^ ok, about a year or 2 ago, I wanted a Japanese phone super badly, so I went and looked up all the information necessary to know that it's impossible to own a DoCoMo phone here. I don't like softbank models that much, so I didn't bother researching Softbank.
Here is why it's impossible:
- They don't support the network.
Japan doesn't use GSM network, but another network I forgot the name of. So back when I looked it up, the majority of the DoCoMo phones were simply incompatible with the Western GSM network.
However, more and more phones begin to support 3G network too, which is a global network. I think I read somewhere USA support isn't thát good, but European support (especially in my country) is very good. So in theory, you MIGHT buy a 3G-compatible DoCoMo phone and use it here. however...
- You have to be Japanese to buy one.
Because you need to sign a contract, even if you buy a prepaid one. I forgot the reason for it. I think only Japanese people can sign the contract. Of course, you can also just buy one of Yahoo Japan. Yes, the phone I wanted was on it, which made me even more desperate. But even then, there's no way you can use it practically, because:
- They're sim-locked
And no one has ever found out how to unlock them. Well I haven't checked since back then, so maybe someone found out now, but I doubt it.
So the only way you can own a DoCoMo phone, is to make a Japanese friend who's willing to buy you one, and let you use his bank account to pay for it (and you can pay him back every month or something).
but it's VERY expensive to use those phones outside Japan, in my country 100 yen per minute / SMS. That's about 1$.
Well I guess you can always buy one and just use it as a fancy camera / mediaplayer, because they have a lot of nifty functions that have nothing to do with calling / texting.
I hope you found this post useful :)
BTW, this is the model I wanted:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/stati...p902is_01l.jpg
ooh I still want it so badly..
