Will Your iPhone Work With a Japan SIM Card? A 3-Minute Check
CDJapan Rental SIM cards and eSIMs run on the docomo network. Three quick checks tell you whether your iPhone can use one.
1. Is your iPhone carrier-unlocked?
Go to Settings → General → About and scroll to Carrier Lock (also shown as Network Provider Lock). If it says No SIM restrictions, your iPhone is unlocked and can take our SIM.
Anything else means the phone is tied to the carrier you bought it from. Only that carrier can unlock it, and it can take a few days, so ask before you fly. On iOS 13 or older this menu does not exist — contact your carrier instead.
2. Does your iPhone still have a SIM tray?
Recent iPhones are increasingly eSIM-only, with no slot for a physical card:
- Every iPhone sold in the United States since the iPhone 14 (2022).
- iPhone 17 and later in the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- iPhone Air, in every country.
What matters is where the phone was sold, not where you are now. Look at the side of the phone: no tray means you need an eSIM rather than a physical SIM. To confirm your iPhone supports eSIM, dial *#06# — if an EID number appears, it does.
3. Does it support Japan's frequency bands?
Find your model number in Settings → General → About → Model Number. Tap the number once to switch it from the part number (MQ8Q3J/A) to the model number (A3092), then look that model up on Apple's official specifications page and find its LTE and 5G bands.
| Band | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| LTE Band 1 (2100MHz) | The main band. Essential — without it you will struggle everywhere. |
| LTE Band 19 (800MHz) | Reaches indoors, into suburbs and mountain areas. Strongly recommended. |
| LTE Band 3 / 21 / 42 | Extra speed and capacity in big cities. Nice to have. |
| 5G n78 / n79 | Needed for 5G speeds. Without them you still get 4G LTE. |
For iPhones this check almost always passes: models from the last several years cover Band 1 and Band 19 wherever they were sold. One exception is a very old handset — Japan switched off its last 3G network in March 2026, so a 3G-only phone cannot connect at all.
Not confident? Add SIM insurance when you order
Our prepaid SIM product page offers optional insurance for ¥880. If the SIM turns out not to work in your phone, contact us within 2 days of the pickup date and you get a full refund of the SIM price, minus the ¥880 itself. Add it at the time you order.
Still not sure? Rent pocket WiFi instead
A pocket WiFi router works with any Wi-Fi device — iPhone, laptop, tablet, and your travel companions' phones too. No bands, no carrier lock, no settings to change.
