Going Home for the Holidays: Rakuten vs ahamo Roaming Data

Rakuten Mobile includes 2GB a month abroad in 107 countries and regions; ahamo lets you use 30GB in 91 but slows after 15 days. Which works for a trip home?

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Airport lounge at dusk with a suitcase draped in a mustard scarf and a plane outside in light snow

Rakuten Mobile includes 2GB of overseas data a month in 107 countries and regions, then slows to 128kbps unless you buy more at ¥550 per GB. ahamo lets you use your whole 30GB in 91 countries and regions, but slows to 128kbps once you've been using data abroad for 15 days. For a two-week trip home where you mostly message and check maps, Rakuten's 2GB plus free calls to Japan through Rakuten Link covers it.

Last checked: September 28, 2026

Rakuten Mobile ahamo
Overseas data included 2GB a month Your 30GB allowance (shared with Japan use)
Countries and regions 107 (as of April 8, 2026) 91
After the allowance 128kbps, or ¥550 per extra GB 1Mbps, or ¥550 per extra GB
Calls to Japan from abroad Free with Rakuten Link Charged per country

Is your home country on the list?

Check this first, because outside each carrier's list you get no mobile data at all. Rakuten's data works only on Wi-Fi outside its covered countries, and ahamo says the same for its own list.

Both cover the obvious ones: the US (including Hawaii), Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Brazil and most of Europe. The two lists differ at the edges. When I checked each carrier's area page, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were on Rakuten's list and not ahamo's. Mongolia, Nigeria and Georgia were on ahamo's and not Rakuten's. Lists change, so look up your country on the pages in the sources before you fly.

What happens after the allowance

On Rakuten, the 2GB is a monthly allowance, and the data you use abroad also counts towards your normal monthly usage. Use 2GB abroad and 2GB in Japan, and you're billed for the 20GB tier (¥2,178) rather than the 3GB one (¥1,078). A trip that runs from late December into January gets 2GB in each month. After that you're at 128kbps, which is fine for LINE text messages and not much else, or you can buy 1GB for ¥550.

On ahamo, the catch is the calendar rather than the gigabytes. Fifteen days after your first data use abroad, speed drops to 128kbps, and buying more data doesn't fix it until you come back to Japan. That matters for anyone spending three weeks at home over New Year. ahamo is also changing on December 1, 2026: pricing becomes tiered from 40GB for ¥3,135, and you'll be able to use up to 40GB abroad.

If you're switching carriers anyway, porting your number to Rakuten through my referral link earns you 14,000 points.

See the Rakuten Mobile referral offer

Calling home and calling Japan

This is where Rakuten pulls ahead for most foreign residents. With the Rakuten Link app, calls from abroad to a Japanese number are free (a few number types such as 0570 are excluded), and so are calls between two Link users. That covers your partner in Japan, your landlord or your office. Calling a local number in the country you're visiting from Link is charged at that country's rate. Rakuten also notes that Japanese toll-free numbers can't be reached from abroad.

Before you leave, connect to the Rakuten network in Japan and make sure Rakuten Link is set up. Rakuten says authentication may not work from some countries. Then turn on overseas roaming in my Rakuten Mobile.

One iPhone catch: if someone who isn't using Link calls you, the call arrives in the iPhone's own Phone app, and incoming calls abroad are charged. In the US that's ¥195 a minute.

On ahamo, calls abroad go through docomo's standard international service. You pay to make calls and to receive them, the 5-minute free calls don't apply overseas, and each SMS you send costs ¥100.

For more on how the app works in Japan, see my Rakuten Link guide.

Who this isn't for

If you'll be working remotely from your parents' place and using video calls on mobile data, Rakuten's 2GB won't last a week, and ahamo's larger allowance is the better fit for trips under 15 days. And if you're flying to Mongolia, Nigeria or Georgia, Rakuten won't give you mobile data there at all.

Sources