Thanks

Haha, yes, I'm getting that impression. I've been to Japan a few times, but this is the first time that communication is more important. I've been trawling the net for weeks trying to figure out the best way to go about it - all the info I found suggested that prepaid phones are no longer available to foreigners, but hopefully this is wrong?

Also looking at the possibility of getting an 'international' sim card - although this looks like an expensive option.