-does anyone have updated rates, or any bargains to be had?

As I said I've used JCR in past; their service is great but the prices seem to be going up quite a bit. Their going rate for 3G voice+data now is $165USD/2 weeks. This seems astronomical initially but it *is* unlimited, not a fixed volume. Compared to the average market rate which seems to be $10/1000円 per day this is only a few dollars more for unlimited usage. JCR's DoCoMo 4G LTE plans are *not* unlimited - they range from 4-12Gb for basically the same price, the 2-week package includes 6Gb of data.

Nowadays in a foreign country looking up maps, info, translating, pictures, video, etc I could use 6Gb a day, even on 3G. :P

The 4G plans seems FAR more restrictive and terrible than their packages used to be.

-It looks like there are a few more branded MVNO providers in Japan nowadays too. Iijimo is a DoCoMo travel SIM which comes with 1-2Gb of data and is rechargeable, prices will vary by the retailer but don't look any better than the average rental. There's also Sony's So-Net, which is specifically LTE service and appears to be sold from vending machines at the airports. But at 2900円/Gb for recharges that's obviously convenience over value.

https://t.iijmio.jp/en/index.html
http://www.so-net.ne.jp/prepaid/en/

I see some Iijimo SIM cards for sale on eBay, if these are unused and sealed they *might* be had for cheaper than at Japanese retailers. But again, YMMV.

DoCoMo is also now advertising their national Wifi access network for travelers - 900円/week. This seems comparable to many Western ISPs providing public wifi from their customers' modems. They claim good speed but the real acid test is of course how common and widespread they are. Do they have coverage in JR stations, or trains? What about walking down the street in Shinjuku, Shibuya or Denden Town?

http://visitor.docomowifi.com/en/details/