We show a saving only when roaming would genuinely cover your whole trip.
UK → Japan · roaming vs eSIM
Compare eSIMs for Japan.
Compare what your UK network charges to roam in Japan with travel eSIMs sized for your trip. See the hotspot rules, speed caps and fair-use limits before opening checkout.
20 destinations20 with eSIM pricesRoaming priced, never guessedNo account needed
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Hotspot rules, speed caps and fair-use limits beside every plan.
See where each number came from and when we checked it.
The Japan guide · updated 10 Sept 2026
Short answer: buy a Japan eSIM before you fly. UK roaming there is expensive, slow or both.
Japan is outside every UK network's Europe zone. EE charges £8 a day with 500MB of data, O2 Travel is £7 a day at 2Mbps, Three sells Around the World Extra passes from £17.50 for 3 days, iD Mobile sells Roam Beyond passes, and VOXI sells 8- and 15-day passes with 2GB or 4GB. Sky Mobile doesn't list Japan. For a week or two, an eSIM with enough data usually costs less than any of these, and it's simpler than renting pocket Wi-Fi.
- Local networks
- NTT docomo, au (KDDI), SoftBank and Rakuten. Nomad lists au and SoftBank, Airalo uses SoftBank, and Klook offers SoftBank or docomo options.
- EE's allowance
- EE's Japan pass gives 500MB a day, which maps and photos can use up by lunchtime.
- Pocket Wi-Fi
- Rental routers need collecting, charging and returning. An eSIM lives on your phone.
- Transit cards
- Suica, PASMO and ICOCA work in Apple Wallet, independently of your data plan.
What your UK network charges in Japan
Japan is outside every UK network's Europe zone. Where a network publishes a charge for Japan, the row is priced in the calculator above and links to the network's page. Where it prices against your account, we say so rather than guess.
| Network | How Japan is charged | Worth knowing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EE | EE Rest of World Zone 3 pass: £8 for 24 hours, including 500MB | Includes unlimited minutes and texts, but the data is 500MB a day rather than one pot for the trip. | EE mobile price guide ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| O2 | O2 Travel: £7 on each day you use it | Unlimited data, minutes and texts, with speeds capped at 2Mbps: fine for maps and messages, slow for video. Ultimate and some other plans already include it. | O2 Travel ↗checked 10 Sept 2026 |
| Vodafone | Priced against your plan in Vodafone's roaming checker | Vodafone's public pages don't print one rate for Japan. Its roaming checker shows the charge for your number, and some plans include it. | Vodafone global roaming ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| Three | Go Roam Around the World Extra passes: £17.50 for 3 days, £29.75 for 5, £42 for 7, £84 for 14 | Or £7 a day, rising to £8 on plans taken out from 18 December 2025. Up to 12GB of your UK data abroad, and hotspot use isn't allowed. | Three Go Roam passes ↗checked 10 Sept 2026 |
| iD Mobile | Roam Beyond passes: £5 for 1 day and 2GB, £20 for 5 days and 10GB, £35 for 10 days and 20GB | Data-only passes that start straight away and don't renew. Ordinary calls and texts cost extra. | iD Mobile Roam Beyond ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| Sky Mobile | Sky doesn't list Japan in its roaming directory | Without Roaming Passport Plus, keep data roaming off on your Sky line and use Wi-Fi or an eSIM. | Sky Roaming Passport Plus ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| giffgaff | Check giffgaff's roaming page for Japan | giffgaff sells fixed-price travel data add-ons for some destinations outside the EU. Buy one before you use any data, because standard roaming rates apply without it. | giffgaff roaming checker ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| SMARTY | Outside the EU, you need an out-of-plan add-on | SMARTY charges roaming outside the EU from an out-of-plan add-on balance, at the rates in its price guide. Plan on Wi-Fi or an eSIM for data. | SMARTY roaming guidance ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| VOXI | Global Roaming Extra: £16 for 8 days with 2GB, £26.60 for 15 days with 4GB | Includes some minutes and texts to the UK and within the country you're in. Incoming calls come out of those minutes. | VOXI Global Roaming Extra ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
| Tesco Mobile | Standard rate: £5 per MB | At that rate any real use is unaffordable, and a safety buffer will stop your data. Keep data roaming off on Tesco here. | Tesco Mobile roaming rates ↗checked 25 Aug 2026 |
Roaming versus an eSIM, priced for a real trip
Everyday use is about 0.8GB a day, so a week needs 6GB and a fortnight 12GB. Roaming figures come from the same published charges the calculator uses; eSIM figures are the cheapest single plan from each provider that covers the trip, live from Nomad. Klook is left out because it shows prices only on its own page.
