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Tokyo
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.96 | $8.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $2.18 | $10.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.59 | $15.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $0.94 | $46.89 |
How Japan compares across Asia
- Speed rank
- 6 of 28 destinations we have measured in Asia
- Regional median
- 42.95 Mbps
- Consistency
- The slowest tenth still reaches 28 percent of the median
- Upstream networks
- 2, KDDI, SoftBank
- 5G
- Yes, standalone and non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Macau, 84 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Malaysia, 61 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 5: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Sapporo, Fukuoka
- tenth percentile
- 21 Mbps
- Behind these figures
- 1284 travellers, rolling 90 days
Landing at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) (HND)
- Airport
- HND / RJTT
- Distance
- 15 km from the centre of Tokyo
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalFree network HANEDA-FREE-WIFI in Terminals 1, 2 and 3; connect and follow the on-screen instructions, no advance registration. Not usable inside shops, except lounges.
- SIM on arrival
- SIM counters or vending in the terminalThe airport service directory lists a 'Cell Phones / Wi-Fi Rental / SIM' category among its facilities; terminal locations are not given on that index page.
- Also serves
- Narita International Airport (NRT)
Getting into Tokyo
- Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho (HND), about 24 minutes
- Keisei Skyliner to central Tokyo (NRT), about 36 minutes
- Narita Express (JR East) (NRT)
- Airport bus from Haneda to Tokyo Station (Airport Transport Service, Keikyu Bus) (HND), about 35 minutes
Underground and on the metro
Tokyo Metro runs 9 lines. It opened in 1927. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Tokyo
- Tokyo has two airports at very different distances: Haneda is about 15 km south of Tokyo Station, Narita about 60 km east, so the transfer is a short monorail ride or the best part of an hour by express train.
- Haneda's free Wi-Fi (HANEDA-FREE-WIFI) covers all three terminals but the operator warns it cannot be used inside shops, lounges excepted.
- Tokyo's subway is two separate networks under one map: Tokyo Metro runs 9 lines and 180 stations, Toei Subway a further 4 lines and 106 stations.
- The Tokyo Monorail from Haneda opened in 1964 as the world's first commercial monorail and Japan's first airport rail link, and runs predominantly elevated along Tokyo Bay.
- Japan's first underground line, the Ginza Line, opened on 30 December 1927 between Ueno and Asakusa.
- Narita's free network, FreeWiFi-NARITA, reaches every terminal and the shuttle buses between them. Select it and a screen asks you to accept the terms and a security caution. It skips security settings such as WEP, so the airport recommends a VPN for anything private.
- Narita Terminal 1 is a five-minute walk from Narita Airport Station. Terminals 2 and 3 share Airport Terminal 2 Building Station, five minutes on foot from Terminal 2 but ten from Terminal 3, so budget the extra walk for Terminal 3 flights.
- From Narita, the Narita Express runs without a change to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Yokohama, while the Keisei Skyliner ends at Keisei Ueno after calling at Nippori.
- Haneda's terminal operator estimates rail times of about 15 minutes to Shinagawa, 20 to Hamamatsucho, 30 to Tokyo Station, 45 to Shibuya and 50 to Shinjuku, using the Keikyu Line or the Tokyo Monorail, both of which stop under Terminals 1 and 2 at B1F.
- At Haneda Terminal 3, Keikyu has two sets of ticket gates. Trains for central Tokyo and Yokohama leave through the gates in the second-floor arrival lobby, while trains to Terminals 1 and 2 use separate gates on the Keikyu B2F level.
- Airport buses from Haneda take about 35 minutes to Tokyo Station and about 35 minutes to Shinjuku Station West Exit. For flights outside train hours, a late-night and early-morning access bus leaves Terminal 3 from bus stops 3 and 7.
- TOKYO FREE Wi-Fi is the metropolitan government's encrypted network, built on the OpenRoaming standard. You install a profile once, about five minutes of setup, after confirming your identity with a Google account, Apple ID or LINE ID. Phones then join automatically wherever the green sticker appears.
- With no data at all, join the temporary network START_TOKYO_Wi-Fi at a sticker location to reach the setup site, then delete it once the profile is in. The older FREE_Wi-Fi_and_TOKYO network is a separate service without OpenRoaming.
- In April 2026 NTT Docomo said it aimed to bring 5G to more than 60 percent of Tokyo Metro stations by the end of that month, across all nine lines, and named the tunnel sections between stations as its next big task.
- Docomo's subway 5G station list, dated 30 June 2026, includes all nine Tokyo Metro lines and all four Toei lines, the Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku and Oedo lines, while warning that some spots inside a listed station may still lack 5G.
- Tokyo's accommodation tax applies to hotel and ryokan rooms costing 10,000 yen or more per person per night: 100 yen below 15,000 yen and 200 yen from 15,000 yen. Hotels collect it. A November 2025 draft proposes a 3 percent rate and taxing private lodgings too.