Guide to Rakuten Hikari | Prices, Reviews and How to Apply

Rakuten Hikari is a fiber-optic internet service provided by one of Japan’s largest mobile carriers, Rakuten Mobile.

It is possible to receive a large discount if you enter a contract with Rakuten Mobile at the same time, so there are likely many people who are interested in Rakuten Hikari.

However, because the website is in Japanese, you may be struggling to understand the details of the service and the contract.

In this article, we will be covering everything you need to know before applying for Rakuten Hikari (Connection speed, prices, English support, installation process, customer reviews).

Even if you do not know much about telecommunications, we will be explaining all of these topics without any technical language to make them easy to understand.

Let’s get started!

In this article, we’ll cover

1. What is Rakuten Hikari?
2. Plans and pricing
3. Connection speeds, Allocated data and Coverage
4. English support
5. Reviews
6. How to apply
7. Summary: Pros and cons of Rakuten Hikari
8. If you are looking fiber internet as an international resident in Japan

1. What is Rakuten Hikari?

Rakuten Hikari is a home internet service provided by major Japanese mobile carrier Rakuten Mobile.

If you enter a contract with Rakuten Mobile at the same time as Rakuten Hikari, you will not be charged monthly fees for home internet for a year.

Additionally, you can save lots of money when shopping with the e-commerce marketplace, Rakuten, which is another plus to using Rakuten Hikari.

Below are the basic details of Rakuten Hikari.

Outline of Rakuten Hikari

Scroll right for more →→

Average connection speeds as recorded on the website minsoku on July 6th, 2021.

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2. Plans and pricing

Again, below is a rundown of the fees involved when applying for Rakuten Hikari.

The initial fees are those that you pay only once at the start of the contract.

Monthly fees will change depending on the type of home you are living in. If you reside in a house, you should be expecting to pay the fees of the Single-Family House Plan. If you live in an apartment, you will be looking at the prices for the Apartment Plan.

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3. Connection speeds and allocated data

The connection speeds and data limits for Rakuten Hikari are as follows.

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Average connection speeds as recorded on the website minsoku on July 6th, 2021.

The maximum connection speed listed above is the maximum speed only in theory. When you are actually using Rakuten Hikari, the speeds that you experience will depend on many factors such as your distance from the signal towers, etc.

Expect your connection speeds to be anywhere from 100 to 700 Mbps at any given time.

You may be wondering, “How fast is that?” and we can assure you that 100 Mbps will generally be enough to do most anything stress-free.

This means you will be able to participate in Zoom video conferences or play online games without any issue.

Additionally, Rakuten Hikari uses Japan’s largest fiber-optic network, “NTT FLET’S Hikari,” so you are guaranteed coverage rates of over 90% of the populated area in Japan.

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4. English support

Unfortunately, Rakuten Hikari does not have English support available. If you are not very comfortable with Japanese, you should find someone who is able to communicate in the language to help you with your application.

You might need Japanese in situations like these.

• When you apply
• During the Installation process
• If you want to change your plan or cancel your contract
• If you are experiencing difficulties with your internet connection

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5. Reviews

The following are Japanese customer reviews that address some of the good and bad points of Rakuten Hikari.

Positive Reviews

• Connection speeds are fast

やったー楽天ひかり開通した！速いぜ pic.twitter.com/CS4GJAzDVm

— なごやま (@ngy758)
May 26, 2021

Yay, I’m connected with Rakuten Hikari! It’s so fast.

• When you sign up for Rakuten Hikari, You can get more points for shopping with Rakuten

楽天ひかりを契約したからSPU＋1倍で7.5倍になった。
pic.twitter.com/KeFA5orrH7

— まるか｜平凡な投資家(@marcassin_fire)
April 3, 2021

With Rakuten Hikari, I got 7.5 times the points I would normally get while shopping with Rakuten thanks to the SPU (Super Point Up) program.

Bad reviews

• The contract lasts for 3 years, and canceling early will result in a 10,450 JPY fee

これすごいって思ったけど3年縛りあり？だし、使いにくいなあ。楽天モバイルは縛りなしなのに。

【楽天ひかり】楽天モバイル✕楽天ひかりセットで1年無料キャンペーン|楽天モバイルhttps://t.co/wiY1SJ9dTT

—投資OLちゃん
(@OL20225358)June 1, 2020

I thought this was pretty cool, but there’s a 3-year contract? Plus, it’s hard to use. Rakuten Mobile doesn’t even have a set contract period.

• There are a number of reviews that claim the connection speed is slow

【楽天ひかり遅すぎ問題】

PS4…の通信速度（楽天ひかり・戸建て・有線接続ですが
連休前金曜日の深夜1 時で40Mbps…!?
…終わってる
残念ながら、楽天ひかりではマキオンを快適にプレーできません。
# 楽天ひかり
#マキオン
#EXVSMBON
pic.twitter.com/aPcg8PHLBh

—CTB
(@TOM97607819)
September 18, 2020

【Rakuten Hikari is Too Slow】
This is my experience using Rakuten Hikari with my PS4 (Single-Family House Plan, using a LAN cable)… It’s 1 am on a Friday night before a long holiday and I’m only getting 40Mbps…!? This sucks… Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to play the game I want with Rakuten Hikari.

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6. How to Apply

You can apply from the Rakuten Hikari official website!

1. From Rakuten Hikari’s homepage, you should start by clicking on the box in the upper right corner which will help you get started with your application.

2. From here, you can choose whether or not to apply with a campaign. Listed in this picture on the left is the 1-year free internet campaign.

3. You will then be asked to enter some information that pertains to your place of residence. Keep in mind that you will also be asked to sign up (for free) as a Rakuten member, or log in if you already have an account.

Check out Rakuten Hikari’s homepage here ↓

• Rakuten Hikari Homepage: https://rakuten.co.jp/hikari/

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7. Summary: Pros and cons of Rakuten Hikari

Pros:

• If you enter a contract with Rakuten Mobile at the same time as Rakuten Hikari, you are eligible to get free internet for a year
• Shopping with Rakuten will give you 1 point for every 100 JPY spent
• Fast connection speeds

Cons:

• Lack of English support
• A 3-year contract period (10,450 JPY fee for early cancelation)
• Some reviews state that the connection speeds are slow

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8. If you are looking for fiber internet in Japan

Some of you may be thinking the following?

• “The contract details for home internet are complicated and I want to have English support to rely on if anything goes wrong.”
• “I don’t want to have to deal with a 3-year contract.”
• “But I still want the fastest connection speeds possible.”

If this is the case, we recommend getting Sakura Fiber Internet.

Sakura Fiber Internet’s monthly fees are 6,480 JPY/month, which is slightly more expensive than other providers. However, you will have access to English customer support 365 days a year and there is no 2-year contract commitment.

Additionally, because Sakura Fiber Internet uses NTT FLET’S Hikari’s network, the maximum connection speed is 1Gbps and the coverage is over 90% of the populated area of Japan.

If you are interested, please check here for more details.

• Sakura Fiber Internet: https://sakuramobile.jp/internet

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