Sakura Mobile’s pricing is straightforward once you see it laid out. Two things catch people off guard, though: bills arrive a month later than you expect, and a single monthly deadline decides everything.
Here’s the whole system — what you pay, when it lands, and the one date to put in your calendar.
Checked against Sakura Mobile’s site and support pages in August 2026. Prices include tax.
The short version. Your first month is prorated, so you only pay for the days you actually have service. Your last month is not, so cancelling on the 2nd still costs you the full month. Everything runs on the 25th — cancellations, plan changes, all of it. And bills arrive about a month behind, so expect one after you’ve left Japan.
What you pay, and when
Three separate charges, arriving at three different times.
At signup: a one-off activation fee of ¥5,500. This applies to every product — voice, data-only, pocket WiFi. It’s the biggest upfront cost and the thing worth knowing before you commit.
Monthly: your plan fee, billed roughly a month in arrears.
Usage: outgoing calls and texts, added to the month you made them, and therefore also arriving a month late.
Here’s how it plays out if your service starts on 15 March on the 5GB voice plan.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Mid-March | ¥5,500 activation fee settled |
| 15–31 March | Service running, on a prorated half-month |
| Late April | Invoice for March: prorated plan fee plus March calls |
| Late May | Invoice for April: full ¥3,278 plus April calls |
That last row is where people get confused. Nothing has gone wrong. Sakura bills a month behind, so a bill arriving after you’ve left Japan is normal settlement rather than an error.
Your first month is prorated
Both the plan fee and the data allowance are calculated from your actual start date to the end of that month. Start on the 15th and you get roughly half the data for roughly half the price.
There’s no penalty for starting mid-month, and no reason to delay your start date to line up with the 1st.
The 25th decides everything
One deadline governs both cancellations and plan changes.
| Request | By the 25th | On the 26th or later |
|---|---|---|
| Cancellation | Ends the last day of this month (request 15 March, ends 31 March) | Ends the last day of next month (request 27 March, ends 30 April) |
| Plan change | Takes effect the 1st of next month | Takes effect the 1st of the month after |
Contracts always end on the last day of a month. Sakura doesn’t terminate mid-month.
There’s a knock-on effect worth understanding. Sakura has no minimum contract term and charges nothing to cancel, but the deadline mechanics create a practical floor. Start between the 1st and the 25th and you could cancel at the end of that same month. Start on the 26th or later and the earliest you can end is the last day of the following month.
So a contract started on the 27th commits you to those few days plus a full month.
The trap: your final month isn’t prorated
Whatever day you stop using the service, your cancellation month is billed at the full rate. Sakura’s stated reason is that your entire monthly data allowance is credited to the line on the 1st.
Miss the 25th by a day and it costs a full extra month — not a prorated remainder, the whole thing. On the 30GB plan that’s ¥4,378 for a line you may never touch.
Sakura’s own support pages are unusually candid about this. They advise timing your termination deliberately, and note that if you’re leaving Japan near the start of a month, it may work out cheaper to cancel at the end of the previous month and cover your final days with a short-term travel data product instead.
That’s a provider telling you to leave sooner. Worth taking them up on.
The plans
Voice + Data, which includes a real 070/080/090 number.
| Data | Monthly |
|---|---|
| 5GB | ¥3,278 |
| 15GB | ¥3,828 |
| 30GB | ¥4,378 |
| 40GB | ¥5,478 |
| 60GB | ¥7,678 |
| 80GB | ¥9,878 |
| 100GB | ¥12,078 |
Data only, which has no phone number and therefore can’t receive SMS verification codes.
| Data | Monthly |
|---|---|
| 5GB | ¥2,728 |
| 15GB | ¥3,278 |
| 30GB | ¥3,828 |
| 40GB | ¥4,928 |
| 60GB | ¥7,128 |
| 80GB | ¥9,328 |
| 100GB | ¥11,528 |
All plans run on docomo 5G and 4G, and all carry the same ¥5,500 activation fee. There is no 4GB tier, despite what some comparison sites list.
If you’re a student, read this bit
Sakura takes ¥1,100 off the activation fee for students, bringing it down to ¥4,400.
It isn’t prominently advertised. There’s an option during step 2 of the application, but if you don’t see it, enter the coupon code studentdiscount at the final step. It applies to voice, data-only and pocket WiFi plans alike.
Ten seconds of typing for ¥1,100.
Calls and texts
Incoming calls and SMS are free. Outgoing is charged by usage: domestic calls at ¥16.5 per 30 seconds, domestic SMS at ¥5.5 per 160 characters, and international calls from ¥34.1 per 30 seconds.
International calls get cheaper with Sakura Dial — from ¥16.5 per 30 seconds if you add the prefix 0077-502-010, or let their app add it for you.
These charges land on your bill a month later along with everything else.
Four other things worth knowing
You can pause instead of cancelling. If you’re leaving Japan temporarily but want to keep your number, Sakura lets you suspend the line rather than terminate it. This is for Voice+Data customers paying by credit card only; it isn’t available on data-only plans or pocket WiFi.
Porting your number out costs ¥1,100. There’s a real hazard attached. You must request MNP through the dedicated menu in My Page. Submit the standard cancellation form instead and your number is permanently deleted, with no way to recover it.
There’s an 8-day cooling-off window. Japanese law gives you 8 days from the contract start to cancel, requested by email. The ¥5,500 activation fee, prorated charges for the days you used, and any call charges are still due, so it limits the damage rather than undoing the purchase.
eSIMs need no return, physical voice SIMs do. Delete the eSIM profile and you’re finished. A physical Voice+Data SIM is a rental item and has to be posted back when you terminate.
Common questions
Why did I get a bill after I cancelled? Because Sakura bills a month in arrears. Your final month’s fees and usage are invoiced the following month. This is normal, not an error.
Do I lose money by starting mid-month? No. Your first month’s fee and data allowance are both prorated from your start date.
Can I get a partial refund if I cancel mid-month? No. The final month is always billed in full.
Is there really no cancellation fee? Correct. ¥0, and no minimum contract term. The ¥5,500 you paid at signup is the cost that doesn’t come back.
What happens if I request cancellation on the 26th? Your contract runs until the end of the following month, and you pay for that month in full. This is the most expensive mistake available in Sakura’s system.
Is the activation fee ever waived? Not waived, but students get ¥1,100 off with the code above.
Still choosing between providers rather than managing an existing account? Our comparison of Sakura Mobile and Mobal covers the day-one cost difference, where Sakura’s ¥5,500 activation fee is the main thing separating them.
See Sakura Mobile plans and pricing →
English support, docomo network, no minimum contract, and a real Japanese number on Voice+Data plans. Students: enter studentdiscount at the final step for ¥1,100 off the activation fee.
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