Recently I was in Japan and picked up a Kyocera KY-42C.  It’s beautiful and I am happy to finally have a working Japanese flip phone after years of longing.  But it was much harder to find than I expected!  Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes and their quest will be much quicker and easier.

I thought I was prepared after reading a few subs and looking up the location of some used phone stores.  I planned on getting a Kyocera A202KC for maximum US lte band compatibility.  That search came up empty after visiting many stores on foot.  I visited probably a dozen stores and even found 1 sim locked A202KC.  Got a little anxious at that point since my week in Japan was running out.  Reread some subs, decided to try the online inventory search again and pay closer attention to the results.  Turns out those strangely sparse results were accurate.  Including exact location for all of Japan and sim lock status. I also added KY-42C to the search and found one in stock not too far away.  With about 20 hours to go I had my unlocked KY-42C in hand!

May 2025 Guide to Finding Keitai:

First off I should point out that simply buying a keitai online is a very sensible choice.  If taking the subway around Tokyo and visiting off the beaten path neighborhoods looking for phones sounds appealing, then keep reading.  The in person price was better than online but plan on spending at least a few hours in the search. 

Old school keitai are now very uncommon in Japan!  I did not see a single other person actually using one during my week in Tokyo.  The used phone stores reflect this reality, it’s almost entirely iPhone and android now.  The typical number of keitai in any given store is zero.  Finding a US compatible model is extra difficult due to lte band mismatch.  For countries with better lte band overlap it should be easier.

Use the online search in advance to find which stores to visit.  I tried three used phone store chains.  All have online inventory search.  Check the store location.  Also check the sim lock status, it is usually listed.  I thought newish phones are all unlocked.  Apparently they are unlocked… unless they are locked.  The websites are only in Japanese but a browser with built-in translation works well.  The stores are:

*   [janpara.co.jp](http://janpara.co.jp)
*   [geo-mobile](http://geo-mobile.co).jp
*   [iosys.co.jp](http://iosys.co.jp)

Having a fully functioning sim card will make testing easier.  It is hard for a visitor to get a Japanese sim with voice/text/data.  Data-only sims are easy to get but make testing sim lock status more complicated since you cannot just plug it in and try to send a text.  I also had a non-roaming US sim which I knew would not work in Japan.  But still could use it to test for sim lock error.  Best would be either somehow getting a full function Japanese sim from appropriate network or have a working foreign roaming sim.

Unfortunately I can only speak a few words of Japanese.  But typing into google translate app and showing the phone screen worked very well.  Also don’t forget to profusely thank the staff for their help!  People were all very friendly and very helpful once they figured out what the crazy foreigner holding a Nokia 2780 flip phone was looking for.

Some prices as of May 2025:

* Y13,000 (us$90) Kyocera KY-42C grade a condition
* Y10,000 (us$70) Kyocera A202KC grade b, softbank locked
* Various other Japan only keitai often Y4000-5000 (us$30-35)

Hope this is helpful!  I was going to include the long gory details of my search but I think this post is already lengthy enough.  In hindsight the adventure to find my phone was pretty fun.  At the time there were moments of anxiety.  I hope this guide will reduce the anxiety and increase the fun for others looking for keitai in Japan. 



Guide to finding keitai in stores in Tokyo