Hi fellow gaijins=)
I have N900 and softbank white plan for iphone. Did you get your USIMs working on the nokia? If so, how??
There is "Softbank Mobile Internet" AP available, but when i try to connect it says: "Internet connection failed. Try again?"
Also how to set-up email?
Calls are working though.
Thanks a bunch!

found the e-mail settings. just set-up e-mail address, login-id and password in:
https://selfcare.softbank.jp/cca/login.do
(incoming mail server) imap: imap.softbank.jp
(outgoing mail server) smtp: smtp.softbank.jp
server port: 993

Good to hear someone is actually using the N900 in Japan. Did you buy it in Japan, or import it? The Japanese import shops seem pretty pricey (up to $1000!), so I'm wondering if there's a cheap way to buy it locally or if I'll have to import myself.

Also, someone asked a very interesting question earlier in this thread... does the N900 GPS get a fix in Japan? And are there maps available for Japan on the N900?

i got a GPS fix in okinawa. the ovi maps app didnt have maps for that area built in.
i installed Maep and it pulled maps from openstreet when i was online (via wifi of course).

i will be in tokyo soon, will definitely need street maps (finding my way back to my hotel after a crazy night out, usually). gjiten and mscim are also invaluable with my child-like japanese skills.
even with the phone part being useless (for me without a SIM), the n900 is a fantastic companion in japan.
i took my 770 with me in 2006, my n810 in 2008, and now the n900. havent taken a laptop out of country since 2005 =]

Good to hear you got a GPS fix. There have been reports about GPS not locking without a data connection (https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7026). Since you'll be using GPS and street maps in Tokyo, and presumably without a data connection when you're on the go (no SIM and no wifi), I'd be interested in hearing if the GPS continues to work well for you or if you encounter locking problems as described in the above bug report...

i think that was the thread that suggested one turn off Network Positioning for a quicker/better GPS lock. once i did that, i finally got my first GPS fix on the device.

I bought my N900 from finland before coming to japan, im finnish so all i can use is nokia=)
Got it for like 700USD. I think the best GPS maps for japan is google maps, im sure the app will
be ported sum day? But yeah, without a fixed data plan it's a no go. Well anyway the prepaids are
ridiculously expensive in japan, so afaik. a big time contract is forced upon those staying for a longer time. 4000yen/month for unlimited free internet is not so bad.

I apologize in advance if this is a really stupid question, but I have installed all of the scim and scim-anthony packages that wmarone mentioned but I can't figure out how to use them and there is very little documentation on the subject that I can find.

I would imagine that I need to have the scim daemon running but just starting it in a xterm doesn't seem to do anything. What should I be doing?

I also have the same problem. How do I use them? When is an easy-to-use version coming? The iPhone can do this easily out of the box.

all iv ever needed to do was install mscim and mscim-tables-ja and then reboot. CTRL+SPACE switches input methods.
just hit ctrl+space and start typing in japanese and a box should pop up with the characters youre typing. press space when you want to accept what is displayed.
and yes, the scim daemon must be running, though the install and subsequent reboot should set that up for you.
check it on the command line with
$ps faux | grep scim

that said, iv had some issues recently with the kana not appearing as i type, though when i press space it appears where i was entering text. weird...