So my phone should be silent all the time since it's a non-Japanese model?

Yes. I have both Japanese and US SIM cards, and when I use my US purchased phone in Japan with either SIM there is no sound. My wife has both Japanese and US IPhones and the Japanese one will always make the shutter sound, but not the US one...

Ok, I guess I wasn't imagining things then. In that case, I stand by what I said and just buy the phone in Canada. Sucks that I had to pay 12% sales tax though!

Does the Japanese phone make the shutter sound outside of Japan with a non Japanese SIM card? Is it a recent model?

I'm not sure - It is a recent model but we've never tried that as my wife has separate US / Japanese phones -- so we've never had a reason to put the US SIM into the Japanese phone!

It can't possibly be an iPhone as the US variant is eSIM only starting with the iPhone 14 series.

I must be misunderstanding something then as my IPhone 13 supports eSIM - and 'm quite certain that both her phones are iPhones....

I don't know why I assumed you had an eSIM-only iPhone. My bad!

Ahh ok I get it now. I've had a physical SIM card for years from Softbank (our provider in Japan) -- and we use Verizon here in the US. When I am in our home in Tokyo I will put the US SIM card in so I can use my US phone number -- but if I leave our home I put the Japanese SIM in to use data....

I don't know how often you fly between the US and Japan, but T-Mobile has a nice plan that gives me a lot of flexibility as a FFP. My Magenta Max plan gives me 5GB of data per month for use in 215 different destinations. Surprisingly, it's been enough when roaming as I use more data at the hotel.

I went to the Tokyo Apple Store (the one in Shibuya) to buy an iPhone 15, but ended up empty-handed. This was in early October, the 3rd if I remember well. The Apple employees there told me they sold out the stock they had early in the morning so, by midafternoon, they had nothing left.
I should caveat that I know nothing of phones, have no interest in phones except as a tool, and since I've got a now very old iPhone 6 I thought useful to change it for a newer model, especially as the price over in Tokyo was very good. In the end I didn't buy anything, and I don't know if the situation has gotten better.

Pretty much monthly -- we live in Tokyo. Verizon has a similar plan but I just joined my wife's plan for $15 per month -- and I get a Japanese telephone number which is useful for many things...

Such as what?

Everyone should have normal inventory now but the best approach is to buy online in advance and schedule pickup at the closest Apple Store to your location in Japan.

Not Tokyo Apple specific, but as a somewhat frugal techie I'm admiring your iPhone 6 released 2014 is still in use and would say you might want to upgrade to this year/next year's model to get 5G network access if in the US as carriers phase out 3G https://swappa.com/blog/3g-network-s...0December%2031. That's just from a fundamental phone/sms emergency calling/alert tool perspective. I wouldn't go with iPhone 13 or 14 unless you have a need for a physical sim (13, as 14 US models went to an electronic sim instead of physical card) or prefer lightning cables (they'll still be around for 4+ years).