cellphones, a necessary evil

You know it is very easy to get a 0-yen phone in Japan, as a new subscriber to any major phone company. The catch? You have to remain a subscriber for two years before you are able to terminate the contract. Cancel before that and you can expect to pay an exorbitant 'cancellation' fee. I did not know this rule until I wanted to cancel 1 1/2 years into my contract...bummer. I had to hold on to my half-broken (battery was in and out) phone until the two years were up!

Now I have a new phone similar to the one pictured on the right. Same size and functions as my last phone. No extra features please, I cannot live without my phone as it is! Do you know how many old mobile phones end up in landfills leaking all kinds of nasty metals, chemicals, and who knows what!? TONS! Pity too - the metals (including gold) in phones add up to quite a bit, too!

I stayed with SOFTBANK because it is too much a hassle to change companies and pay all sorts of 'additional service fees.' Yuck. The other catch: your first phone may be free but getting another phone will really cost you! So if you are looking for a nice phone loaded with all sorts of features you might as well switch companies to get another free phone.