Today is Tuesday, so I am going to talk about a katakana word that has a completely different meaning from the original English word.
フリー is for “free”, so SIMフリー is “SIM free” but that does not mean that you don’t need a SIM card or anything like that. It only means that the telephone is unlocked, i.e. you can use any carrier on that phone.
If you have travelled in Japan, you would know how tedious the Japanese telecommunication market is. You cannot buy a prepaid voice and data SIM card unless you have a residential address in Japan and/or a Japanese credit card.
The limitations you have on a phone are also unbelievable. I tried to set up a smart phone for my aging mother, but I could not do half the things I can do in Australia on her phone.
So if you are going to Japan soon, do your homework early to find the best solution for your data needs! My Travellers’ Japanese course covers this topic in detail.