7 days · plan for 6GB
UK roaming
- VOXI£16.00only 2GB — not enough
- iD Mobile£30.00
- Three£42.00
- O2£49.00speed capped at 2Mbps
- EE£56.00only 3.5GB — not enough
- Tesco Mobile£30,720.00at the per-MB rate; a spend cap would stop this first
Travel eSIM
- Nomad · 10GB · 30 days≈ £11.68live price, converted from USD · see plan ↗
14 days · plan for 12GB
UK roaming
- VOXI£26.60only 4GB — not enough
- iD Mobile£55.00
- Three£82.25
- O2£98.00speed capped at 2Mbps
- EE£112.00only 7GB — not enough
- Tesco Mobile£61,440.00at the per-MB rate; a spend cap would stop this first
Travel eSIM
- Nomad · 20GB · 30 days≈ £16.79live price, converted from USD · see plan ↗
Roaming figures assume you roam every day of the trip and the pass or daily fee covers your data need; the calculator above lets you change both. Nomad prices are converted from US dollars at a rounded rate and marked as estimates.
The eSIM providers we compare for Japan
Four providers appear in the comparison above. Saily and Nomad send us live prices, Airalo's are checked by hand, and Klook shows its prices only on its own page. Links we could earn a commission on are marked as sponsored in the page source.
Saily on local partner networks
Quotes real pounds, so the price you see is the price you pay. Saily says it doesn't restrict hotspot use, though your phone or the local network may.
Watch out: Check when the plan starts counting down before you install it.
Saily Japan plans ↗We may earn a commission on this link.
Nomad on au and SoftBank
Prices in US dollars, which we convert at a rounded Bank of England rate, so your card may charge a little more. Nomad lists au and SoftBank for Japan and says its eSIMs support hotspot use.
Watch out: Nomad plans have to be activated within 60 days of purchase, so don't buy months ahead.
Nomad Japan plans ↗We may earn a commission on this link.
Airalo on SoftBank
We have no affiliate relationship with Airalo and list it anyway. Its Japan eSIM lists SoftBank as the main network.
Watch out: Its unlimited plans slow to 1Mbps once you've used 3GB in a day.
Klook on SoftBank or docomo, by option
Klook's price changes with every combination of days and data, so we don't show one. The link opens Klook's own page for this country.
Watch out: You get a QR code on a voucher. Install it on Wi-Fi before you travel and check when the countdown starts.
Klook Japan plans ↗We may earn a commission on this link.
What UK networks charge in Japan
Every UK network treats Japan as rest of world, and most of the options come with a catch. EE's £8 day pass includes only 500MB of data. O2 Travel's unlimited data is capped at 2Mbps. Three's Around the World Extra passes cost £42 for a week and cap your data at 12GB with no hotspot.
iD Mobile's Roam Beyond passes, from £5 for a day with 2GB to £35 for 10 days with 20GB, are the most generous, and VOXI's Global Roaming Extra gives 2GB for 8 days. Sky Mobile doesn't list Japan, and Tesco Mobile charges £5 per MB.
eSIM or pocket Wi-Fi?
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi router used to be the standard advice for Japan. It still works, and one router can share data between several people, but it has to be collected and returned, charged every night, and carried everywhere.
An eSIM lives on your phone and is working when you land. For one or two people it's usually cheaper and simpler; for a family sharing one connection, a router can still make sense.
Getting around: transit cards and translation
Suica, PASMO and ICOCA transit cards can be added to Apple Wallet and tapped at ticket gates without using data. Data is what makes the rest easy: route planning in Google Maps, and camera translation for menus and signs.
Setting up for Japan
- 01Buy and install at home
Install the eSIM on home Wi-Fi before you travel and keep the new line switched off until you land. Save the QR code or setup details in case you need to reinstall.
- 02Turn off data roaming on your UK line
Leave your UK SIM on so calls and bank texts still reach you, but switch its data roaming off so it can't run up charges.
- 03Make the eSIM your data line
Set the eSIM as the line for mobile data, turn off automatic data switching, and turn on data roaming for the eSIM only.
Japan questions, answered
Is an eSIM better than pocket Wi-Fi in Japan?
For one or two people, usually. An eSIM needs no collecting, returning or charging. A pocket Wi-Fi router can still make sense for a family sharing one connection.
What does EE charge in Japan?
£8 for each 24 hours, including 500MB of data and unlimited minutes and texts. The data is per day, not one pot for the trip.
