Explain like I am five, but I need the radio version.

I keep reading travel blogs that treat “eSIM” and “Suica on the phone” as the same install. They are not:

• An eSIM is a cellular profile. If Settings shows an EID (*#06#), the phone can usually download a Japan data plan (Airalo on SoftBank +1, Holafly on KDDI/SoftBank, Ubigi on Docomo — copied 2026-08-29).
• Suica tap is FeliCa, a different chip. Welcome Suica Mobile is a JR East wallet product (180 days, no refund, as of March 2026). Most overseas Android handsets never got FeliCa. The eSIM does not add it.

So: eSIM = maps after you leave airport Wi-Fi. Plastic Suica/Pasmo or an iPhone wallet = gates.

If that is wrong, please correct the radios, not the brands.

Dated comparison (Airalo SoftBank +1, Holafly KDDI/SoftBank, Ubigi Docomo): https://before-you-land.tiiny.site/japan/esim/

Disclosure: if you buy Airalo through the notes below I may earn a commission. Holafly and Ubigi links there are official/untracked. I did not invent SKUs; prices copied 2026-08-29 from checkout pages and should be re-checked.