Cost of the iPhone 3G in Rural Japan
Sunday, November 8th, 2009After a month of sharing a phone, my girlfriend and I decided to be grown-ups and buy her a phone.
A lot of other ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) in the area have the iPhone because of its low price in Japan where it’s not very popular. I originally passed on it in July, but we decided to go with it this time for the internet access, GPS for the car, and, let’s admit – cool factor
We brought along my seventy-five year Japanese friend who runs my English club for translation help. After two hours of negotiation and a weeks wait, she had the phone.
One of the most difficult things about finances in Japan is letting little details go. I wasn’t 100% sure on the exact pricing for the phone, but we went with it anyway. This is something that wouldn’t have flown in America, but working with a translator who speaks broken English tests your patience after a while.

Hi, I'm Austin Morgan. I live in Japan, teach English, and write about personal finance. I hope you enjoy FF and feel free to 