Can I use Suica or PASMO with a Japan eSIM?
Yes. Transit cards in Apple Wallet work independently of your data plan, so they work alongside any eSIM.
Does Sky Mobile's Roaming Passport Plus work in Japan?
Sky doesn't list Japan in its roaming directory. Keep data roaming off on your Sky line and use an eSIM or Wi-Fi.
Does a Japan travel eSIM come with a Japanese phone number?
The plans compared here are data only, so there's no Japanese number. WhatsApp, FaceTime and LINE work over data, and your UK SIM can stay on for texts.
Where the numbers come from
How we work this out.
On EE we price roaming for all 20 destinations. Across the other nine networks we price 116 more network-and-destination combinations from published charges; everywhere else we send you to your network's own checker instead of guessing. Saily and Nomad send us their prices directly, covering 20 destinations. Airalo prices are checked by hand for 5 of them and stop being ranked a week after we last looked. Klook never shows a price here — we send you to their own page instead of guessing one.
UK roaming rules 25 Aug 2026 · review overdueHand-checked prices & calls/texts labels 25 Aug 2026 · review overdueExchange rates (rounded) 25 Aug 2026 · review overduePrice refresh rule 7 days, then removed from rankingLive prices from Saily and Nomad working · 20 destinations
Sources for Japan Every price’s paper trail
Where we checkedSaily JapanA set amount of data · checked 25 Aug 2026 · review by 1 Sept 2026Where we checkedKlook JapanPrice is shown on the provider's own site · checked 25 Aug 2026 · review by 1 Sept 2026Where we checkedAiralo JapanSlows down after a daily limit · checked 25 Aug 2026 · review by 1 Sept 2026Where we checkedNomad JapanFull speed up to a daily limit, then slower · checked 10 Sept 2026 · review by 10 Sept 2026Currency methodBank of England daily spot exchange ratesRounded comparison assumptions · checked 25 Aug 2026 · review by 1 Sept 2026
Setting up before you fly
Keep your UK number. Turn off its data.
- 01Install at home
Buy before departure, install on Wi-Fi and keep the new line switched off until arrival.
- 02Choose the data line
Set the travel eSIM as Mobile Data and disable data switching so your UK SIM cannot take over.
- 03Keep texts available
Leave the UK line on for banking texts if needed, but turn off its data roaming and avoid chargeable calls.
Common questions
Things worth checking first.
Do you work out what my own network would charge?
On EE, for all 20 destinations. Across the other nine networks, for 116 more network-and-destination combinations. Everywhere else we send you to your network’s own checker rather than invent a number — usually because the network has stopped publishing a rate, or prices it against your individual account. Pick the tariff that applies to you and we work out the daily fees, the cheapest combination of passes, or the per-megabyte rate from your network’s published charges. We only claim a saving when roaming would actually cover your whole trip and everything else you asked for.
Are these prices live?
Saily’s and Nomad’s are — they come from each provider’s own feed and are marked “Live price”. Saily quotes real pounds; Nomad quotes US dollars, which we convert. Airalo prices are checked by hand, show the date we checked, and drop out of the ranking after seven days. They are already in pounds, so they need no conversion. Klook never shows a price here, because we cannot read one reliably; that link takes you to their own page.
Why does one provider show several plans?
Because more than one can fit your trip — a bigger allowance, a longer run before it expires, or unlimited data. We show each provider’s best few for your trip and tuck the rest — including any that cost more without giving you more — behind one “show more” button. Pin up to three to compare side by side.
Where do I find hotspot and speed limits?
Open “Hotspot, speed & other limits” on any plan. It covers whether you can use the phone as a hotspot, what happens when you hit a speed cap, what the fair-use rules are, when the plan starts counting down, and which local network you will be on. If it says “check plan”, the provider’s own wording was not clear enough for us to promise you either way.
Can I make normal calls on these?
Usually not. Most travel eSIMs give you data only — WhatsApp and FaceTime work, but your phone number does not. If you need real calls and texts, answer “Yes” in the form and we will only recommend a plan that we have confirmed includes them.
Will an eSIM work on my phone?
Search for your exact model and we will check it against manufacturer guidance. Two things we cannot check for you: whether your phone is locked to a UK network, and which regional version you own — some models sold in certain countries have no eSIM at all. Confirm both before buying.
How many destinations do you cover?
20 destinations — Turkey, United States, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, Egypt, Indonesia — and all 10 UK networks. Saily and Nomad price every destination live; 5 of them also carry hand-checked Airalo prices.